WhisperzQ: Do you mind a small correction of your translation? En passant means 'in passing." I pass you would be "Je te passe." And we should point out to new players that capturing "en passant" is unusual in chess because it must be done immediately after the opposing pawn completes its move- otherwise the chance to capture that pawn "en passant" is lost. Thanks!

HalfPawn: I have read that many of the greatest chess players of all time had really strange quirks. Paul Morphy had some type of fetish for women's shoes. ( I have heard that he like to dance around them!?) Alekhine was almost destroyed by alcohol. And one GM- I have forgotten who it was supposed to be- is said to have nearly bankrupted himself for "brain food" i.e shrimp or was it oysters? So, if Karpov was having sometime of nervous breakdown at a World Championship match- it would not surprise me at all.

ouspensky: A history of the 84-85 match can be fibd on line at:
World Chess Championship: 1984 Karpov-Kasparov. The record of the draws is there- but there is no mention of Botvinnik. Perhaps this is apocryphal? The htoery that Karpov was on drugs is discussed, so who knows? There is also a book on this Championship by two authors Speelman and Tisdal, but I don't know the title.

Cubs93: Im curious about this post. Why did you rate Kranmik over Kasparov? While Kranmik is brilliant- with a stellar career ahead of him- Garry has an overall better winning percentage (69% to Kranmiks64%) and his games with Kranmik are a virtual tie. Besides, no one, except maybe Fischer, has done more for chess that Garry. It is far too early to label Kranmik the greatest player of all time! Of course, the best comparison cannot be made until Kranmik has retired as well.