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How Chess Is Both an Art and a Cutthroat Sport

Fred Waitzkin has written two books about chess. His first, "Searching For Bobby Fischer," is about his young son Josh's gift for the game. The book was made into a movie of the same name. Waitzkin's latest book is called "Mortal Games." It's a portrait of the world chess champion Garry Kasparov as he prepared, in 1990, to defend his title against sworn enemy Anatoly Karpov.

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Other segments from the episode on July 18, 1994

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 18, 1994: Interview with Alexs Pate; Review of Hal Ketchum's album "Every Little Word" and David Ball's album "Thinkin' Problem"; Interview with Fred Waitzkin; Review…
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15:42

A Black Author on Losing His Father, Not Fitting Into American Life

Writer Alexs Pate's first novel is called "Losing Absalom." It's a fictionalized tribute to his father that chronicles end of the title character's life as his family has gathered around his hospital bed. Writer John Willimas wrote, "Losing Absalom is a powerful yet sensitive embrace with black America today." Pate grew up in North Philadelphia and lives in Minneapolis.

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30:20

World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov

This past spring in Philadelphia, in a well publicized match, Kasparov beat IBM's Deep Blue, which was considered the most competitive chess computer to date. Kasparov recently has been promoting chess as a learning tool in schools. He made a new chess computer game called "Talking Coach Kasparov" by Saitek. It has the unique feature of having an electronic chess tutor talk to you when you're in trouble. Kasparov was born in Moscow and was an outspoken critic of communism during the Cold War.

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