Kasparov Versus The World - Pre-game Speculation and Preparation

Pre-game Speculation and Preparation

Prior to the game, Kasparov was considered a prohibitive favorite. He was reigning World Champion, he was playing with the advantage of the white pieces, and previous examples of majority Internet voting had produced mediocre competition. For example, in 1996 Anatoly Karpov had taken the black pieces against the rest of the world, and had won convincingly. Contrary to expectations, however, Kasparov's game produced a mixture of deep tactical and strategic ideas, and although Kasparov won, he admitted that he had never expended as much effort on any other game in his life.

The World Team had several points in their favor, some of which were innovative for an Internet game. First, four young chess stars were selected by MSN to suggest moves for the World Team. They were, in decreasing order of FIDE rating, Étienne Bacrot, Florin Felecan, Irina Krush, and Elisabeth Paehtz. Also, grandmaster Daniel King, recruited to provide a running commentary, often acted as a fifth advocate. Second, the moves were slowed down to a pace of one move per day; that is, Kasparov had 24 hours to consider each of his moves, and the World Team had 24 hours to respond. Third, MSN provided a bulletin board for the discussion of the team's moves. It was hoped that these advantages would collectively allow for true consultation, and raise the level of play.

Kasparov played his first move 1.e4 on June 21, and the World Team voted by a 41% plurality to meet him on his home turf with the Sicilian Defence.