Kasparov is participating in this week’s Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, a 10-player round-robin tournament that consists of relatively speedy games and features some scarily strong competition. Four of the 10 competitors are in the world’s top 10.
Kasparov, 54, hasn’t played competitively since 2005.
I have suspended my chess retirement for five days, he said in an explanation why he was taking part in the St. Louis tournament.
After this tournament, Kasparov, who holds both Russian and Croatian citizenship, will travel to the Croatian seaside resort of Crikvenica for an international chess festival for young players. That project has resulted through the cooperation of local authorities and the Kasparov Chess Foundation Adriatic, the Croatian branch of the US-based Kasparov Chess Foundation.