When I grew up, Garry Kasparov was a hero of chess, a monument that nobody could beat, although with Karpov there he was realistically a primus inter parem. Unforgettable are his many world championship games with tactical finesses. He had charisma, intellect, humor. When he ended his career, he still was regarded the best chess player of all time. While by now on paper Magnus Carlsen is stronger, a match between Kasparov and Carlsen, possibly with Fischer, all in their best years, would prove interesting.
But by today, a shadow is lurking over Garry Kasparov: He was banned by the FIDE for two years. The allegation is that Karparov paid money to Ignatious Leong, who was also banned for two years now, in the 2014 presidential election of the world chess federation to receive Asian votes. On top of the 500,000 USD there would have been another one million dollars paid if Kasparov won the election. If that is true - and currently there is little doubt about it - Kasparov at some point must have turned into a criminal, someone willing to break the law for his success. The question now is: When was that point? Was it recently? Or was it already in 1984, when the match againts Karpov was aborted under heavily discussed circumstances? Is Kasparov a criminal? As much as I hate the FIDE under Ilyumzhinov, if the allegations made are true, if the FIDE ethics commission rightfully found both guilty, then Kasparov and Leong should be banned forever, not only for two years, from holding any official FIDE position.
Buying votes is a crime (it is at least in Germany). They should not get a chance to repeat their crimes!
Ich bin schockiert.
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