To all chess fans:

Recently I have been thinking about a practice in chess that I believe needs to be discussed by all of us who love the game, and that is, the draw offer. This topic started to occupy my mind mainly because of two events: the 2003 US Championships and the Kasparov-Deep Junior match at which I was a commentator. In the former, with 8 players tied for the lead going into the last round and a $25,000 first-place prize up for grabs, draw offers were made and quickly accepted on three of the top four boards. In the latter, after having captured the imagination of millions of chess playing fans and the general public, the players stunned everyone by agreeing to a draw in a position where the tension was just reaching its peak.

I guess I might not have given the issue much thought if it had not been for the bitter reaction that ensued in both cases. In Seattle, the chief organizer, Erik Anderson, was shocked, angered and deeply disappointed. He felt that with all the sponsorship money that had been raised, it was terribly insulting to the benefactors and the fans that the leaders (with the notable exception of Shabalov and Akobian) had snuffed out most of the drama from the event. He also pointed out that this was a lost opportunity for our nation's top players to show what our game was all about. His anger propelled him to be even more generous (!) by rewarding the two gladiators with a $5,000 bonus for their fighting spirit. In the end, he said what really hurt him the most was that one of his children interpreted the draw offers as cheating because this fixed the result before the real contest had occurred.

In the case of the Man vs. Machine match, the reaction was even worse. This match received a mountain of hype and arguably, in our internet age, it was the most covered chess event ever with over 45,000 papers reporting on the first game alone. Even more amazing, the prominent sports network ESPN2 sent a crew to broadcast the event live across America. It was a fantastic moment for chess as approximately 400,000 households were tuned in.  Needless to say, the finish was disappointing. The in-house audience booed raucously while my usually eloquent co-commentator, Yasser Seirawan, and I struggled to make sense of it for the TV viewers. Even my mother-in-law and her sister, who have never touched a pawn in their lives but who watched the entire three hours (imagine that), expressed their opinion that there must have been some prior arrangement agreed upon by the two competitors. While I quickly let them know that neither side would be a party to such nonsense, I couldn't help but wonder how many other viewers across America were thinking the same thing.

As someone who has devoted my life to not only playing but also popularizing chess, it hurt me to hear the game talked about so negatively.  Kasparov explained afterwards with astonishing frankness that he just "didn't want to lose." After having thoroughly outplayed Deep Junior in virtually every game and having the match still be tied due to the tactical wizardry of the machine, he was concerned that even his own amazing powers might falter in the last game. Those of us who have lost important games know the feeling well. Still, if chess is to ever get the popularity that Kasparov has made his admirable mission from the beginning of his career, I think the issue of draw offers will have to be addressed.