The Anand-Kasparov matchup sees the Indian and Russian grandmasters lock horns in a competitive environment for the first time since 2021, but it has been 30 years since the pair played an extended match of this calibre. That came in the famous 1995 World Chess Championship, a 20-game match played on the 107th floor of New York City’s World Trace Center.

This most recent chapter is part of the ‘Clutch Chess: Legends’ event, the brainchild of American grandmaster Maurice Ashley, which marks the reopening of the refurbished St. Louis Chess Club. The 12-game set will be split across three days, with wins on the first day counting for one point, wins on the second day for two points, and wins on the third day for three points. This unique format means no lead will be considered safe throughout.

Big payout on the line for winner of rivalry revival

The two legendary grandmasters will compete for an overall prize pool of USD 144,000, with the winner receiving 70,000 dollars while the loser will still be in line for 50,000 dollars. There are also 24,000 to be split as per the winner of each game in this contest.

“Old rivalry, completely new setting,” said Anand about this new chapter in his history against Kasparov, during a promotional video for the event. The Fischer Random or Chess 960 format is different to traditional chess in that it sees the back rank pieces shuffled in a random order for each game, asking these old-school chess legends to be capable of thinking on their feet.

Kasparov has been retired from competitive chess since 2004, but has participated in exhibition events such as this. Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand is only semi-retired, which means he continues to hold a high FIDE rating and often compete on an official level. Both legends also balance their careers with the training of the next generation of chess superstars from across the world.