Nakamura (Is? Was?) Working With Kasparov: Confirmation

Have a look here, and scroll down to the section on Dortmund, paragraph two, which reads

For this ChessBase Magazine the serial victor of Dortmund has chosen to annotate his win against Hikaru Nakamura. The American went into a theoretical duel in the Nimzo-Indian and chose an unfashionable variation with 8.Qb3. However, Kramnik points out in his analysis that in his day Kasparov championed this move. And especially since Kramnik knew that Nakamura had been working with Kasparov recently, he would probably not have been all that surprised at the choice.

HT: "anonymous coward"

Comments

[lol]

Confirmation? hah. Premise 1. Hikaru played an opening line championed by Kasparov 2. Hikaru is rumored to be working with Kasparov 3. Therefore, Hikaru is working with Kasparov.

That's a pretty weak, circumstantial argument. Even if you add the "What was Hikaru doing in Croatia" argument, it's still not confirmation. Possible, probable, mayyybe likely, but hardly confirmation.

[DM: The confirmation was not the opening choice but this: "And especially since Kramnik knew that Nakamura had been working with Kasparov recently..." A person _knows_ something only if it's true. There's no indication in the passage that Kramnik was making an inference from Nakamura's choice of opening; rather, it's because of his background knowledge that he found Nakamura's opening unsurprising.]

[lol]

Point taken, but then I would ask how Kramnik "knows"? Did he say how he knew? Maybe Chessbase is just propagating rumors. The article doesn't even say Kramnik said he knew--the author of the article seems to be making an analytical leap and putting words in Kramnik's mouth based on the rumor Nakamura was working with Kasparov(unless he clearly stated how he knew during the analysis or somewhere else). I think if Kramnik unloaded a bombshell like that, someone would have asked him how he knew such a thing. So, maybe a more accurate question is--how did the author know that Kramnik new Hikaru was working with Kasparov?

[DM: I said "confirmation", not "deductive proof intended to satisfy Aristotle's regress argument". There are enough other statements I've heard about, some on the record and some off, that it seems to be common if unannounced knowledge; indeed, Kramnik put it matter-of-factly without raising any eyebrows at all.]

[Stills]

What did Kramnik mean when he said that he knew Nakamura was working with Kasparov? I'd like to know the answer because the idea that Kasparov would talk to Nakamura about a position isn't so hard to fathom. What we really want to know is whether Nakamura is getting the full 170,000 euro treatment, that Carlsen received.

[DM: 170,000 euros? (Is that figure from the new book on Carlsen? I'd never seen a number attached to their relationship before.) I have no idea whether Nakamura is paying that kind of money to have Kasparov be his semi-full-time chess guru, but this isn't Nakamura having a five minute chat on Skype to ask about the wife and kids and to request a few words of wisdom, either.]

[Stills]

[DM: 170,000 euros? (Is that figure from the new book on Carlsen? I'd never seen a number attached to their relationship before.) ]

It was a figure that stuck in my head from internet chess reading, in lieu of no official figures. (The intended 2 year contract lasted 1 year as I presume it was terminated sometime in February.) Sources:

(Sept.2009) "Thanks to sponsors which haven't been disclosed yet, Magnus Carlsen has started working with Garry Kasparov to try and become the number one chess player in the world. For the moment the collaboration will last two years." http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/magnus-carlsen-my-job-is-to-improve-my-chess/

(Sept.2009) "The collaboration, which until now has been kept secret, has been under way for six months (March 2009), confirms Magnus Carlsen himself. He will not reveal what the training program costs, but confirms that it is expensive". http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5742

(October 2010) "My agent, Espen Agdestein, helps me attract sponsors to cover my costs and training with Kasparov. The contracts with my two main sponsors, Arctic Securities and Simonsen law firm each bring in about $170,000 a year. Ideally, we’d like to have a few more sponsors." http://www.ristopakarinen.com/home/item/scanorama-the-mozart-of-chess/catid/3

(Sept. 2011) The last straw for the cooperation came at Corus 2010 http://whychess.org/node/1904

[anonymous coward]

Elliot Liu (if it is him) confirms publicly at chess.com:

"Hikaru is working with Kasparov. He affectionately calls him "The Boss," and they talk almost every day via skype. For the past year, I kept my promise to Hikaru and did not tell anyone that they were working together, but now that the strong rumors are swirling around, everyone's pretty much figured it out. Kasparov's help has absolutely done good things for Hikaru, as he won Tata Steel earlier this year in January, basically only a couple months after they started working together. When I visited Hikaru in Monte Carlo in March, they were in constant communication, even though it was the Amber Blindfold and Rapid. Anyway, there's not much else to say about the matter, and only time will tell to see what this team can do."

http://blog.chess.com/ChessMarkstheSpot/kasparov-amp-naka-together

[Polo]

May be Kasparov has just been sparring with Nakamura to prepare for his blitz matches. Kasparov has another blitz match coming up against Short after having played Vachier Lagrave.