A Strange "Strategy"
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 12:20PM According to this article, Kasparov and Carlsen will scale back their collaboration in 2010. This seems a peculiar decision, at least if they are backing off as much as the article seems to suggest. Sure, Carlsen is #1 now (by a whopping seven tenths of a rating point), but he's still developing and must have a lot more he can learn from Kasparov. So why not keep going (unless the cost was bankrupting Carlsen)? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
The independence argument doesn't seem so impressive either. Kasparov kept the much weaker Dokhoian on his permanent staff for years, as did Anand with Ubilava and Karpov with Podgaets. But Carlsen is going to (largely) push off from intense work with Kasparov (Kasparov!) after just a single year? Carlsen has years to develop the virtues of independence Kasparov might be trying to help instill in him, but his years of "easy" improvement are fading away as he approaches developmental maturity. It's true that if Carlsen seems to be stagnating, they can always reverse it, but it's better to keep the momentum going. Anyway, if I were one of Carlsen's main rivals, I'd breathe a big sigh of relief at hearing this news. Carlsen's a handful and then some, but Carlsen + Kasparov + over a decade of Kasparov + Dokhoian's collaboration is monstrous.
P.S. To any Carlsen bootlickers who might be reading this: Please read my post carefully (for a change) before composing your anonymous slanders. Thanks ever so much.
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Reader Comments (18)
I'm sure money was a big factor in the decision. Of course he would keep working with him if it were still practical. Like you said, there's "no reason" to stop, as far as his chess improvement goes.
Well, we don't know how much Kasparov takes for his services, and I would be surprised if Carlsen had trouble affording him, for at least two reasons:
1. Carlsen has a lot of sponsors, he is a national treasure in a pretty rich country -- I'm sure the big companies whose logos he is wearing on his chest and arms are more than happy to cough up a few euros for their best advertising option.
2. Who says Kasparov takes a lot for training Carlsen? He's a millionaire on his own, he certainly doesn't need that to make a living, and he has spoken enthusiastically on several occasions on this cooperation and how much he himsefl enjoys it, finds it rewarding and gains a lot from it. Maybe money isn't that big in this case. Plus, if that was the problem, they would probably figure something out, if Kasparov is honest in his enthusiasm about the job.
I'm sure they had some reasons, but I wouldn't be so quick to speculate about the financial side.
I just don't understand why he'd ruin a good thing like that? Unless as you suggest he was going bankrupt from it (highly unlikely).
"I wouldn't be so quick to speculate about the financial side."
I didn't claim that was the reason, but only mentioned it as a possibility. The explicit reasons were addressed too.
I would guess finances myself, since I think I read somewhere that someone was footing the bills for it rather than Carlsen paying out of his own pocket... Also, the article didn't say they weren't going to stay in contact, just that they weren't doing chess camps. So there could also be a ruse element to it as well -- how much do they really need to be in the same room to create almost the same effect with the internet and telephone? If you have Carlsen's skills, I'm guessing a little bit of advice from Kasparov goes a long ways... Lastly, I wouldn't be at all surprised when the day comes when Carlsen is challenging for the world championship that Kasparov doesn't somehow magically show up as his second...
Is this possibly just for positioning? It was said a few times that players had to worry about Kasparov's prep, but now Carlsen is maybe hoping to get to use it more often by not being seen as having access to Kasparov's prep.
I was also quite surprised on reading the article. I wouldn't rule out the financial element of the decision though. From the article at the time of the announcement: "He will not reveal what the training program costs, but confirms that it is expensive." That could mean a lot of things of course, but the fact that is was mentioned seems relevant to me.
@other posters, not Dennis
I seriously doubt it is for financial reasons, because as another poster mentioned, Kasparov himself enjoys it and you can tell he's proud of Carlsen and I'm sure Carlsen or his sponsors could afford it. :p
The article also just said Carlsen would be making his own career decisions and not doing chess camps. I just took this to mean that since they met their goal of him becoming number, Kasparov will not plan which events Magnus plays in to obtain a specific goal and instead will leave it up to Magnus to choose what he wants to play in. It also said that Magnus could contact Kasparov basically whenever he wanted and I'm sure he will. I don't think the article suggested they were backing off so much. It said:
So he won't have constant guidance, but Magnus can still "confer regularly" with Kasparov. Doesn't seem like such a drastic cut back.
Another possibility: if Kasparov plays a role - more than just a supporter - in Karpov's bid for FIDE presidency, he doesn't want to be too closely associated with one (out of several) world champion candidates!? Else he might be biased, or at least he might be accused of being biased - either during the campaign or, if it succeeds, thereafter.
Just another speculation ... if correct, it would also be understandable why the true reason is not mentioned.
It is strange. My best guess is Kasparov and Carlsen set the goal of working until he reached #1. Having acheived that goal Kasparov reevaluated how much effort he wanted to expend on helping another player. A key moment will occur if/when Magnus qualifies for his first World Championship match. Kasparov will be the ultimate second.
Or maybe Carlsen is getting tired of being seen like Kasparov's puppet.
Keep 'em guessing ! Nice touch, guys ;-)
Kasparov coming out of retirement is my speculation. Has no one thought of the training sessions being beneficial for Kasparov rather than Carlsen. He has seen Carlsen's potential and his position as the greatest ever (elo 2850+) is in jeopardy!
Maybe Kaspy wants to conquer Russia again?
I love the speculation about Kasparov coming out of retirement, but does anyone, including Kasparov, seriously believe that he can play at a 2850+ level again?
Regardless of what Kasparov might believe about his all-time rating being threatened, there are increasing hints that Kasparov might want to play serious top-level chess again and I would imagine that wouldn't be comfortable for either player.
I wonder if it wasn't creative differences. They are very different kinds of players and I would expect them to lock horns a lot about the evaluation of positions and systems.
Kasparov has always been well known for his money greed. I bet that due to Carlsen's results and counting on sponsors and image Carlsen's earned, Kasparov has decided to raise the( probably already high) price.
"I wonder if it wasn't creative differences. They are very different kinds of players and I would expect them to lock horns a lot about the evaluation of positions and systems"
lol. Yes, I'm sure they broke up their agreement because they're not mature enough to respect each other's creative differences.
Well, the cost for having Kasparov on board was officially stated at NOK 2 million for 2010, back in November, when it was announced that the necessary sponsors were on board. That's a bit of money - maybe the deal fell apart.
I think the press statement is quite revealing - particularly where Kaparov speaks of "ammunition" that wasn't used, but was helpful. Maybe Carlsen probably got fed up with all the Carlsparov comments.
Remember that Carlsen has one shot at beating Kasparov's record of being the youngest WCC ever, How supportive is Kasparov of that happening, really?
:-)