Date: 09 Nov 2003 18:16:24
From: Aryeh Davidoff
Subject: Lev Khariton: Where are you going, Garri
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Aryeh Davidoff: This new article by Lev Khariton is an in-depth
analysis of Kasparov's political zigzags and fluctuations.
Lev Khariton: I cannot agree with Garri Kasparov!
On November 2nd Garri Kasparov gave an interview to the Spanish
newspaper "La Vanguardia". I would like to comment on certain views
and ideas expressed by the 13th World Champion in this interview.
"I am an anti-Communist, and a Communist can never become my friend".
A very interesting declaration! Obviously, Kasparov has his own way of
choosing friends. I guess that on meeting anyone for the first time he
inquires whether his particular person is a Communist!
Speaking seriously, I would like, however, to know why Kasparov,
whenever he appears in public, focuses on communism. True, very few
people including the author of these lines would find any good word
for communism, especially knowing the dictatorial, totalitarian system
that reigned supreme in the Soviet Union for many years.
However, Kasparov was one of these few who exploited the communist
system in the USSR and, more particularly in Azerbaijan to the
fullest. Right from the very start of his chess career he received all
the benefits of the communist system for free. He did not have to pay
the best chess coaches, his trips to international tournaments were
covered by the USSR Sports Committee, he enjoyed the support of the
Azerbaijan Government, namely the support of Geidar Aliev, Brezhnev's
right-hand man.
More surprisingly, Kasparov joined the Communist Party when he was
twenty! What for did he do that? Actually, he has never openly
admitted that, but when I was translating into English his biography
for a special booklet for his first match with Karpov in 1984, I was
really shocked to find that information. Was it necessary for him to
be a communist to defeat Karpov? Or did he really believe in
communism? Or, in a broader sense, when should we believe Kasparov:
when he says that his political convictions and ideological views are
the same today as they were twenty years ago? In other words, is he
what he used to be when he got an all-round support from the communist
leaders being himself a member of the Communist party, or is he an
anti-Communist as he claims to be today?
The same questions should be put as regards Kasparov's political
affiliations. Nowadays he speaks with disgust about Russia's President
Putin. Kasparov maintains that Putin has always been a KGB agent. Is
it a curse or a compliment knowing that Kasparov was propelled to
chess Olympus owing to KGB involvement in his matches with Karpov.
Kasparov's trainer Alexander Nikitin was unequivocal on that score in
his book "Kasparov's Biography", praising those who had helped
Kasparov and his team to prevail in the World Championship matches.
In his interview to the Spanish paper Kasparov speaks about his
loneliness, that he has to take decisions in his life himself. Well, I
cannot believe Kasparov. I always judged people by their friends. But
who are Kasparov's friends? Mostly people rolling in money, people
changing their ideas and ideals as easily as one can change gloves.
Rich tycoons and businessmen. And first and foremost, those who
flatter him day and night. Suffice it to mention some names: Averbakh,
Roshal, Swarzenegger,Rotschild, Friedel, Bilunov, Shipov, Mig
(Greengard), Fetisov�Very few people dare to criticize him. However, I
would not be objective if I did not cite some names: Ed.Winter,
T.Kingston, Wolff, Watson� who write critical articles regarding
Kasparov's book "Predecessors". As a case of outrageous injustice I
can qualify the decision of the British Chess Federation to award
Kasparov's "Predecessors" the prize of the "book of the year". The
book full of analytical mistakes, an outright compilation outshadowed
in the eyes of the British jury the excellent books of their
compatriots Watson and Miles. Besides, nobody awards prizes to
separate volumes (this year it was Volume One, and next year, may be,
Volume Two or Three?!).
Yes, Kasparov calls Putin a KGB agent. For years this has been a
derogatory clich�. We know how these agents devastated the Soviet
Union arresting and killing millions of people. But Kasparov is just
using well-known clich�s. His friend Yuri Averbakh some years ago
pronounced now notoriously proverbial and cynical words:"What is the
shame in being a KGB agent?"
I would not like to leave Kasparov's political views unheeded. Again
he is using another political clich�: double standards. But all his,
so to say, political philosophy is based on double standards! Why is
he defending the Israeli army and government wiping out Palestinian
civilians under the pretext of anti-terrorist retaliations (oh! the
"innocent theory" of collateral damage) and at the same time he is
criticizing Russia's army carrying out an aggressive war against
Chechnya? In my opinion, we can equate these two wars qualifying them
as genocide of small and innocent nations. Why does the word "Islam"
in Kasparov's interpretation sound as a curse of millions of Muslims?
He cannot forgive the Palestinians or Iraqis their Islamic
fundamentalism but he does not seem to remember that the same Islam is
the religion of the Chechens. No, fulfilling the political and
ideological orders of certain political tycoons Kasparov is ready to
pass Black for White, something that he never does in chess!
I remember how ten years ago just before the Kasparov-Short match Lev
Polugayevsky told me that he was going to London to annotate all the
games of the match. "I want to show to the world, - Polugayevsky
said,- how wrong Kasparov sometimes is in his chess evaluations�".
Yes, Polugayevsky was justly called by Spassky "the greatest chess
critic of our time". However, I believe it was not easy to find errors
or inaccuracies in Garri's chess games. His evaluations and moves
outside the chess board, in the world of politics, or if you like,
chess politics are not only erroneous. They are absolutely amateurish!
I again return to Nikitin's book on Kasparov: "Garri was dying to find
himself in the center of Russia's political life (that was after the
August putsch in Russia in 1991 � L.K.). He often appeared on
television, he was interviewed by the media, he wanted to create
various political parties. The role of Cassandra, the prophet, suited
him perfectly. He was throwing himself in the political life unwilling
to admit that serious political activities and the title of the World
Champion excluded each other. As to the organization of chess life, he
often proposed interesting, profound ideas. However, when his ideas
were accepted by his chess colleagues, it was always for him a sign of
his infallibility. His mother saw a Messiah in him, and he considered
himself as a unique person. This provoked the animosity of even his
friends who were turning away from him"
"Chess victories almost always stimulated World Champions to desire to
be the first in other domains. This desire transforms often into a
habit, even an obsession, - continues Nikitin.- For Kasparov his title
became a challenge to his self-esteem. Now he is running, sometimes
without knowing where he is moving, without even noticing that his
friends and colleagues are staying behind and even leaving him. He is
running without knowing WHERE, but convinced that he will will win.
Where are you running, Garri?"
Really, where?
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