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Normal Topic Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel (Read 1419 times)
Uhohspaghettio
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Re: Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel
Reply #4 - 04/08/23 at 16:26:46
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In the past you could pay Kasparov a few thousand dollars to have dinner with you - almost like a high class prostitute, except I suppose playing chess would be the implied activity later. Wink
  
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Nernstian59
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Re: Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel
Reply #3 - 03/17/23 at 19:39:26
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ChessBase has followed up on the Biscay interview in Reply #2 with a review of Blitz by German chess journalist Tatiana Flores.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/blitz-the-monegasque-chess-manga-a-review

Based on the excerpts shown, it appears that the review was done with the French-language version of the manga.  The review mentions that nine volumes have been published so far, with a chess glossary in each.  The English translation is deficient in both these respects since only the first volume has appeared, and it lacks the glossary and other features described in the review.  Volume 2 is slated for release next month.  The description from Ablaze, the publisher, notes that it will have bonus material, including move by move explanations of games and a "chess lexicon".  It remains to be seen if this an accurate description because something similar was promised for Volume 1, and that book didn't include those features.
  
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Nernstian59
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Re: Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel
Reply #2 - 02/27/23 at 22:03:04
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Chessbase recently published an interview with the main author of Blitz, Cédric Biscay.   

https://en.chessbase.com/post/interview-with-cdric-biscay-creator-of-the-manga-s...

It's amusing that he was able to get in touch with Kasparov simply by emailing GK's company.  There's a photo of GK and Biscay playing a "casual game".  It appears that there's a Hyper Accelerated Dragon on the board where Biscay (Black) is about to play the unusual 3...b6 in response to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4.  For some reason, Kasparov's knight on  f3 is red, even though all of his other pieces are white.

At any rate, there are a few interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits on how the book is done.  Apparently French FM Stéphane Bressac provides the games used in Blitz, not GK.
  
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Nernstian59
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Re: Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel
Reply #1 - 11/19/22 at 03:27:40
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I picked up Blitz Vol 1 out of curiosity and found the story to be fairly engaging.  However, the chess content is somewhat limited.  

Young Tom is taught the rules of chess by an expatriate French baker named Jean-Marc (sort of Tom's version of Mr. Shaibel in The Queen's Gambit).  In that scene, the reader is shown how the pieces move, but nothing is given on strategy and how to conduct the game.

At one point, a rook is referred to as a "tower", and the note explaining j'adoube says it literally means "I knight" in French, rather than the correct "I adjust".  At least the error in the diagram of the position from the Kasparov-Topalov game, which I mentioned in my previous post, has been corrected.

In a later scene, Tom is shown studying one of the Kasparov - Deep Blue games.  And when Tom plays a game against Laurent, the president of the school chess club, it's clear from the panel showing the board that Tom's playing the Black side of a Sicilian Sveshnikov, which seems a bit far-fetched considering the fact that he's only been taking lessons from Jean-Marc for two months.

That's about it for specific chess content.  Otherwise the games played by the characters are rather bereft of details.  Garry Kasparov serves as a bit of a framing device.  His game against "Kaiju 96" opens the book, and he returns toward the end to announce that he's starting a project to personally train young players to become the next generation of chess ambassadors.  These players will be chosen from the top finishers of a series of international tournaments.  The book ends with Tom and his clubmates excitedly gearing up to train for the first tournament.  The results of their efforts will likely be shown in Vol 2, which is slated to be published in February next year. 

In checking on online reviews of the book, I found that the theme of a young boy gaining mastery of a subject (like Tom is attempting) is a common theme in shonen manga.  However, the attainment of proficiency is nearly always an end in itself.  Doing so to impress a pretty girl is much more of a Western storyline.  Perhaps it's not surprising then that the main writer, Cedric Biscay, is a Westerner who worked in Japan for many years and developed a fondness for manga that finally led to him writing one himself.
« Last Edit: 11/19/22 at 21:31:12 by Nernstian59 »  
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Nernstian59
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Garry Kasparov in Graphic Novel
04/17/22 at 20:03:50
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Garry Kasparov will be appearing in Blitz, a chess-themed graphic novel from Ablaze Publishing slated for release in September.  The book cover on the publisher's site shows a prominent image of GK along with the words "Featuring Garry Kasparov".

https://www.ablaze.net/product-G9781684970766.html

The book is an English translation of a shonen manga (japanese boys' comic) created by cowriters by Cedric Biscay and Harumo Sanazaki and artist Daitaro Nishihara.

One online source states the book was made with Kasparov's cooperation, while another says he is a consultant.  The story itself concerns Tom, a high school student with a crush on his classmate Harmony.  When he learns of her passion for chess, he joins the school chess club, even though he doesn't know how to play the game.  The description on the Ablaze site continues "To impress Harmony, he is left with no choice: he must learn quickly and train seriously.  Soon Tom discovers the existence of Garry Kasparov, the greatest player in the history of chess. He stumbles upon a virtual reality machine that promises to help him analyze the most legendary matches of the master!" 

Online previews of the beginning of the book show Kasparov playing against a supercomputer named "Kaiju 96".  He makes a brilliant move, and the computer crashes.  (An indirect way for GK to even with the score with Deeper Blue?)   

Later Harmony is studying the well known Kasparov-Topalov game from a book.  The panel showing her board accurately reproduces the position of the game after Black's 23rd move; i.e., just before the famous 24.Rxd4!!  However, the panel with the diagram in her book erroneously has a White queen on d6 instead of a Black one.

Other preview pages have Tom, Harmony, and their clubmates dressed as knights or samurai and engaging in armed combat, likely in fantasy sequences created by the virtual reality device. 

The interior pages are in black and white, which is common in manga.  Tom, Harmony, and their schoolmates are drawn with the stylized features typically used in manga, but Kasparov is drawn more realistically.  Ablaze states that the book will also have annotated games and a lexicon explaining chess terms.

This English translation is labeled as Vol 1, while the original manga is already up to Volume 6.
  
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