Leko has very impressive tournament and match results, all of
which have put him in the public eye as a potential title challenger. In
fact, he not only demolished, but pulverized FIDE (World Chess Federation)
World Champion Alexander Khalifman, 4.5 - 1.5, in their 6-game Millennium
Match in front of
over 20 million worldwide online audience without losing a single game!
It's hard to believe at such a young age! Is it now Leko's time?
Who wouldn't remember this sports headline a few years ago :
PLAYING WITH FIRE!!!
PETER LEKO : THE WORLD'S YOUNGEST
GRAND MASTER
This was the headline in all major newspapers and sports magazines all
over the world. Everyone was mesmerized as they read the first few
lines of that
AP article :
The record set by Bobby Fischer and improved upon by
Judit Polgar of becoming the world's youngest Grand Master at 15 has just
been burned. The kid with the matches is 14-year old Peter Leko of
Hungary, an unlikely vegetarian in the world of carnivorous Grand Masters.
There have been a lot of changes years after. The world's hope
of the return of the legendary Bobby Fischer (named as the Chess Player
of the Millennium) seems to be permanently dashed away; Judit Polgar
who insisted to play on Men's tournaments drowned in competition and in
ratings; And even Leko's record
of being the youngest ever Grand Master in history no longer exist.
It seems easier to become a Grandmaster these days, probably to some rule changes.
[Currently, the title of youngest Grand Master in history is held by Bu Xiangzhi
of China who became one at 13, though some recognize Teimour
Radjabov, due to the controversial way that Bu got his GM title.]
However, not everything changed. Peter Leko still is, and as it
seems, will always be the crowd favorite wherever he competes. This straight A student still is a vegetarian.
Immaculately groomed, Peter Leko cuts a dashing figure at the
tournaments with his trademark white shirt and jacket, emblazoned with
the blue logo of his sponsor, ''Westfalische Ferngas -AG''. Thanks to this
sponsorship deal, Leko
now has a professional team behind him in his quest to become the No
1. Cuban Amador Rodriguez is his main trainer. And his unofficial
coach? Who else but Bobby Fischer himself!! He visits Fischer
from time to time in his hometown in Budapest where the former World Champion
now resides. Looking after the business side, he now has a German
manager, Carsten Hensel.
Leko is not like your typical chess player who travels around
different countries playing weekend tournaments to survive. His high and
stable finacial situation saves him from having to play simultaneous games
and other lucrative activities. With guidance from his manager and trainer,
Peter's chess calendar is correctly planned so that he can concentrate
fully in his advance towards the top of world chess.
No chessplayer today has a work ethic than young Leko as he works his
way up the ratings towards his goal of replacing Kasparov as the world
No 1. Now firmly established in the Top-10 in the world, it's no wonder that
many now see the young Hungarian as a realistic contender to the Kasparov
throne. On the playing front, Leko is has a solid and extensive understanding
of chess. Nothing could be further from the truth. Leko's play has developed
in all aspects and he is a very aggressive player, but as the saying goes ''work hard and
rest on your laurels''.
Leko's feats at this tender age may give the impression that things
had been made quite easy for him. On the contrary, this young man is no
stranger to adversity. He lost his opening game against Sergey Tiviakov
in the tournament where he earned his final Grand Master norm and made
history. And in fact he lost all his 9 games in his first international
appearance in when he was 9. And yet, this failure brought out the
best in him. The following year, he won the same tournament, winning all his games! Not long after
he became the youngest International Master and the rest is history.
He's now regarded as the hardest player to beat across the board due
to
extensive repertoire up to the demands of a title match. How
tough to beat is Peter? Despite playing in the highest rated tournaments,
he sometimes averages only one loss the whole year! Definitely amazing
considering how aggressively
he plays. Regarding his defensive play, Mig, then with TWIC now
of Kasparov Chess say's, ''How many times have I told everyone that if
you sacrifice against Leko, make sure you've calculated it up to mate or
you'll certainly lose!
This kid can defend the Alamo with a butterknife!!''
Kasparov himself says, "One literally has to be at one's best to defeat
Leko,
unless you can surprise him with some super-novelty."
Like most Hungarians, he'll play (like Kasparov) the Gruenfeld against
1 d4, and the Sicilian Pelikan against 1 e4. He plays on his knowledge
of the Sveshnikov that was passed on to him by one of his early trainer,
Andras Adorjan. In
Linares 2000 we again started to see some changes in his repertoire
when,
against Alexei Shirov, he played the solid Russian Defence (like Kramnik,
Anand and Shirov). Both Anand, Kramnik and Shirov have declared that
they
are ready to dethrone Kasparov; well now is their opportunity to go
for him.
Peter has never said such a thing: He does his talking on the chess
board. He simply says he still is in a learning process, getting better
every day, and trying
to improve his play step by step (he is barely out of his teens!).
The day that
he will be ready to challenge Kasparov is not far away - perhaps sooner
than
we all think - and until then he prefers to maintain a sensible attitude:
silence.
In fact, the smart money in the pressroom believes that, due to Vishy
Anand's slump in form, Leko will be the one who first sits across the board
from
Kasparov in a title match.
The last four outings between Kasparov and Leko have proved to
be tough affairs all ending in draws. Linares 2000 was no different. Leko
came up with
a TN in his (and Kasparov's) favourite Gruenfeld Defence that headed
straight
for an ending. To his credit, Kasparov worked very hard at the board
''in order
to make the structure work.'' He felt that somehow the White position
was
better but couldn't (despite using up a lot of time on the clock) find
a way
through Leko's well-organised defence. However, as if to gets us ready
for
what may or may not happens soon, all the fun came during the post
mortem
with a healthy game of verbal tennis between the two players. ''
The pawn
ending was drawn by a miracle,'' opined Kasparov. ''If it had been
won then it would have been a scandal!'' retorted Leko. Kasparov was now
warming to
this rivalry that was building up between himself, the Chess King,
and
the young Prince.
Kasparov remarked to young Leko that he should try and play this ending
against someone like Kramnik. Leko's reply? ''I thought it was good
for the
future that I knew whether this ending was drawn or not.'' Kasparov
just turned
to the assembled journalists enjoying the post mortem and, with a wry
smile on his face, just laughed. We all got the message from Garry:
''One day, young boy! One day!''