Garry Kasparov, often regarded as the greatest chess player of all time alongside Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, has returned to the competitive arena this week in the $150,000 Chess 9LX tournament held in St. Louis. Chess 9LX, also referred to as Fischer Random, Freestyle Chess, or Chess 960, involves the random placement of back rank pieces.
At 61, Kasparov remains a formidable player. Competing against top US grandmasters, he achieved a 4.5/9 score, missing out on better results due to difficulties with the rapid 20-minute time limit per game, with a 10-second increment per move. He missed winning opportunities against both world No. 2 and reigning US champion Fabiano Caruana, who won the Chess 9LX event, and against world No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura.
Kasparov's victories included world No. 12 Leinier Domínguez, rising talent Samuel Sevian, and 2018 US champion Sam Shankland. His memory remains sharp; he was the only player to recognize the final round's position as identical to the 2023 Chess9LX event.
Before the tournament, Kasparov was interviewed by chess journalist Peter Doggers, whose book 'The Chess Revolution' discusses chess in the 2020s. Kasparov played against Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997, blaming his poor performance in 1997 on the lack of a break between games.
Kasparov enjoys Chess9LX, stating, "by my current standards I'm not supposed to play the strongest players in the world. But again, it gives me great pleasure and sometimes I can bite." He acknowledges a fundamental problem he cannot overcome, describing it as "blackouts."
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