More on Chess: Are We Seeing a True Championship Match?

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks the format used to decide the World Chess Championship is goofy. It turns out that the number-one ranked player in the world, a 22-year-old prodigy from Norway named Magnus Carlsen, refused to participate in the qualification process for this match.

Meanwhile, Garry Kasparov, the greatest chess player of all time, has trashed the Anand/Gelfand match, stating that "{i}t is the first time in history that an official world championship match has nothing to do with the title of the world's best player." He also said that "content-wise, the match is inferior to all those played since I left professional chess." He also said that "Anand has obviously lost interest in the game, this being something for which he has always been noted." (I would love for Magic Johnson or Larry Bird to say something like that about LeBron. How wild would that be?)

Finally, when asked whether he would be willing to play Anand or Gelfand himself, Kasparov gave an even better quote: "I am happy with the score I have with both participants. I never lost a single game to Gelfand and won nine in classic chess, and remember exactly my score with Anand: 15 to 3."

Oh, well. The Heath Post has sympathy with Kasparov's views, especially after seeing so many dull draws in the Anand/Gelfand match. And we certainly hope that Mr. Carlsen participates in the next World Championship. Nevertheless, we will still recognize the winner of the Anand/Gelfand match as the World Champion.