#garry kasparov

[yodaprod]

Deep Blue/Kasparov (1997)

[chessismyaesthetic]

[dadsinsuits]

Garry Kasparov

[davidhudson]

Happy 61st, Garry Kasparov.

Photo by Devin Yalkin.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Putin tried and failed to murder Navalny quickly and secretly with poison, and now he has murdered him slowly and publicly in prison. He was killed for exposing Putin and his mafia as the crooks and thieves they are. My thoughts are with the brave man's wife and children.

Garry Kasparov, responding to the murder of Alexei Navalny by Putin's terrorist regime.

[porterdavis]

[bopinion]

2024 / 10

Aperçu of the Week:

"When will conservatives understand that climate protection is conservative because it preserves. When will liberals understand that climate protection is liberal because it secures freedoms and when will social democrats understand that climate protection is social because it protects the weakest in society the most?"

(Ingwar Perowanowitsch - German activist, blogger and political journalist)

Bad News of the Week:

Thousands of Russians are not letting the arbitrary arrests by the police stop them from publicly mourning opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who (it has to be said exactly like this) was killed by the Kremlin. Flowers are piling up at his grave in the Borisovskoye cemetery in the south-east of Moscow and no one is afraid to show their tears. A different face of Russia can be seen here. Vladimir Putin has created a classic martyr who was prepared to go to his death for his belief in the cause.

A second critic with reach has now also been taken out of the game: the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who is also widely known in the West, has found himself on a list of "terrorists and extremists" for a few days now. He has already been listed as a "foreign agent". This shot could also backfire, and here too a great deal of solidarity can be expected from better-informed and more critical sections of the Russian population. But will it do any good? No.

As there are only puppets of the power apparatus on the committee responsible, there is no real alternative to Putin in the presidential elections due to take place in the next few days. This will be just as much an alibi event as the last elections. Which won't even bother the majority of the electorate. After all, outside the metropolitan areas, this majority consumes almost exclusively state-controlled media. And they get what they want: a strong man at the top who knows what's going on.

One insight from this is the same as that gained from the ever more firmly cemented status of Xi Jinping in China, who, like Putin, wields almost dictatorial power without any checks and balances, let alone a corrective: Democracy begins above all with information. Only if independent media observe and comment on political events can voters form an informed opinion. And then press for these opinions to be heard and acted upon. In the form of a genuine opportunity to vote - the keyword is "people's representatives". Unfortunately, more and more nations are further away from this ideal as ever. In a world that could actually be more enlightened than ever before in its history. But people are obviously too comfortable for that. And probably also too stupid.

Good News of the Week:

It was "Super Tuesday" already a few days ago. And it went like expected. As did the following pre-elections. Two guys who are too old were elected by a massive margin. Because this nation simply hasn't managed to build worthy successors - neither the Republicans nor the Democrats. While the former will indeed euphorically nominate a notorious liar and cheat for the most powerful office in the world, the latter seem to simply resign themselves to their fate: if an incumbent seeks re-election, they concede it to him. Even if his approval ratings are subterranean and his physical capacity is at least questionable.

Let's be clear: if the majority goes to Donald Trump in November - and it will probably go to him if the numbers are to be believed - the Democrats should not complain about it. Because they are to blame. There is only one politician who is currently in an even worse position than Joe Biden. And that is Kamala Harris. She is not yet officially running mate. But since it has never seemed so likely that a vice-president would have to take the helm during a term of office, these two are a duo infernale. A team that nobody wants. Even if that may seem unfair or unjustified.

Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán have just met as autocrats in Mar-a-Lago. Trump publicly admires the fact that Orban is a dictator. What he says happens, "he's the boss". And Orbán hails Trump as the "president of peace", with whom there would be neither the Ukraine nor the Gaza war. Par ordre du mufti. A clear rejection of democracy. Which Biden takes to the extreme by stylizing the upcoming election as a decision for or against democracy. And he is right.

The situation is frightening for us Europeans. We look across the Atlantic with the morbid fascination of a car crash that is clearly on the horizon. And which can no longer be prevented. The whole world was surprised by Trump's last election victory, including himself. I remember exactly how I heard about Trump's 2016 election victory on the radio in the morning and thought that I must still be dreaming. In a way, I was right, because Trump was and is a nightmare.

And that makes Super Tuesday good news in the context of its negative circumstances. Because now we know pretty much exactly what we are in for at the beginning of next year. The whole world will suffer from Trump's ignorant "America First" attitude - politically, economically, in terms of security policy and also morally. But we have been warned, we know it. And we can now prepare ourselves for at least nine months of serious damage for the cooperative US-European axis. And the US democratic establishment is to blame. This swamp should have been drained.

Personal happy moment of the week:

For our stay in Montréal with the children in late summer, we got a great loft in a great neighborhood. Having never booked anything on AirBnB before, the host didn't want us at first - he'd had bad experiences with newcomers who were apparently also being rated on this platform. My wife then had two arguments that convinced him that we wouldn't mess up his loft: she was traveling with Germans, the tidiest people in the world. And she was the daughter of a policeman. That worked.

I couldn't care less...

...that Boeing can't get out of a maelstrom of technical defects and quality deficiencies. As a European, I prefer Airbus anyway.

It's fine with me...

...that Jon Stewart is back as host of The Daily Show. For all his humor - and how that guy always makes me laugh - he's actually a sharp-tongued political commentator and investigative journalist who uses the stylistic device of satire to put a non-partisan finger in every wound he finds. Very good.

As I write this...

...I'm listening to songs by Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats. Because I realized that although I can really relate to "Tell me why I don't like Mondays", I don't know anything else by these musicians. It's just dawned on me why... Which doesn't change the fact that I think Live Aid and Band Aid ("Do they know it's Christmas?") were and still are great.

Post Scriptum

The strikes on German public transport continue. Just recently there were no trains for two days and the airports also had to close for two days because of the ground staff. Now, in the following week, there will not only be a strike by Lufthansa on-board staff, but so-called "wave strikes" will also begin on the railroads. These are announced at most 24 hours in advance so that it is - on purpose! - difficult to prepare for them. So the necessary "mobility turnaround" will certainly not happen. Why do we increasingly have the feeling that these labor disputes are being carried out on the backs of the passengers?

[falcon73br]

Garry Kasparov

[milenaolesinska]

👉"Russia fires missiles from a safe distance, and from ships & subs. Instead of providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs to strike back and end the slaughter, occupation, and war, the US measures out Ukrainian blood by the kilometer."

[recursive360]

(via GIPHY)

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

... to understand Putin, all we had to do was to listen. My first article of warning was published in the Wall Street Journal in January 4th, 2001. And all I did, I just was listening to Putin's own words. And when Putin said that there were no such a thing as a former KGB agent, I knew that Russia's fragile democracy was in danger. And when Putin said, actually repeatedly said that collapse with the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of 20th century, I knew Russians knew the independent neighbors were at risk. And eventually when Putin talked at the Munich Security Conference, 15 years ago in 2007, about return to spheres of influence I knew he was ready to launch his attack because that was the language of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, language used by Hitler and Stalin to divide Europe. And of course, next year he attacked Republic of Georgia. And I remember that after this attack, which for me was just the most convincing proof of his intentions, the West didn't respond. They tried to spread the blame between the Republic of Georgia and then President Mikheil Saakashvili and Putin's Russia though, technically Putin was not the president at the time. He was puppet master behind the stage, having his shadow man Medvedev sitting in Kremlin. And America, instead of doing something, offered a reset policy. And I wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal, and I predicted attack on Ukraine. And later people asked me, "How did you know?" I said, "I looked at the map." And then of course Crimea. I mean, what else did you need to understand that Putin would not respect any international treatise signed by Russia. And for him, Crimea was a very important step in this direction because America and Great Britain had some kind of legal responsibilities to defend Ukraine because in 1994, there was a so-called Budapest Memorandum, when after heavy pressure from Clinton administration, Ukrainians gave up their nuclear arsenal, which few people remember was a third largest in the world. Ukraine have more nuclear warheads than China, France, and Great Britain combined. And then, what we heard is, "Oh, memorandum is not a binding document." And Putin heard what he wanted, so where he could continue his expansion, recovering Soviet Russian influence without any consequences, because the sanctions that were announced, though they were trumpeted as something very powerful, they had almost no impact on Russian economy.(..) ...the free world had to respond at early stage at any sign of recurring Russian nationalism. That's why I mentioned Boris Yeltsin. And then of course, Putin demonstrated it and spoke about it quite frankly. And I think every time when he spoke about it, that's why I mentioned the conference in Munich in 2007, he had no response. The moment when Putin talked about spheres of influence, Americans had to respond even harshly to tell him that just remember it's 21st century, this is not 19th century. And it's not surprising that Putin eventually got a message, what he wanted to hear, same way as Hitler in Sudetes. "Oh, I could do that." And then he thought that he could go even beyond Europe.(..) In 1994, United States pressed Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons. I think that it's maybe not today, but definitely before the war, this administration have been pressing the Ukrainians to accept so called Minsk deal that would offer Putin political control of Ukraine. Ukraine was a destruction for this administration and still a destruction now. And when you said Putin expected to win the work quickly, yes. So CIA and so Pentagon. So yes, I'm shocked now that the Director Burns and General Millie, those who blundered here, because they talked about Ukraine capital would fall in 96 hours. That Ukraine would not last for more than three or four days.(..) ... God forbid, Putin wins in Ukraine, he will not stop there. And are you sure that this piece of paper called Article 5 will stop him? I'm shocked to that oh, we have no obligations to defend Ukraine because it's not member of NATO, but we will fight for every inch of NATO territory. How come? Are you going to fight in Poland against Martians or against the same Russians? If you're afraid of Putin's nukes, why these nations should believe America that America will come to their rescue facing Putin army, blood-thirsty army that will be fresh of success in Ukraine. Right now, we have a unique opportunity to destroy Putin's war machine using Ukrainian manpower and determination and their spirit and all we need is to offer them real help, give them weapons. And also, in the strategy and strategy includes not only tanks, but also banks. (..) The war would not take place if Ukraine are member of NATO. And also ... You're talking about obligations. I don't know what's moral obligations, or you're talking about piece of paper. Again, Budapest memoranda was now in the same piece of paper. I don't want for us to check if Article 5 is also piece of paper the moment Putin crosses a native borders in Lithuania or Poland, actually most likely Lithuania, small country that doesn't have the same resource as Ukraine to fight back. (..) Russian history has many cases where the groups in power, they unsatisfied or scared by the policies of the leader, they conspired against him. So now with Putin, it's different because it's a dictatorship, a fascist dictatorship and he has all the power. I think he has even more power than Stalin because Stalin had politburo and people like Beria. Putin is surrounded by his cronies and henchmen with no aspirations to take over. But even the worst cowards can act out of their fear if they understand that the ship is going to sink and the precondition for any change in Russia, whether it's the social-economic revolt on the streets with millions of people getting to the streets and protesting, or with Putin's entourage deciding it's time to act and to find scapegoat, which is always a dictator. It's a military defeat in Ukraine. Until Russian troops are defeated in Ukraine, decisively, that you cannot hide this anymore, nothing will happen. And that's why I think that state of free-world must supply  Ukraine with everything they need to win the war, unless it happens, there will be no revolt on the streets or what you call palace coup.

Garry Kasparov

ALL OF THIS. Kasparov put it brilliantly.

"Good" job, West, for buying in Russia's manipulations for decades. By the way, the conversation above happened in April 2022 and the powerful Western countries still withhold the aviation that Ukraine so urgently needs to both protect its sky (when, you know, Russians deliberately are hitting Ukrainian civilians with rockets daily) and attack. As a Latvian I can say that I have no belief whatsoever that if - God forbid - Russia attacks my country NATO will respond timely and effectively. All hope on Ukraine.

[quotesfrommyreading]

The computer takeover of chess occurred, at least in the popular imagination, 25 years ago, when the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov. Newsrooms at the time declared the match a “Greek tragedy,” in which a silicon “hand of God” had squashed humanity. Yet 1997, despite its cultural resonance, was not really an inflection point for chess. Deep Blue, a nearly 3,000-pound, one-of-a-kind supercomputer, could hardly change the game by itself. Its genius seemed reliant on then-unthinkable processing power and the grandmasters who had advised in its creation, to the point where Kasparov, after losing, could accuse IBM of having cheated by supplying the machine with human assistance—a dynamic that today’s accusations of foul play have reversed.

By the mid-2000s, though, upgrades in chess-engine software and commercial hardware made overpowering algorithms more accessible; in 2006, an engine running on a standard desktop computer defeated then–world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Players had already been using engines to evaluate individual tactics. But Kramnik’s loss kicked off the first era of computer-chess superiority, in which even chess elites would rely on software to help evaluate their strategies, Matthew Sadler, a grandmaster who has written multiple books on chess engines, told me.

As engines became widespread, the game shifted. Elite chess has always involved rote learning, but “the amount of stuff you need to prepare, the amount of stuff you need to remember, has just exploded,” Sadler said. Engines can calculate positions far more accurately and rapidly than humans, so there’s more material to be studied than ever before. What once seemed magical became calculable; where one could rely on intuition came to require rigorous memorization and training with a machine. Chess, once poetic and philosophical, was acquiring elements of a spelling bee: a battle of preparation, a measure of hours invested. “The thrill used to be about using your mind creatively and working out unique and difficult solutions to strategical problems,” the grandmaster Wesley So, the fifth-ranked player in the world, told me via email. “Not testing each other to see who has the better memorization plan.

  —  Chess Is Just Poker Now

[chessismyaesthetic]

Happy birthday Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand!

Vishy Anand, one of my favourite commentators from recent World Championships (he just seems like such a lovely guy and his analysis is always interesting and well explained), is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. The FIRST grandmaster from India (he won the title in 1988) which is hard to believe given how many great Indian chess players there are now, he has the 8th highest peak FIDE raiting of all time. He remains the only player to have won the World Chess Championship in tournament, match, and knockout format, as well as rapid time controls.

Vishy playing Kasparov, 1995.

As a teenager people called him "Lightning Kid" for his rapid playing speed, and later GMs who faced him often described him as one of the all-time greats alongside Garry Kasparov (a logical comparison given the schism in the World Championship and the fact most top GMs would have played both so could compare).

As a lightning fast teenager in the 1980s.

Wikipedia describes him as "a well-liked figure throughout the chess world for two decades, evidenced by the fact that Kasparov, Kramnik, and Carlsen, all of whom were rivals for the world championship during Anand's career, each aided him in his preparations for the 2010 World Chess Championship" which is something I massively admire in sports people - the seemingly rare ability to be a top competitor AND be nice to people.

Check out his game 6 win against Karpov in the 1998 World Championship match for a great win at an important moment. Karpov had won the first four games, Vishy made a draw in game 5, and NEEDED to win. So what does he do? He plays the Trompowsky Attack (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5) - rarely seen at GM level - and wins in 42 moves! Seriously, go google and admire. Sadly (for me at least since I'm a fan) he lost the WC in the tiebreaker games and didn't manage to become World Champion until two years later when he became the first world champion from Asia and the first world champion from outside the ex-Soviet Union since Bobby Fischer.

Anand v. Kramnik at the 2008 World Championship, game 3.

OR check out game 3 of his World Championship match against Kramnik in 2008. Here Vishy has the black pieces playing against Kramnik's Queen's Gambit Declined - they go into a really tactically sharp line known as the Blumenfeld Attack (this is part of the Semi-Slav defence, classical merin variation if you want to look it up). On move 14 Vishy plays a novelty - a new idea - that Kramnik needs to refute if he's to win. Vishy's idea is to just give up a pawn (which is usually defended) in favour of attacking the white king. Two pawns down, Vishy rejects the possibility of a draw and goes on the attack with Kramnik's king on the run. It's exciting stuff and unbelievably tense when you imagine the WC conditions they were playing in!

Vishy about to beat defending champion Magnus Carlsen in Game 3 of the 2014 World Chess Championship in Sochi.

His career is way too long and too well documented to be worth going into any greater detail - google is your friend here - but what a great player. Well worth delving into his games, not least as he was one of the first to embrace computer prep so that alone is an interesting development.

[redshift-13]

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1618000531355574272

[davidhudson]

Happy 60th, Garry Kasparov.

[floridaboiler]

Deep Blue Wins

May 11, 1997 -- Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format.

source - https://twitter.com/historycalendar