🚀 go-pugleaf

> On the other hand, Kasparov is doubly damned in the eyes
> of the Soviet goverment because he is half Jewish and
> half Armenian, neither of which are good things to
> be in Soviet Russia.  Also, I get the impression
> Kasparov takes no interest in Soviet or Communist party
> affairs and would be just as happy somewhere else.
> Karpov got the Soviet Chess Federation to put through
> the rules in his favor before the last tournament
> because he was the favorite of the Soviet government.
> It would be nice to have a chess match that really
> picked the best player rather than introduce all this
> politics and favoritism.
> 
> 				Eric G. Stern

You are underestimating Kasparov's power in the Soviet Union.  I think
most of my info is from Chess Life magazine over the past year,
especially from articles by Lev Alburt.  Kasparov has connections in
the CP that are higher than Karpov's.  As I recall very vaguely,
Kasparov is the darling of a Politburo official (from his home
Azerbaijan, if I'm not mistaken), whereas Karpov's buddy in the
political hierarchy is at a lower level.

Kasparov is "half Jewish" -- His father's family is named Weinstein,
his mother's was Kasparian, which was Russianized.  This is something
of a disadvantage to him, but all the Russian chess champions for a
long time have been Jews (except Karpov), so while it would be
preferable to have a "great white hope" like Karpov, I think that the
Sovs have grown accustomed to Jews in chess.

Kasparov is very well treated in the Soviet Union, he is one of the few
people with a personal computer, he is living with a famous actress,
he's young, suave, etc.  He's not suffering too much.  He seems to
be a symbol that Moscow can point to and say "look, we're modern."

I agree that Kasparov would probably rather be a New Yorker, but he's
playing his cards properly.  He can't just just go shooting his mouth
off about defecting without getting his head handed to him.  (Yes, a
mangled mingled metaphor.  Don't bother me.)

I don't pretend that life in the USSR is all that simple.  I posted
this stuff because there really isn't much on it in the US pop press.
Check out the CL articles by Lev Alburt.  Are there any other
articles?

	Andrew Tannenbaum   Interactive   Boston, MA   617-247-1155