Ties that bind
By ANDY SOLTIS
Last Updated: 4:04 AM, January 24, 2010
Posted: 11:55 PM, January 23, 2010
IN a game dominated by masters in their teens and early 20s, the September years of 78-year-old Viktor Korchnoi are a shock.
But even Korchnoi was stunned when he only drew a reunion match last month with his longtime rival, Boris Spassky.
After all, Korchnoi easily beat Spassky 6-4 in another match 10 years ago. Four years later, Spassky gave up competitive chess because he couldn’t take “the nervous pressure,” while Korchnoi continued to win prizes.
The 72-year-old Spassky was a big underdog in what was billed as a “Match of Giants” in Kalmykia, Russia, but managed a 5-5 tie.
The mystified Korchnoi said his skill may have declined since 1999 “but somehow Spassky is playing better.”
Here is the full article.
Well, Spasski is a great genius; Korchnoi isn’t.
That young one, Spassky! Beating up on his elder!
“битва гигантов” = battle of giants, not match of giants.
“Game dominated by masters in their teens and early 20s”…which game are you referring to? Surely not chess. WC Anand is 40, and most of the top ten seem to be in thirties or late 20’s. Carlsen is an exception, not the rule.