The world’s top male and female chess players will go head to head this weekend in what chess aficionados are calling the game’s ultimate battle of the sexes.

It’s not happening in a large U.S. or European city, but in Lindsborg, the small, central Kansas town that calls itself “Little Sweden.”

This weekend, Lindsborg will be host to seven-time world chess champion Anatoly Karpov and four-time women’s world champion Susan Polgar for an historic six-game match it dubs the “Clash of the Titans.”

The magnitude of the matchup may be hard for people outside the chess world to grasp. In tennis terms, a comparable matchup might be Andy Roddick facing off against Venus Williams.

The match, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Chess Federation, concludes a weekend filled with chess events.

“It should be interesting and fun to watch them,” said Phil Wedge, of Lawrence. “Of course it’s all in the name of chess and promoting chess.”

Wedge will be watching the action with his sons, 12-year-old Roy and 7-year-old George. The boys will also play in the Champions Cup Scholastic Chess Tournament being held in conjunction with the main event.

Lindsborg’s streets will be closed to traffic to make room for tables set up to accommodate more than 200 youths competing in the scholastic tournament.

Roy, who attended chess camp this summer in Lindsborg, said he was excited to see Karpov and Polgar play. Roy has never seen a match involving Karpov — just computer simulations based on matches he’s won. Roy played Polgar once; but she happened to be playing 40 other people simultaneously.

Roy Wedge, 12, is heading to Lindsborg this weekend to participate in the U.S. Chess Federation-sanctioned Champions Cup scholastic chess tournament. Wedge, pictured Thursday at his home, is one of five Lawrence youths going to the tournament.

Roy’s favorite to win: Karpov.

“I’ve played her but don’t know much about Polgar,” Roy said. “But Karpov has ways to make the opponent’s places on the board seem awkward.”

If Roy could bet, he said he’d put his money on both of them.

Phil Wedge said the youngsters would also enjoy the chess parade through Lindsborg that will feature Karpov and Polgar as king and queen, and include other top chess players and scholastic teams.

Chess city

Such events are becoming increasingly commonplace in Lindsborg, which was named this year by the U.S. Chess Federation as its 2004 Chess City of the Year. In the past, the award has gone to cities such as New York City, Seattle and Miami.

Five-year-old Nicholas Reinert concentrates during a chess match against his sister, Anneliese, 8, at the World Champion Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess in Lindsborg. This weekend Lindsborg will host seven-time world chess champion Anatoly Karpov and four-time women's world champion Susan Polgar in a match called Clash

Lindsborg is also the site of Karpov’s first chess school in the United States. Karpov first won the title of world chess champion in 1975, when Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title. Karpov successfully defended his title until 1985, then won it again in 1993. He has established more than 30 chess schools around the world, including in Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East.

His weekend opponent, Polgar, will lead the U.S. women’s team in the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Spain next month. She’s a six-time medalist in the event.

Importing chess

Lindsborg’s spectacular entrance into the world of international chess is widely credited as the work of Mikhail Korenman, director of Karpov’s chess school in Lindsborg.

Korenman, a native of Voronezh, Russia, moved to Lindsborg five years ago to teach chemistry at Bethany College. His love for the game — coupled with his connections to top Russian chess players — soon found fertile ground in this prairie community.

Korenman won a $261,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing to develop chess in the area. Lindsborg-area businesses, people and organizations also contributed money and time.

The U.S. Chess Federation this year gave Korenman its Organizer of the Year award. But people around town laud him for giving Lindsborg a unique economic development draw, as well as generally making life in this Kansas hamlet a bit more interesting.

Borscht belt

Mikhail Korenman, a native of Voronezh, Russia, who now lives in Lindsborg, is credited with Lindsborg's spectacular entrance into the world of international chess.

“People on the street know not only the different chess openings, but also the different vodkas and regional recipes for borscht,” said Jim Richardson, a National Geographic photographer who with his wife, Kathy, run Small World Gallery in Lindsborg.

A tournament in December 2003 drew participants from 12 countries — including Macedonia, Mongolia, Ireland, Sweden — to Lindsborg, Korenman said. It was the highest-ranked chess tournament staged in the United States in the past 25 years.

The Karpov school last year drew students from 12 countries and 21 states to its chess camp, Korenman said. The school also has classes twice a week for Lindsborg residents.

The economic impact of chess in the community this year is more than $608,000, Korenman said, adding that the Karpov-Polgar match this weekend is expected to bring in more than $242,000.

“The spotlight chess has brought to us has given us a chance to show off the community,” said Kathy Malm, executive director of the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.