Karpov on Karpov: Memoirs of a Chess World Champion

Karpov, the Russian who gained the title of world chess champion after American Bobby Fisher relinquished it in 1975, then 10 years later lost the crown to his fellow countryman Gary Kasparov, proves that chess is not a game. It is war, with psychological strategy as important as the moves made on the board: Karpov maintains that an expert does not play against the pieces, but against his opponent, and is guided by principles intrinsic to the game, ``the internal laws by which the game lives.'' He studied with former champion Mikhail Botvinnick. Furiously competitive, Karpov regrets most that he never played Fisher, whom he admires, and is not at all gracious about his toughest opponents, Victor Korchnoi and Kasparov, claiming that the latter did not win, but that he himself lost. The former champion, who continues to play, ends on an upbeat note: ``Now I am faced with a new ascent.'' Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)