The Garry Kasparov vs. Terence Chapman charity odds match will take place April 21st-22nd 2001. Kasparov will have 6 pawns and 60 minutes, Chapman all 8 pawns and 90 minutes per game. I (MC) spoke to Terence Chapman by phone on Wednesday 4th April 2001.

A chance conversation amongst chess players led to this month's challenge match between Garry Kasparov and Terence Chapman. "What odds would you need to beat Kasparov?" was the question, " Two pawns" was Chapman's answer. After a little thought he realised that he might be able to make the challenge happen.

Kasparov's commitment to his Chess Academy (recently moved to Jerusalem ) is well known and he showed himself open to this kind of challenge. Terence Chapman will be making a generous donation to the Kasparov Chess Academy which is organising a project for the development of chess in schools worldwide. You can also sponsor Terry Chapman at: http://www.terencechapmanchess.com/support_for_charities.html proceeds of which will go to One World Action which has a 3rd World focus working in places such as Angola and Venezuela which is a cause Chapman very much believes in.

The Terence Chapman Group PLC was floated in 1999 at 104 million pounds and specialises in IT and Software products for financial institutions. It sponsors the BCF annual Grand Prix competition.

Chapman himself was British under 14 Champion and London under 18 champion but had limited himself in recent years to 8 or 9 games for the Oxford and Cambridge Team in the London league. His level of activity since the challenge was accepted has risen dramatically. He hasn't played as much chess as he has this year for around 25 years. "Its a once in a lifetime opportunity" and he definitely wants to acquit himself as well as possible in this "very interesting privilege as well as I can". He has played in tournaments, with Fritz and on the Internet as much as he can given his company responsibilities. He has also studied chess, reading a few interesting books and sharpening his analytical abilities with study. He is a by his own admission a very competitive person and he is determined to be ready. To that end he has already worked with Speelman and Nunn and played a match with Julian Hodgson. In the final ten days before the match he will be off to Oxfordshire for more of the same and physical preparation also. His task will be to get close to or higher then his previous peaks, adapt to the unusual problems posed by the challenge and be sharp in readiness for the match.

Chapman seems quietly confident of doing himself justice. Kasparov commented recently that he was astonished to hear that he was 7-1 favourite. When he agreed to the match he believed the odds should be around 50-50 and says now he thinks he was over-generous adding that if he was setting the odds he would make Chapman 2-1 favourite. Chapman even when pressed won't go beyond calling these comments "interesting". Nor is outside opinion any more helpful with a wide range of opinions from Grandmasters asked.

There will be four separate challenges in the different games. In each case Chapman will have all his pieces and pawns and Kasparov will have all his pieces but only six pawns but they will be removed in different places for each game. The time limit will be 90 minutes per game for Chapman and 60 minutes for Kasparov.

Kasparov will have missing A and H pawns in game 1, A and D pawns in game 2, A and B pawns in game 3 and A and E pawns in game 4. Kasparov will be white in games two and four.

I asked him if there were certain games he plans to win as the starting positions offer different opportunities. "In my mind there is definite inequality between the four positions." but would "definitely not say which was which" when asked which were the better ones for him. When asked about the dark side of the odds in terms of open lines for Kasparov he added "there is some immediate compensation".

Chapman isn't worried about Kasparov's famed intensity at the board "rightly or wrongly" and plans to try and play the positional controlling game he favours. He is simply looking to maintain his own concentration. Indeed he added that Kasparov might feel the psychological pressure of being two pawns down.

I asked him if it didn't feel a little weird playing these unbalance positions but with all the practice he's been having he says he now finds it a little strange when playing the normal game.

Chapman is says he is focussed on the challenge and looks forward to the intensity of the struggle. I asked him if his new level of chess activity, at least in part, would continue after the match. He, not surprisingly, "isn't thinking beyond the match with Kasparov" but he has enjoyed meeting old friends again and would certainly have to think about it.

Websites: http://www.terencechapmanchess.com (where you can read much more about Chapman and the challenge) and the TWIC site: http://www.chesscenter.com/chapmankasparov/