The new millennium really marked a milestone in the chess world when 16 of the world's top players squared-off for the first ever Grand Master tournament played in cyberspace.  The tournament was unusual, as the players, who were at different parts of the globe, played on-line over the Internet.  Millions of the usual online viewers were also treated when the commentaries did not come from just one place but came shooting from all over the world.  The most sought after commentator that the online viewers clicked on was the 12-year old Azerbaijani who was in his home in Baku.  Some puzzled online viewers who probably weren't pretty up to date on what's going on in the chess world inquired on what this kid was doing in the commentary box. Mig of KasparovChess Online replied, "If you think it's strange having a 12-year-old commenting on the games of world-class GMs, you've never met Teimour or seen the games of this under-18 European champion!"
 

Kasparov and tennis legend Boris Becker's online chess game was televised live in CNN's "In the Money." (AP)

When Boris Becker challenged Garry Kasparov to an online chess game, young Teimour was the lone commentator.  That duel wasn't just broadcasted live over the internet but in CNN, as well.  And just for that event alone, the rest of the world was finally introduced to the fresh new Prince of the Royal Game.

Becker, the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon, said he is very amazed by the contrast between young Teimour's age and his chess skills.  There couldn't be a better time for Radjabov's entry as the sporting world just saw the world's top youth player Peter Leko bid goodbye to youth tournaments when he pulverized the reigning World Champion Alexander Khalifman no less, in the first major match of the year 2000.  It's sad the world championship is no longer contested the way it had been for more than a hundred years.  Otherwise, Leko would've broken Kasparov's record of being the youngest champion ever. Nevertheless, this victory signaled that Leko is definitely more than ready to play at the highest levels of chess full time. 

Peter Leko, the world's no.1 youth, humiliated World Champion Alexander Khalifman, 4.5-1.5 in their "Millennium Match" duel. (AP)

If you haven't heard, immediately after Leko's rousing victory, KasparovChess invited the top 8 of the best junior players in the world today to play for the coveted title of the world’s strongest player.  This also happened to be the first ever chess tournament played in cyberspace. The world’s youngest grandmaster, 14-year old Bu Xiangzhi and Teimour Radjabov of course, were among the participants of the event and the top seeds.  It's amusing to note how comfortably these kids faced a computer that represented their opponent, notwithstanding certain technical faults, compared to the adults who participated in the said GM tournament 2 weeks after.

Vladimir Belov, the Russian prodigy and 3rd seed of that event, also happened to be a correspondent for KasparovChess.  Let's take a look on how he reported the result of the tournament from these excerpts:

"The KO system of the competition made it even more acute.  In the first round I had to play a Spanish chess player Jimenez. This match appeared to be rather easy for me. The result of the battle was predetermined in the very first game, where I managed to win with Black. In the second round I was to face a serious adversary: the rating favorite, the talented 12-year-old Azerbaijani international master Teimour Radjabov. Frankly speaking, he was even stronger than I had expected. In the first game I had to surrender on the 45th move. Alas, my hopes for revenge in the second game were not fated to come true. Radjabov forced a draw with a perpetual check. Just as I had expected, he easily defeated the Chinese chess player – Bu – in the final round."
 
 

Teimour Radjabov had already won 7 World and European Youth Championahips including the tough European Youth under-18 Championship before turning 13 years old.  (AP)

Young as he is, Teimour Radjabov is already a 7-time World and European Youth Champion.  After winning the World Youth under-10  and under-12 Championships, he felt or he knew he could take on the older and best youths of the world today and competed in the very tough European Youth under-18 Championship.

At the playing hall in Litohoro, Greece (famous for the Greek castles and Mt. Olympus), Teimour looked liked an elf battling the 69 other players. Everyone was shocked on how he dispatched one opponent after the other.  Even more stunning was how easy and effortlessly it seemed for him.  Here the chess world realized they are looking at no ordinary prodigy.  This is a boy who will, almost certainly, someday be ranked amongst the likes of Botvinnik, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. 

Garry Kasparov won the 1976 USSR Youth under-18 Championship at 12 years of age. (AP)

Like Kasparov, Teimour also hails from Baku, Azerbaijan.  When asked what characteristics do Kasparov and Teimour Radjabov share, Privorodsky said, "Talent from birth. Garry was a very unusual child.  His talent was inclusive of his strong desire to study chess. He constantly studied chess. It was impossible to speak with him on any topic not connected with chess. I was amazed at his memory and strong desire to study chess. Maybe it was intuition, I don’t know."

"I also knew Teimour and Teimour’s dad very well. I was the coach of Boris Sheinen – dad of Radjabov. At that time Boris didn’t show significant results. When I left the country, Teimour was very small but he had already showed himself as a young chess star,"  Privorodsky recalled.

And what does he think are are the most important factors in teaching chess to young kids such as Garry Kasparov and Teimour Radjabov? "The creation of good conditions is necessary for the nurturing of young talent," he said.  "For example, Garry was in the Botvinnik correspondence chess school and several times a year he visited this school to receive lessons there. We also gave Garry an opportunity to take part in international tournaments. For example, we sent him to France and as I remember, he took third place. Garry also took part in many Soviet tournaments. The sports association, “Spartak,” arranged a scholarship for Garry,"  he elaborated.

He said also added that Garry’s mother also had great influence on Garry and helped him very much. She provided for his participation in all possible chess tournaments. She tried to open all the doors for Garry. She contributed a great deal to Garry’s maturity in chess. Thanks to her, he said "I taught Garry individually at his home for a year and the House of Young Pioneers paid me for it."

"Of course, Garry was a very talented boy, but I don’t know what would have happened to him without such strong support,"  was the point he emphasized on.

When Kasparov  was in Teimour's age, Mikhail Botvinnik, the only 3 time World Champion in history, predicted Kasparov's great future. "In the hands of this young man, lies the future of chess," he declared.  Garry then grew up attending Botvinnik's chess school.  Perhaps when KasparovChess invited Radjabov to fly over to their headquarters in Israel to play some matches and participate in the chess clinic Kasparov himself organized, it was Garry's way of saying he wants Radjabov to follow his footsteps.
 
 

Bobby Fischer, the "Chess Player of the Millennium," finds refuge in Budapest, Hungary. (AP)

Several years ago, the world saw shades of Bobby Fischer in Peter Leko when Peter became the youngest ever grandmaster in history surpassing Fischer's feat.   Today, of course, the world sees not little but so much of Bobby Fischer in Peter Leko after it was reported Leko regularly visits Fischer who now resides in Budapest, Leko's hometown.  Kasparov couldn't hide being irritatated by this news when in an interview, while in the middle of explaining the complexities of his game with Leko, he suddenly blurted out, "As far as I know, he keeps in touch with Fischer!"

Garry is still obviously bothered that Fischer, and not him was declared the "Chess Player of the Millennium."  Well, Kasparov has indeed surpassed everything that Fischer achieved.  Yes it's true, there's nothing more to accomplish to prove his superiority over Fischer.  Nothing -- except to challenge Fischer himself in a real game.  Only then will he convince everyone.  Not all people believe that one's superiority  over the other can really be measured by the number of tournaments won or by ratings alone.  And if he indeed, plans to challenge Fischer afterall, he should not wait until  Bobby grows really old or everyone will simply think he really intended to wait for Bobby's mind to wane.

Chess fans really feel they've been robbed of what was meant to be the greatest chess match in history.  But perhaps, their duel was really never meant to be.  At this moment in time, their match isn't just the one the chess world was deprived of.  Nobody realizes it yet but it could have been a pleasure to see Peter and Teimour play each other while they were still considered  both as-- kids.

Who knows, maybe in the future, their rivalry will unfold and its fate's way of paying us of the Fischer-Kasparov match we were all deprived of.  The way everything's been going, we're indeed headed in that direction!

Peter and Teimour have so much in common besides being child prodigies whose geniuses are out of this world.  The way they exploit their chances are extraordinary.  Leko, who at 13  could already hold Karpov with a draw, looked back at his childhood and teen years.  He said, "I always played in very strong tournaments compared with my actual level. I was tough enough to stand the hard tests. I was away from my family. Many boys would have cracked."  Today, well established among the highest rated players in the world, it's impossible to play in a tournament stronger than his actual level.  Radjabov, on the other hand, had already won what is probably the ultimate goal of a youth player-- even before his name is allowed to be listed in the youth rankings.  At 12, his name was listed in the boy's rankings. 

Peter Leko has been the most dominant youth player ever in the history of chess. (AP)

One thing that separates Leko and Radjabov from other players is that they really hate to loose-- to anybody.  Leko's first coach, Tibor Karolyi remembers how Peter cried one time when he lost a blitz game against him.  Leko is now regarded as the toughest player to beat.  Kasparov himself says, "One literally has to be at one's best to defeat Leko, unless you can surprise him with some super-novelty."

We had our first chance to see how Teimour would react in the face of defeat although it was only a series of 2 friendly rapid games per day against Bu in an ubsurd one hour to finish time control. Teimour was definitely winning most if not all of their games, until he realizes that he won't be able to force the checkmate before his time expires.  Suddenly he panics and makes those careless daredevil moves.  After Bu got away with a draw in the first 2 games, Teimour was like a boy possessed at the post-mortem looking at what he should have done.  The following day, probably due to an influence of a  coach who was assigned for these games, Radjabov played both games using openings he hasn't tried out yet and lost both.  When they were just playing the opening moves of their second game that day, Teimour wrote "Stupid Trompowsky" as the name of his opening on his scoresheet.  This really affected Teimour in the next games.  His spirit was broken.  Always in the verge of victory but due more to the state of shock than the time control, Teimour blew the won games away.
 
 

Radjabov was in the state of shock after he lost a series of unrated rapid games to China's Bu. (AP)

Even if this was the same time control used at the Cadet Grand Prix where he defeated Bu in the finals, Teimour had already expressed his strong objection against it from the start.  Indeed, for you don't even try to win here-- for material nor positional advantage usually becomes immaterial-- one must just avoid being checkmated within an hour.  There is no second time control here.  Bu played not to win but to prolong being checkmated for as long as he can and hope that Radjabov runs out of time first.  His ploy worked indeed.  Teimour wasn't able to recover in that series of games for instead of playing for a win like he naturally does he played not to lose till the last game.  Clearly, Radjabov was in an unfamilliar territory here.  He didn't know how to respond to a lose right away for this was something new to him.  Lucky for him though, this was just experience learning rapid games.

All players, no matter how great, sooner or later, experiences defeat.   The difference is that, the great ones become tougher.  Leko who lost all 9 of his games in his very first international tournament says that if that didn't happen, he might never would've had the motivation to continiously improve and he won't be as strong as he is today.  "My father taught me when I played football that if they kick me, the best answer is to score goals,"  Leko shared.  We'll have to wait how Radjabov responds.  Looking closer at his match with Bu however, one can not help but think that the result would've been the opposite had they played with the regular time control or even blitz, as long as it had a second set of time control.  "If you haven't noticed, in the Las Vegas World Championship,  all the seeded players went out in the rapid tiebreaks," Leko observed.

Bu, 2 years older than Teimour, did not have the impact nor the rousing applause Fischer and Leko had before when they became the youngest ever  Grand Masters in history simply for 2 reasons.  First, the rules on becoming a grandmaster were a lot more strict then.  Today, one's score and rankings at the final standings of the tournament are no longer the basis of gaining a GM norm.  As few as four rounds will do, even if you loose all the other rounds.  And second, Bu got his last and final norm in his homeland in China playing his fellow Chinese in a tournament obviously tailor made for him.  Bu lost the first 2 rounds to foreigners then effortlessly won the rest of the rounds against his fellow Chinese. There's no concrete proof but who wouldn't think those Chinese players simply threw their game against him so they can make history?

GM Ian Rogers of Australia wrote in his weekly column: "Organisers of the tournament no doubt were satisfied at having brought glory to China, yet now may notice people react with a nudge and a wink when he is described as the youngest GM of all time."  Rogers had also featured and discussed "how convincing and smooth Teimour's games are" in his columns.

Going back to the Leko and Radjabov comparison, though both had an awesome impact on their rise, their rise in ratings are quite different.  Leko is stooping to reach the top while Radjabov is soaring.  Reffered to as the rock of Gibraltar, Leko slowly but surely forced his way to the top.  He already had a 2530 rating when he became a GM at 14 and then it always kept on increasing everytime the new ratings are released.  Now only 20, his rating is at an awesome 2735.  No other player in history has reached that high at such a young age-- not Fischer, not even Kasparov.  If you haven't noticed, his rating is only 40 points away from Fischer's rating which for a long time was believed to be insurmountable until Kasparov broke it.  Radjabov's rating on the other hand, is rising so fast, that everyone is wondering, specially after losing that unrated  series of games to Bu, how will he take it if, in one instance it dips a little.  Should he trip, let's hope he doesn't fall as high as he soars.

An obvious difference between Leko and Radjabov is their style of play.  Peter is basically a defensive player, waiting for his opponent make the small mistake before going in for the kill.  Just like Karpov or Fischer.   Radjabov is different, he attacks his opponent no end until his opponents cracks.  Like Kasparov, he forces his way to victory. Interestingly, with the white pieces, Leko usually plays the openings as Fischer usually does  but plays as Kasparov does with Black.  Radjabov's style is the other way around.
 
 

Leko and Kasparov, mobbed by the media, agreed to do their post-game analysis at the press room during the Wijk Aan Zee tournament in the Netherlands. (AP)

Another difference is their preference to draws.  Leko, can live playing an entire 13-round tournamemt without a single decisive result.  Some players take a chance offering him a draw when they barely played 20 moves and he'll take it depending on his mood to play.  Once Karpov, playing white made his first move, then offered him a draw before he could even make his first move.  Leko accepted.  At Wijk Aan Zee and Linares, he had quite a number of opportunities he didn't take to the dissapointment of his fans.  Surprisingly it was Kasparov himself who spoke in Leko's defense, "Anand had a bad position against Leko; Leko had a won position against Kramnik.  I think that the only explanation of all these draws is in the chess players' mood, he was not in the mood to give all his got.  He was not ready to break the resistance of their equals."  Kasparov couldn't have said it any better.

Teimour on the contrary hates draws.  Look at how he behaved when Bu got away with draws in their first 2 rapid games.  The KasparovChess correspondents described him "like a boy possesed."  He couldn't put the thought behind him and it cost him the entire match.  Radjabov's aim in a tournament is to win all his games-- to play the entire tournament perfectly.  One draw ruins everything for him.

So what's going to happen next? What does the future hold for Leko and Radjabov? Whatever will be will be. The future of chess looks brighter than ever, though.  There is so much to look forward to.  One thing for sure is that destiny is not a matter of chance but a matter of choice.