A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Short was the national coach for Iran from 2006 to 2007 and now lives in Athens. Kasparov retired from chess in 2005 to take up politics, formed a new political party and almost stood in the Russian presidential elections.

The two men will be playing blitz chess in Leuven’s magnificent Town Hall on Sunday, 9 October, a discipline which allows them only minutes to consider their moves. After a scheduled three hours of play, they’ll give comments on their games to members of the audience. The whole event will be shown on giant screens in the hall and streamed online at www.exqisport.be