People

By Sara C. Medina

It was a gala grudge rematch for Soviet Chess Champions Gary Kasparov, 23, the . current world titleholder, and Anatoly Karpov, 35, who reigned from 1975 to 1985. They had played each other a record 72 times in 14 months: a five-month, 48-game marathon that ended without a winner in February 1985, and a second match that finished last November in a smashing 13-11 victory for the brash, high-living Kasparov. Last week they began Round 3 in London, with Games 73, 74 and 75 (all draws). But not before an opening round of press-conference publicity, in which Kasparov, asked about his playboy image, shrugged, "I must accept it," and said of his challenger, "Unfortunately I cannot choose my opponents." Karpov, the quiet, defensive killer shark, kept his hostility in check but brought along a public relations aide to praise his style as one that "belongs to the next century." The series will move to Leningrad after the twelth game. Will Karpov exact revenge? Not according to London bookies, who rate Kasparov an 8-13 favorite.