Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, who fascinated the world with their 1984 five-month-long, grueling chess battle, will meet for a historic rematch on Tuesday in Spain. The two grand masters faced off 25 years ago in what was seen as representing an ideological battle. Kasparov, only 21 at the time, was cast as the face of reform while Karpov played the role of the old Soviet Union. The two still hold opposing political views, but have become closer over the years. "Many of my friends forgot about me when I was jailed," said Kasparov, who was jailed for leading an anti-Putin protest in 2007. "Karpov tried to visit me." Karpov said they were "totally opposite in every area of life." The two players have been holed up preparing for the series of blitz and semi-rapid games over four days, which may be watched by as many as 10 million people online. Kasparov, 46, no longer plays competitively, and is worried his lack of recent match experience might handicap him against Karpov, who at 58 is no longer ranked in the top 100 players.
Read it at The GuardianTrending Now
