Kasparov retires (II)

This week I continue my homage to Garry Kasparov, who recently announced his retirement from professional chess.

By 1993 Karpov, Kasparov's eternal rival, was no longer the force he had been, and a fresh challenge to Kasparov's supremacy arose from the British grandmaster Nigel Short. Both players had been simmering with discontent against Fid�, the World Federation. Now a series of rule infractions by the president, Campomanes, who had survived the international firestorm of criticism of his 1985 match stoppage - largely through his monopoly of Third World votes in the international chess assembly -gave them their chance. Kasparov and Short declared UDI from Fid� and their title match was held in London under the patronage of the Times. Although Short had swept away the resistance of grandmasters such as Gelfand, Timman and Karpov himself, he proved no match for Kasparov, who retained the title and went on to defend it again in 1995 in New York.

On this fresh occasion the challenge -again outside Fid�'s jurisdiction - came from the brilliant and fast-moving Indian grandmaster Vishy Anand. The Indian took an early lead, to almost universal surprise, but in the long run he could not face up to Kasparov's cunning openings preparation and his gigantic arsenal of tactical legerdemain. Kasparov was now quickly running out of credible human opposition.

He therefore turned to meeting the next great challenge in chess - the onset of the supercomputer. In 1997 he faced IBM's Deep Blue - a monster machine capable of calculating billions of positions in seconds and armed with all published analysis ever done by human grandmasters. The six-game clash took place in New York 1997 and resulted in a serious reversal of fortune for Kasparov. Public interest was so great that the Internet cables transmitting the moves melted. Kasparov convinced himself that human agencies were aiding the machine and in a simultaneously overexcited and depressed state of mind he lost the crucial game, thus losing the contest by three and a half points to two and a half. This was a terrible humiliation for a man who had known nothing but virtually uninterrupted success.

Undaunted, Kasparov put his defeat to good use - embracing computer technology himself he now drove pre-game analytical preparation to new heights. Seemingly unplayable openings, fraught with risk and danger, were forged by the champion - backed up by his infallibly accurate use of silicon calculations - into deadly weapons against which frustrated opponents dashed themselves in vain. The outcome was a fresh burst of tournament victories and a number of tied matches against the best computers the world could offer, given that Deep Blue itself had been dismantled by IBM.

By 2000 Kasparov had been champion for 15 years - a modern record - and many of his old foes such as Spassky, Korchnoi and Karpov had retired or declined. The time had come to face the younger generation, embodied by the Muscovite Vladimir Kramnik. A match - once again in London and once again outside Fid�'s jurisdiction -left Kasparov without a single win over 15 games. It was his biggest setback and, to compound the disaster, he had refused to entertain any notion of a revenge match in the contract for the event.

The Spectator Book of Chess: an Anthology 2001-2004, covering, inter alia, the final Kasparov years, is now available at �13.50 including UK post and packing. To order your copy phone 0870 442 1020 or fax 01458 271 146.

Black to play. This is a position from Adams-Kasparov, Linares 2005. Black has a huge attack but his knight and queen are both threatened. What is his most accurate reply? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 29 March or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7242 0603. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week I shall be offering a prize of a box of Cobra Premium beer.

Last week's solution: 1 . . . Bxg2

Last week's winner: Mike Dommett, Alton, Hampshire