Saturday 6 December 2008

Karpov gets cracked!

In the old days, elderly Grandmasters slowly shuffled off into retirement, often suffering straightened financial circumstances once there best playing days were over. In more recent times, there is now a kind of pension fund, at least for the lucky few. This fund takes the form of exhibition tournaments, involving a team of 'legends', often versus a youth or ladies team. Occasionally the 'legends' may even get a tournament to themselves, although in the case of the 2007 King's Tournament, it resulted in what was arguably the most boring tournament in recent times.
While I'm sure the players appreciate the recognition and reward that come after a lifetime of entertaining the chess public, there can still be a requirement that the players work for their supper. In the case of the ongoing "Snowdrops v Old Hands" (Women v Veterans) match in Marianske Lazne, former world champion Anatoly Karpov discovered as early as round 1 that this wasn't to be a gentle stroll in the park.



1 comment:

Narendra shenoy said...

Cute game. Anatoly's getting old. By the way, nice blog you have. I've been following it silently for a while (I'm a pretty ordinary player, though I love the game), but enjoyed your take on the doping issue.

CHeers