Agence France Presse
 Saturday 2:56 AM GMT



Kasparov shows flashes of past glory but comeback no dazzler

 Washington, Aug 19 2017

Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov concluded his keenly awaited
comeback Friday, ending a week of games in which he showed flashes of
his legendary prowess but ended up eighth out of 10 players.

The 15-time world champ temporarily came out of 12 years of retirement
to take on a much younger generation of masters at the Rapid and Blitz
tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.

In this format featuring faster-paced chess than in traditional games,
Kasparov played inconsistently.

He won just a few games against the other nine players, who included
four of the world's top 10. The winner of the tournament was Levon
Aronian, of Armenia.

After retiring from chess in 2005, Kasparov turned to politics and
joined the opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In his peak he was known as "the Beast of Baku" -- a reference to the
capital of his native Azerbaijan -- because of his very aggressive
playing style focusing on wins over settling for a draw.

Kasparov was not expected to win this tournament.

Experts predicted the Russian would face stiff competition from the
younger stars, especially after more than a decade away from the pro
chess circuit.

"I expected a better performance from Kasparov," French grandmaster
Sylvain Ravot told AFP.

Ravot said Kasparov actually dominated a number of games but played
too slowly through much of the tournament.

"The explanation for that is his lack of confidence," said Ravot.