Garry Kasparov’s comeback bid at 54 must have been inspired by Indian legend Viswanathan Anand (he had always seen him as an unequal rival) who still is a force to reckon with, within the top 10 world rankings in chess. Prize money in modern chess might be the other reason. But if one looks at the history of sport, comebacks have by and large been failures, examples being cricketers Tony Lock, Jayasuriya, Tom Graveney. Only time will tell how successful he will be in the circuit at the top level. The prize for longevity associated with chess goes to Petrosian, the Soviet legend, and next to Anand. In fact, many expected Anand to call it quits when he lost the World FIDE title for the second time.
A.V. Narayanan,
Tiruchi
