FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 1999
Press Release #7
KAMSKY LEADS FOUR AMERICANS INTO ROUND 2 OF THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Four American chess grandmasters are now playing in Round 2 of the World Chess Championship in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Nine U.S players started the event, but five were knocked out in Round 1. The month-long tournament has a $3 million prize fund. The World Chess Federation, known as FIDE, is sponsoring the seven-round event.
In today’s action young Gata Kamsky, a medical student from New York, methodically dismantled Alexander Khalifman, a strong and experienced Russian grandmaster. American chess fans sighed with relief—Kamsky has hardly played in three years and no one knew what to expect. In 1996 Kamsky reached the Final of the World Championship, but then gave up professional chess for medicine.
In other games today, former U.S. champions Boris Gulko and Alex Yermolinsky ("The Yerminator") made draws against their opponents from Belarus and Russia, respectively. Ordinarily a draw is satisfactory; it means neither player wins. However, both Americans had the white pieces in their games, which is considered an advantage. Tomorrow both of them will have the black pieces and can expect their opponents to press hard.
Young Tal Shaked, the local favorite from Arizona, lost today to a Bulgarian grandmaster. Tomorrow Shaked will have the white pieces and a chance to even the score. If he doesn’t, he will be eliminated from the competition.
Round 2 of the World Championship is significant because it marks the entry of all the top-rated players who received byes in Round 1. But today some of the big guns fired blanks. The #1 seed Kramnik of Russia could only draw. The #2 seed, Shirov—formerly of Latvia but now playing under the Spanish flag—suffered a shattering loss to a Bosnian who had never beaten him before. Shirov, popular with chess fans because of his daring style, faces elimination unless he can win tomorrow with the black pieces.
The first player to win a game today was also the oldest—legendary Viktor Korchnoi, 68, who twice lost matches for the world championship. The next player to win was the only woman still in the event—young and elegant Judith Polgar of Hungary.
Chess fans around the world are following the moves live on the U.S. Chess Federation Web site, uschess.org.
CONTACT: Timothy Hanke, Press Officer for the World Chess Championship, at 702-697-5800. Or call Caesars Palace at 702-731-7110, and ask for extensions 5913 to 5927.