Garry Kasparov, a chess grandmaster whom some consider to be the best player in the world and also a political activist exiled from Russia, recently gave an alarming yet enlightening interview to the New Yorker's Masha Gessen, in which he mourned the two-party system; said that if President Donald Trump is re-elected, it will be a tragedy; and declared that we are "living in chaos." Kasparov also seemed to suggest we should move to space when Gessen asked him "Are you not afraid of the future?" He told Gessen: "I am an incorrigible optimist by nature. The future is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe this firmly. I am fervently in favor of resuming space exploration. We have to start living in the algorithm of exploration again. That’s what made this country what it is, and the world, too."
Yikes, but there's a bright spot—and it's that Kasparov really likes St. Louis. It makes him feel optimistic, even. Here's what he said about our city:
Tell me about your chess work.
That’s the fun part. Fortunately, in America there is a city called St. Louis. And there is the Sinquefield family, and Rex Sinquefield, whose Saint Louis Chess Club spends millions of dollars a year to promote chess. There is a children’s chess boom in America. You don’t see it on television but it’s there. I work with them a lot. Twice a year I hold sessions for gifted children.
I want chess tournaments to be a commercial enterprise and chess to be a professional game. For now I feel optimistic. I play a little bit when I go to St. Louis. But I realize that I can’t compete with the leading chess players today.
Read the full piece here.
