Role of chess in modern society has increased: Kasparov

Garry Kasparov would leave his opponents in a trance and the mesmerising impact was transferred to 600 top entrepreneurs from across the globe here on Friday.

In the Capital at the invitation of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation which organised the RIE 2016 event, Kasparov shared his life experiences in sport and in politics.

As the EO president Vibhas Prasad, the man behind the show, said: “We are very fortunate to have the Grandmaster interact with our fellow entrepreneurs and share his life experiences.” And Kasparov did not let the audience down, interspersing his interaction with anecdotes and humorous references.

Kasparov confessed his “mixed feelings” at the state of international chess. “I see the dramatic increase in the role chess is playing in modern society. Spread of chess in schools around the world is significantly higher than it was ten years ago. But the problem is we don’t have the leadership in the organisation to capitalise on the popularity and bring in corporate sponsorship,” he said.

Typical of his outspoken approach, the former world champion said, “chess and politics are different. In chess there are predictable moves and unpredictable results. In Russia it is exactly opposite. Chess needs corporate money and I see no future opportunities to accomplish it and make it beneficial for the game.”

Kasparov, 53, outlined his chess philosophy when dealing with an opponent.

“The difference is in style. In any game you have different styles; nothing wrong in being more aggressive. Players in tennis are good at the net and at the baseline. They have their style and can be aggressive too. The first step towards decision-making is to know who you are and create an environment of good decision-making. In most cases, vital decisions will be made under time pressure,” he said.
Take risks

He also advocated taking risks. “At the end of the day it is about how you use your dominant qualities to create favourable conditions. You need to be in good physical shape to guide your intuition. You need to trust your gut feeling,” he said.

“Today the fear of making a mistake is great. That pulls you back. You have to take risks. You are looking for good moves. It is about getting into good positions. You have to create an evaluation scale. I never ceased exploring new territories in the game of chess.”

Kasparov, even while saying that he was never in discomfort when playing against Viswanathan Anand, rated him a “great” player and praised the surge of Indian chess in recent times.
Praise for Indian chess

“All I know (of Indian chess) is what I read. There are many great talented players (under-18) who have won more medals than any other country. India has a huge potential with a great tradition, a very vibrant chess community. Sky is the limit,” he said.

“Chess has its place, with a substantial part of the audience waiting to be tapped in schools. Chess is a reflection of the society and should be part of family culture to become a mass sport. TV is losing ground to internet and will be eventually removed. On big screen, football wins. You move to this screen (smart phone) I am not sure you enjoy watching tennis or football, but you can watch and play chess,” concluded Kasparov.