Three Russian Chess Legends to Face Off

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Three Russian Chess Legends to Face Off

Reuters - Russian chess legends Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov will face off in a three-man tournament set for December 1-12, the head of the Moscow city chess federation said on Wednesday.

"The three grandmasters have not played together for many years and now they agreed to commemorate the 90th birthday of their teacher Mikhail Botvinnik, world champion in the late '40s and '50s," Sergei Smagin said.

Karpov, Kasparov and now Kramnik, dubbed the "three K's" in Russian media, have held the chess world crown since 1975, dominating three successive generations of players.

Kramnik, 26, is the current world champion after toppling Kasparov in a dazzling display in London last year. Kasparov himself was a brash youngster when he dethroned Soviet-era great Karpov in a mid-1980s battle that led to bitter personal feuds.

Each will play four games against the others under the auspices of the Moscow chess federation. The prize money for the tournament have been set at $600,000, Smagin said.

He said the three had agreed to play and were expected to sign a contract in early September.

In October, Kramnik will play against a supercomputer in Bahrain for $1 million.