After 16 Years, A Kasparov-Carlsen Rematch
Remember 2004? Garry Kasparov was still active, the world championship title was still split (Vladimir Kramnik owned the lineal title while Ruslan Ponomariov entered the year with the FIDE title and Rustam Kasimdzhanov ended with it), and it wasn't yet clear which super-prodigy - Magnus Carlsen or Sergey Karjakin - would be the first to reach the world championship level. There was no SARS-CoV-2, and the world was in a condition of total peace...ok, scratch that last part. But it does seem like a happy, bygone era compared to the tumult of this year.
Many things have changed since then, but one thing the two years share is that they featured games between Kasparov and Carlsen. Then Kasparov was still the #1 player in the world and still angling for a direct path to a world championship (either a match with Kramnik or at least a semi-final contest against Ponomariov), while Carlsen was entered the year - and a rapid tournament in Reykjavik, where he would play Kasparov - as a 13-year-old IM on the verge of the grandmaster title. They played twice then, with Carlsen very nearly winning the white game before Kasparov eked out a draw, followed by a comfortable white win by Kasparov in the second game.
And this year? Thanks to the SARS-CoV-2, the Champions Showdown isn't being held in person (in St. Louis), but online. And it's not classical ("normal") chess, but Chess960. Still, it's chess; still, it's Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. Kasparov has played a number of recreational events in St. Louis the past few years, but this is the first time he has played Carlsen in such an event - and it's to his credit. It would be very easy for him to ride off into the sunset, boast of his undefeated plus score against Carlsen is 1.5-.5, and leave it at that. But the man has never shrunk from a challenge, so here we are.
They played today, and it was...a game that Kasparov almost lost. Should have lost. But...didn't lose. He didn't win, but he saved a draw, and at least until the next time, Kasparov maintains his undefeated +1 score against Carlsen. Here's the game.