`Definitely the Best Player I've Ever Faced'

And the Harvard football team thinks it has a tough opponent in Ivy-leading Princeton today.

They've got it easy. Across campus, several members of the Harvard Chess Team will challenge the world champion, Gary Kasparov of the Soviet Union.

At noon in Sanders Theatre, Kasparov will play exhibition matches against three of the team's top members, as well as a Harvard faculty member, two alumni and two computers.

"He's definitely the best player I've ever faced," said team member Issa N. Youssef '90.

There is just one catch to make things a little more fair--the champion will have to play all eight opponents at the same time. Considering the quality of the Harvard contingent that will be playing today, maybe it's Kasparov who could use a good pep talk.

"The Americans could win a game in this format," said Harvard Chess Club President Daniel H. Edelman '91, who is not slated to play today.

Kasparov's undergraduate challengers will include Massachussetts state champion Vivek V. Rao '92 and Andrew H. Serotta '91, who for the past three years has won the Junior Open, a national chess tournament for players under 21 years of age.

Edelman, Rao, Serotta and Youssef comprise the Harvard squad that won the national collegiate championship last December.

"I think I have a chance," said Rao, who lost to Kasparov in 1987 when he was high school national champion. "The real threats are me and the lady."

"The lady" is Professor Anna Aksharumova, the current American women's champion. She has to be considered the major human threat to Kasparov.

The two computer opponents, Sargon 4 and Deep Thought, should not pose too much difficulty for the Soviet champ. The reason Kasparov made this tour of the U.S. was to face Deep Thought, acclaimed as toughest chess computer opponent ever devised.

So much for computers. Kasparov made mincemeat of Deep Thought in New York last week. In addition, Kasparov has lost only one tournament game this year.

Beating the Best

Well then, how do you prepare for a match against a player that good?

Rao said that because Kasparov is such a well-known player, his games are often published. Therefore, you can study Kasparov's common mistakes when the time comes.

But Youssef recognizes one problem with that strategy.

"With a man like Kasparov, the guy doesn't make mistakes," he said. Edelman hopes that Harvard players can use the time constraints of the event to their advantage.

The rules of the exhibition give players two hours to complete all of their own moves. Because Kasparov will be split between eight matches, he will have an average of only 15 minutes to devote to each match.

"If we can keep games long and complicated, and get Kasparov low on time, we should do well," Edelman said.

The format of the competition suggests that someone on the Harvard side will win or draw, raising hopes among the Harvard players that they could come out of Saturday with the distinction of having beaten the world champion.

"If I win, I'm going to wallpaper my room with a picture of the final position, and them I'm going to spike my king," said Youssef.