KASPAROV AND KRAMNIK ARRANGE PIECES BEFORE THEIR BLITZ MATCH IN MOSCOW, 2001-12-09 (photo)

Chess masters Garry Kasparov (L) and Vladimir Kramnik arrange their pieces before their blitz match at the Mikhail Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow, December 9, 2001. The bitterly divided world of high-level chess took a fresh blow last Tuesday as the World Championships began in Moscow with nearly 200 players, but without top-ranked masters Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Kasparov and Kramnik, who instead are playing a series of matches only a couple of miles from the global competition, have left the limelight to Indian top seed Viswanathan Anand, the defending champion of the world chess federation (FIDE). Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993 to found the Professional Chess Association. Former world champion Anatoly Karpov was initially due to participate in the Kasparov-Kramnik meet, but pulled out in favour of the FIDE championship.