Kasparov In Action(!), Beats Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-.5
Only blitz, alas, but it's nice to see Garry Kasparov in action again. It was an exhibition in Clichy, France, in two rounds. The first round saw Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Laurent Fressinet battle for the right to play Kasparov in the final round. After a pair of draws, Vachier-Lagrave won the Armaggedon game to advance. In the final, Kasparov won with White, setting up and executing a nice promotion combination, and then the former world champion held on to draw an up-and-down game with Black. (There was a tandem game after that which was surely memorable to the amateur participants and a good thing if it helps keep sponsors coming, but the play was abysmal and the game score ought to be destroyed before it gets into TWIC and other databases.)