Ponomariov-FIDE Crisis

Ponomariov-FIDE Crisis: materials and messages
Gens Una Sumus last update: 22.2.2003

JANUARY 10 NEWS

Subject: the fide ultimatum to Ponomariov
From: Mikhail Golubev
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:15:10 +0300
Dear colleagues,
apologies for the inconvenience, it may be of interest for you: some urgent news appeared at www.chesspage.kiev.ua/?z=interview.35 - there is official information from the Ukrainian Chess Federation (and express-interview with Ponomariov). The story is as follows: FIDE requested Ruslan Ponomariov to sign a contract or an agreement (the quality of which is strongly questioned by the Ukrainian side), by the end of 10th January. If he will not sign, then a Kasparov-Ivanchuk match will be announced by FIDE. I do not have any information about Ivanchuk's opinion on this situation. This may be an ultimate end of the Prague agreements' spirit - even if Ponomariov does sign everything under this incredibly strong pressure. Some hope remains that it was not Ilymzhinov himself who prepared the ultimatum. Unofficial information has it that Mr. Omuku was responsible for contacts with the Ukrainian Federation. I wrote my own brief comments at chess-sector.odessa.ua/matum.htm.
The message from the Chesspage is quite official - the site's editor is a press-attache of the Ukrainian Chess Federation. There was another, very recent express-interview with Ponomariov, published in the Ukrainian newspaper Facty on the 9th of January. All materials are in Russian.
I hope that Ruslan Ponomariov will be able to play normally in Wijk aan Zee now, despite the current crisis.
With best regards,
Mikhail Golubev,
chess-sector.odessa.ua.
This letter was published in Chess Today, issue 795.

TWIC MESSAGE (JAN 10)

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
Ponomariov about to be defaulted
According to reports from a Ukrainian Chess Website FIDE has set a final deadline of today 10th January 2003 for Ruslan Ponomariov to sign a contract to play Garry Kasparov as part of the reunification process agreed in Prague. On January 7th FIDE set an absolute deadline of January 10th otherwise Ponomariov would be replaced by Vassily Ivanchuk. Ponomariov absolutely refuses to sign the document citing many problems with it. His key demands are a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move the same time rate under which he won the title and draw odds as Kramnik as champion receives in his match with Leko. The Ukrainian Chess Federation backs Ponomariov saying «The Ukraine Chess Federation considers the urgent signing of contract on 10th January unacceptable. It is necessary to conduct normal negotiations between all sides in order to accept the compromise and, most importantly, objective solution.» They add that in their view decisions made in Bled about the negotiations have been broken . [Story In Russian http://www.chesspage.kiev.ua/?z=interview.35]

OPINIONS

Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 19:30:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Lev Khariton lev_khariton@yahoo.com
Subject: Lev Khariton: Incredible!
To: Mikhail Golubev
Dear Mikhail,
I did not have enough time to study more in detail the situation with the upcoming match between Ponomariov and Kasparov. But if you follow my publications at various websites, I consider the Prague agreements as obvious farce to suit primarily Kasparov and Ilyumzhinov as well as Seirawan and some other half-players and half-functionaries who want, according to Kasparov's words, prove that «chess is the product to be lucratively sold». What is happening to Kasparov today (I mean «l'affaire Kasparov», the banking scandal) is the graphic proof what Kasparov's «chess philosophy» has led him to. For the first time in chess history the World Champion has to prove that he is an honest man, and I am not sure that Kasparov will be able to pull out of this situation (unless Kirsan Ilyumzhinov comes to his rescue!).
I do not think that in this situation it is relevant even to discuss the possibility of the Kasparov-Ponomariov match. Moreover, it is out of the question to set up any ultimatum to Ponomariov, the FIDE World Champion. First, Kasparov should prove his credibility as an honest man to the chess world and only then FIDE, Ponomariov, Kasparov can discuss the terms for the World Championship match.
At any rate, Kasparov's fiasco in Moscow at the Russia-Rest of the World match and the way he played in his short match with Karpov in New York (I was accredited as a journalist at this match) show that today he is not the same Kasparov who was reigning supreme a while ago. Hence, his insistence on «special privileges» for him in the match against Ruslan Ponomariov.
I'll appreciate if you publish my letter at your site.
Respectfully,
Lev Khariton
January 10, 2003

Date: 11 Jan 2003 8:09
From: matt hangin@rcn.com
Subject: hi ruslan
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua
Hi Ruslan, I enjoy your chess.
You have a difficult decision to make about playing in the Fide Reunification Process. Your demands are justified, but they will fail. You will lose your great opportunity here. You are two steps away from being in the elite of chess history, the Chess World Champion.
My reasons:
1) You are very young 18-19, so Fide will not listen to you.
2) Other great players have made demands; Bobby Fischer's were rejected in 1975.
Life is not always fair. Sometimes great chess players can get off the board advantages, sometimes not.
I know you have suffered a great lost, your coach. You must think clearly now, drop your demands and play in the reunification matches. You have a great chance to win here. Kasparov is showing his age.
Please do not pass up this great opportunity to become a member of a great club: Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosyan, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Ponomariov. It has a nice ring to it.
One of your fans.
Matt,
hangin@rcn.com

JAN 11 GAME, UNCOMMENTED

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Bareev,E (2729) [B12]
GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 11.01.2003
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.g3 Nh6 8.Bg5 dxc4 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Qxh5 Qb4 11.0-0-0 Bg4 12.Qg5 Bxd1 13.Qxg7 Qf8 14.Qxf8 Kxf8 15.Nxd1 c5 16.dxc5 Nd7 17.c6 bxc6 18.f4 Rg8 19.Ne2 Rd8 20.Ne3 Nb6 21.Bh3 Rd3 22.Nc2 c5 23.Rf1 Nd5 24.f5 exf5 25.Bxf5 Re3 26.Nxe3 Nxe3 27.Bh3 Nxf1 28.Bxf1 Nf5 29.Nc3 Ne3 30.Be2 Rxg3 31.Kd2 Ng4 32.Ne4 Rg2 33.e6 fxe6 34.h5 Ke7 35.Nxc5 Nf6 36.Ke3 Rg5 37.Kd4 Nxh5 38.Kxc4 Nf4 39.Bf3 Rg3 40.Be4 Nh5 41.a4 Nf6 42.Ba8 Rg4 43.Kb5 Ne8 44.Ka5 Rc4 45.b4 Nd6 46.Ka6 Rxb4 47.Kxa7 e5 48.Ka6 e4 49.Ka5 Rc4 50.Kb6 e3 51.Bf3 Rf4 52.Bh5 Rh4 53.Bf3 Nc4 54.Kb5 Ne5 55.Be2 Rh2 56.Nd3 Nxd3 57.Bxd3 e2 58.Bxe2 Rxe2 59.a5 Kd7 0-1

JANUARY 13 NEWS

We received, from the Ukrainian Chess Federation, three following documents:

Ruslan Ponomariov's Open Letter to the FIDE President Mr. Ilyumzninov (in Russian), dated 12 Jan 2003
FIDE Letter to Ponomariov and Kasparov (dated 29 Dec 2002)
FIDE Proposal for the Regulations of the World Chess Championship Match 2003

WIJK AAN ZEE: JANUARY 12 NEWS

The 65th Corus Chess tournament, official site:
www.corusgroup.com/coruschess

Asked for his first impression of the Corus Chess Tournament, Ponomariov commented as follows: «Yesterday I was tired, because FIDE is constantly pressing me [FIDE representatives Azmaiparashvili and Makropoulos (see picture) are present in Wijk aan Zee]. Today, I tried to concentrate on a game of classical chess against Vladimir Kramnik!»
Later Ponomariov issued a statement in which he declared that, although he supports the agreement of Prague, he still has nothing on paper from FIDE about his rights and obligations concerning the upcoming world championship. Ponomariov insists that he needs such a document because verbal agreements with FIDE have not proven too valuable in the past. Ponomariov thinks it is a disgrace that FIDE is pressing him to sign a contract for the cycle by means of an ultimatum that ends during the Corus Chess Tournament, since that distracts him from his games.
www.corusgroup.com/coruschess

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Kramnik,V (2807) [E46]
GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 12.01.2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nd7 9.g3 b6 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Bg2 Nf6 12.0-0 Ne4 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.Qc2 Rc8 15.Rfd1 Bd6 16.Bb4 Qf6 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.Qxc3 c6 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.b4 Rc7 21.a4 Bc8 22.a5 Ba6 23.Ra1 Bb5 24.Rdc1 Re8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Bf1 Bxf1 27.Kxf1 Rb8 28.Ra6 Qd7 29.Kg1 h6 30.Qa3 Rcc8 31.h4 Qf5 32.Ra7 g5 33.h5 Qf3 34.Qd3 Kh8 35.Qa6 Kg7 36.b5 c5 37.dxc5 bxc5 38.Qg6 1-0

The game Ponomariov-Kramnik was commented by IM Notkin in Chess Today, issue 797.

CHESS TODAY TRANSLATION

Chess Today (The First Daily Chess Newspaper on the Net)
Website: www.chesstoday.net
Editors: GM Baburin, GM Scherbakov, IM Barsky, GM Golubev, IM Notkin, IM Vlassov

Issiue 798, 14th January 2003 (Page 1)
The FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov has published an Open Letter to the FIDE President. It was first published in Russian. The English translation is by Zoya Vlassova, Chess Today (technical editor Graham Brown). Please contact Chess Today regarding further reproduction.

To: Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,
FIDE President

Dear Mr. President,

I would like to inform you that on 11-12th January 2003 I had a meeting in Wijk aan Zee (the Netherlands) with Mr. G. Makropoulos, FIDE First Vice-President, and Mr. Z. Azmaiparashvili, FIDE Vice-President. Unfortunately, despite my frequent requests and requests from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to obtain official minutes of the FIDE General Assembly decisions (made in Bled in November 2002), concerning reunification World Chess Championship and Prague Agreements, we have not received such documents. I believe that it is necessary to make a bilateral contract between FIDE and me, World Champion, for the Ponomariov-Kasparov Unification World Championship match. While I share with FIDE big responsibility for the unification of the chess world, I request keeping to generally accepted international laws and procedures.

Regretfully, a number of previous FIDE projects have not been put into practice. FIDE Grand Prix 2002 series broke off after two tournaments instead of five planned. No match was organised between FIDE World Champion and World Champion among Computer Programs. There is also no clear vision of the next World Championship Cycle. The only thing we have now is unapproved project of World Chess Championship for 2003-2005.

Unfortunately, nobody consulted with me as FIDE World Champion while Prague Agreements were being developed and signed. The meeting in Wijk aan Zee should have contributed to further advancement of the unification of the chess world. However, Mr. President, I would like to draw your attention that staging such negotiations during my participation in tournaments should not be acceptable in the future.

For my part, I confirm once again my support of the Prague Agreements and my readiness to meet in a match with Mr. Garry Kasparov, official FIDE Challenger.

Yours sincerely,
Ruslan Ponomariov,
World Champion

Wijk aan Zee, 12.01.2003

CHESS BASE TRANSLATION

www.chessbase.com

Ruslan Ponomariov's Open Letter to the FIDE President (in German; ChessBase translation): www.chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=1696
Ruslan Ponomariov's Open Letter to the FIDE President (in English; ChessBase translation): www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=707

OPINIONS

Date: Sunday, January 12, 2003 4:50 PM
From: Bill Santini
Subject: Dont Surrender Your Principles!
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua
Ruslan -
You have thousands of American fans - I am just one of them.
Your requests of FIDE are perfectly reasonable. FIDE has historically made huge allowances for everyone from Fischer thru Karpov and Kasparov and on down to contenders like Kamsky ... who never even won the FIDE title.
You are asking primarily to have exactly the same conditions that Kramnik has. First, the same time control you won the title with, you should have to play with. Second, draw odds. Kramnik has them, so should you. How is it fair for you to play at a disadvantage with a «champion» of absolutely equal status?
FIDE is being ridiculous to set ultimatums. If they take your title away, they further degrade their already-shaky influence. Stick to your principles and fight for fair treatment.
It is your decision, but FIDE should have negotiated, not tried to pressure you with threats. You are only asking for equality, not for advantage, and I hope FIDE shows you the respect that a World Chess Champion is due!
Bill Santini
Seattle, WA, USA
the.great.santini@attbi.com

DAILY DIRT, JAN 13

From Michael Greengard's «Daily Dirt» Column:

(25) 13-1-03.

Unlike many, I do not blame Kasparov for playing his superior hand. Just because he has the advantage doesn't mean he should roll over and not stand up for himself. If he doesn't want to give Pono draw odds and wants to play classical chess instead of semi-rapid, then he has the right to say so. If FIDE gives him everything he wants, who is to blame?

A question: If Kasparov beats Ponomariov to go on to face the winner of Kramnik-Leko in a title unification match, is Ponomariov still the FIDE champion at least until that unification match takes place? As far as I know Pono-Kasparov is not a FIDE title match.

Full story:
www.chessninja.com/dailydirt.htm

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE ONLINE, JAN 14

Ponomariov versus FIDE... and Kramnik [14/01/03]

(...) Now Ponomariov wants to have his say. Whatever one thinks of his specific demands (that draws odds should apply in the event of a drawn match, and that the new FIDE time limit of 90 minutes/all plus 30 secs should be used), one can have more sympathy for his general view that conditions not should be imposed upon him without a due period of negotiation; that everything should be out in the open and agreed upfront. He was due to sign a contract (more of an ultimatum) with FIDE on 10 January but the deadline has passed with (as yet) no consequence. But he's doing better than Kasparov did in his Karpov/Israeli Bank simul. Ponomariov managed to beat Vladimir Kramnik in his second round game, despite the presence of FIDE hard-men Makropoulos and Azmaiparashvili in Wijk to hassle him over the FIDE contract. You may not agree with all of Ponomariov's arguments with FIDE, but you have to admire his courage in adversity.

(...) The latest item to be posted is an English translation of Ponomariov's open letter to FIDE of 12 January. The FIDE world champion makes the point that there is no bilateral contract between him and FIDE, and the lack of consultation between him and FIDE while they were involved in the Prague discussions of May 2002. And the unacceptability of staging negotiations while he's trying to play in a top level tournament. And he reminds us that the FIDE Grand Prix was supposed to consist of five competitions, not two as it turned out. In fact, he scores a remarkable series of bulls-eyes.

Full story:
www.bcmchess.co.uk

BCM 01/2003 The front cover of January 2003 BCM.

Picture used with permission from:
John Saunders (BCM & BCM Online editor)
Dagobert Kohlmeyer (the author of the photograph)
© British Chess Magazine; © Dagobert Kohlmeyer

OPINIONS

Date: January 15, 2003 7:57 PM
From: SveLeo@aol.com
Subject: Lev Khariton: My comment on Mig Greengard's letter
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua
May be, Mig Greengard's journalism is well in line with the tastes of the now defunct Kasparovchess.com or still operating Chessbase.com He should have some vestige of objectivity left when saying that Ponomariov is second fiddle in FIDE negotiations regarding the Ponomariov-Kasparov match. If FIDE is a democratic institution (remember Gens Una Sumus?) the FIDE World Champion is hardly a puppet or second fiddle for that matter in anything concering the defence of his title. Not a long while ago, if my memory serves me, Mig was one of the many who applauded Ruslan's victory in the FIDE World Championship.
Yes, Kasparov's name is big. But nothing and nobody is eternal. Kasparov has already a chink in his armor (he lost to Kramnik his title). He will soon turn 40 and this may also be a factor why he does not want the 6:6 score in the match. He should not forget that in Seville in 1987 he lost the 24th game against Karpov to draw the match and retain the title. Why should Ponomariov be deprived of the same right? Only because Kasparov's name is big? What does Mig mean by saying that "FIDE needs or wants Kasparov more than Ponomariov?" It should be reminded that a few months ago there was no love lost between Kasparov and FIDE.
«If FIDE gives him (Kasparov) everything he wants, who is to blame?» - writes Mig. Who is to blame? Kasparov! If he is a noble man, he should not accept everything that FIDE gives him on a silver platter! If...Just the way he should not have accepted everything from the Israeli-American bank.
Lev Khariton
New York
January 14, 2003

JANUARY 16 NEWS

My humble ideas (propositions) regarding the situation around the Unification cycle were published at chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_r.htm, in Russian language (it was later republished at www.chesspage.kiev.ua website). It is hoped that the English translation will be available soon.
I hope that at least four hundred my chess friends and colleagues, some of the world top players and leading journalists have received my email messages. Thanks to all who have responded so far.

...A few hours later, FIDE distributed a long press release:
Press release in in zipped MS Word file
Kasparov-Ponomariov Match in the Unification Cycle of the World Championship (fide.com)
I feel that it is necessary to underline here that my article was not influenced by the spirit of above mentioned FIDE document (because I've posted my opus much earlier).

TWIC Message:
Jan 16th 2002. According a press release from FIDE they have tired of waiting for Ruslan Ponomariov to sign a contract to play Garry Kasparov and will now decide what alternative arrangements they will make. There is a lengthy press release explaining their decision. (The Week in Chess).

The press release concludes with the following statement:
FIDE cannot continue to wait indefinitely for a World Champion, who on the one hand, claims that he is prepared to accept the principles of the Prague Agreement, and that he is ready to defend his title against GM G. Kasparov, and on the other hand, fails to meet with its officials or even sign the declaration that he will play the match. In order not to be held hostage any more and in order to avoid any misunderstandings, the President of FIDE is holding consultations with members of the Presidential Board and shall announce the Board's decision in due course.
Gens una sumus
Emmanuel Omuku
Executive Director

Related links:
FIDE.com (World Chess Federation)
FIDE Executive Director Emmanuel Omuku (note that it's, probably, an unofficial page)

OPINIONS

«I ask Mikhail Golubev, The Web Editor, to post this present message on his Web site, and will forward a copy to Corus tournament organisers!» - Joel Bouard, Paris, France.

Date: January 15, 2003 7:57 PM
From: jbouard@magic.fr
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua

Dear FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov,
Dear Website Editor Mikhail Golubev,

As a chess amateur, I would like to react to the indecent move of Fide officials during the very important Corus chess tournament recently.

It is absolutely unfair and dishonest from FIDE people at highest level, just to show up during such a big chess event, and pretend to discuss anything with the official FIDE World Champion, and so completely destroy his preparation and readiness to fight his formidable opponents in this tournament. They certainly know (especially Azmaiparashvili who is himself a strong IGM!) that any extra chess pressure is harmful at this level! So their attitude, which consists in perturbing the psychological preparation of their own official FIDE world champion is unforgivable! It would be illogical simply if it came from a average official! But we can perfectly understand that these people are, in fact, very clever, so they know exactly what they are doing! So their pretended coming to Wijk aan Zee, supposedly to discuss a match contract (well this can wait after this crucial SuperTournament!), is apparently only a manoeuvre to destabilise the reigning World Champion of Chess, and make him miss this tournament. This is meant to put him in an inferior position and obliged to accept all their? (No! Kasparov's conditions, on whose behalf they are actually acting!!). This is dishonest, unfair and shameful! The more so, that these FIDE representatives are putting pressure on Ruslan Ponomariov to accept that in case of draw, he would not simply keep his title! How can these people come off with such an incredible ultimatum! Simply because Kasparov wants it! And they simply reveal to the world of Chess that they are favoring Kasparov, well, because of his strong connection with Sponsors and big companies willing to pour a lot of money to use Kasparov's «image». But the ultimatum based on dropping the draw odds condition imposed by Kasparov is contrary to all chess history of FIDE world Chess Championships! All past World Champions have used it! And among them also Fischer and Kasparov himself! So, nobody really understands the meaning of this joint Kasparov/Fide shameful and undecent «proposition»! Besides, FIDE is threatening to replace Ponomariov by Ivanchuk in case he refuses! So, it's a DICTATE, that also reveals the complete lack of democracy in present day FIDE, very far from its 'gens una sumus' marvellous tradition! But if FIDE officials that came to Wijk aan Zee only had the hidden intention to put a lot of pressure on Ponomariov during this Super Tournament when his facing the best players in the world, they certainly succeeded. As a chess Friend and amateur, I find these FIDE moves unacceptable, and ask every chess player in the world to reject these unfair FIDE practices. I also publicly ask all these FIDE officials to: Leave the Tournament immediately and let Ruslan Ponomariov play quietly his Chess games! If not, the Corus Tournament Organisers have the moral duty to get them out of the Tournament immediately!
Everybody in the Chess World has to stand on the side of Ruslan Ponomariov, because he is the weakest side in this psychological war between him and Fide/Kasparov camp. Please, let us altogether stand on his side to protect this young man quietly play his Chess games, and display to the World the extent of his true Chess talent! And let us also teach FIDE that this World chess organisation has to care for the interests of ALL Chess Players, and not only of those of Gary Kasparov! I ask Mikhail Golubev, The Web Editor, to post this present message on his Web site, and will forward a copy to Corus tournament organisers!
Thank you very much in advance!

Joel Bouard, Paris, France.

IS THERE ANY WAY OF SAVING THE REUNIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP?

by Mikhail Golubev
16 January 2003

The text below is part of a review of rounds 1-4 of the Corus Tournament, prepared on the 16th January 2003. It relates to latest developments regarding the World Championship To a large extent it represents more than just my own personal thoughts, is the outcome of my extensive correspondence with colleagues - grandmasters and chess journalists from many different countries who are also concerned with the situation.
I am publishing this extract as independent material. I have nothing against its reproduction or distribution (without changes, with or without identification of a source, but with an indication of author and date). Please, however, get an agreement with me on any changes and abridgement via e-mail, my address is as follows: gmi@europe.com.
(M.G., 16.1.2003)

It is very strange that the gist and hidden motive of the conflict between Ruslan Ponomariov and FIDE, which seems obvious, is still obscured by an argument about time control and FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov's privilege (or lack of privilege) to retain the title in the event of a draw. I don't know whether FIDE had hopes of «managing» the opinion of its champion with the assistance of third parties - or if FIDE just did not succeed in showing sufficient respect for the 18-year old World Champion. (Everything in history happens once for the first time, and we then learn by trial and error... Never has the World Champion been so young!), but all the signs are that from the very beginning (since Spring 2002) Ruslan Ponomariov has, in practice, been kept away from negotiations on reunification. The second mistake made by FIDE, i.e. the participation of the world chess organization in preparation for the upcoming Kasparov vs Computer match, was fatal and almost deprived the chess world of a chance for an agreement, which has been so agonizing to reach.
The balance of the strongest players' interests was completely destroyed.

As far back as 2001 the FIDE President (at least, in his speech broadcast worldwide by the mass media) had promised the further, 16th FIDE World Champion (later it was Ponomariov who won this title) a match against the strongest computer programme. The unification had the purpose consolidating the two world champions and the player with the highest rating into one unification world championship cycle. How was it possible not to take into account the interests of all these chess players equally?

At the end of September Ponomariov lost his chief coach, whose health could not withstand the stress, restriction of his pupil's rights, pressure on him personally and the reticence and long wait for FIDE Congress.

...Of course, Garry Kasparov, the most famous chess player in the world, has every right to the highest fee in any unofficial match. But from an ethical point of view FIDE should not have taken part in it! It is also astonishing that FIDE supported Kasparov's match as the FIDE President being the compatriot of one of the opponents should have avoided any hint of double standards regarding the participants.

It is possible to understand and excuse a lot, including the state of euphoria, which possibly engulfed FIDE after they had managed to come to a peaceful agreement with Garry Kasparov, their, till then, long standing opponent. And that for some time this euphoria made FIDE forget about their own champion.

But should Ponomariov agree to further restriction of his interests if the international federation fails to restore the status quo with respect to its attitude to the leading chess players? Certainly, it's up to the FIDE World Champion to decide. In any case, it is impossible not to conclude that the development of the situation; persistence of the international federation representatives and Ruslan Ponomariov's strong resistance, leave no chance to hope that the contract signed by Ponomariov (under incredible pressure) based on principles suggested by the international federation so far, will have anything to do with the spirit of the chess world unification. Other options (such as proclamation of Kasparov as a World Champion without any match or announcement of Kasparov's match against another opponent) are similarly disastrous.

Is there any chance of saving the reunification championship in spite of it all?

Since the FIDE Congress (that took place in Autumn 2002 in Bled) Ruslan Ponomariov has been insisting on the privilege to retain the title in the event of a draw in his match against Kasparov (It would not be a contradiction to chess traditions and it would give Ponomariov the same privilege that Classical World Champion, Kramnik, will have in the parallel match against Leko). In his second demand Ponomariov stated that his match with Kasparov should be played with the new FIDE time control, used in 2001/2002 FIDE World Championship, which brought Ponomariov the title of the World Champion. This requirement is more than in line with chess traditions and common sense, but it contradicts FIDE strategic idea of coming back to the classical time control.

FIDE does not accept the demands of the World Champion, at least not all of them, and the situation has been giving the impression of an absolute deadlock for a long time.

At the same time there must have been a normal solution, and probably even more than only one such solution. The solution, which will take into consideration the reality of the current situation, without any mad approaches such as Ponomariov's disqualification or revision of the schedule for the Kasparov vs Computer match that is currently being fulfilled in New York.

If FIDE does not intend to just support Garry Kasparov in obtaining the Champion title in the quickest possible time (because if it does, what is currently the matter of worrying in the international chess community, the situation is really hopeless and there is no normal way out), but, instead, has a purpose of a Reunification World Championship with the classical time control, then, for instance, there should have been no obstacles for Ruslan Ponomariov to retain the title of the World Champion regardless of the outcome of the semi-final unification match (this match should not have the status of FIDE World Championship) until the final unification match has been played.

If, for example, Ponomariov is defeated by Kasparov, then Ponomariov will lose his title only after the final unification process and return to the classical control is completed, i.e. after the final reunification match ends - when the new FIDE World Champion will be announced.

If it is impossible to arrange the already promised chess world reunification final match with the classical time control (i.e. a match between winners of the Ponomariov-Kasparov and Kramnik-Leko matches), FIDE should, in such a case, return to Championships with the FIDE time control (yes, now this is the right time for FIDE to take responsibility for the things that will happen after the Ponomariov-Kasparov match, including taking into consideration the possibility that the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match can refuse for any reason to play in the reunification final match). ...In this case Ruslan Ponomariov will not lose his title (with all the consequent rights and privileges) even for a single moment regardless of the result of his match against Garry Kasparov with classical time control. It is reasonable because Ponomariov won his Champion title with the FIDE time control and nothing should make him lose this title unless the transfer to classical time control is fully completed.

An opinion exists that a Ponomariov-Kasparov match without World Championship status has no sense. But quite the opposite is the truth - a Ponomariov-Kasparov match has no sense if it is arranged in another way than, first of all, as a semi-final unification match, because the unprecedented decision to grant the player with the highest rating the right to play against the World Champion can be approved only if all existing championships are unified.

Without any doubt, the interest of the sponsors require special care in selecting a proper title for the official match in case it is not a FIDE World Championship (which, in my view, is the right decision). It is necessary to concentrate on the words «unification» and «classical» (implying time control) but not on the word «semi-final». If it is impossible to meet sponsor interest even under such a condition, the winner of a Kasparov-Ponomariov match can be awarded a special «intermediary» title, for instance, FIDE Classical Chess World Champion, the title that will be absolutely independent (!) of the current title of Ruslan Ponomariov. Both Garry Kasparov and Ruslan Ponomariov can win this intermediary title (so, Ruslan Ponomariov will be able to obtain both titles of World Champion at the same time).

It should be absolutely strictly stipulated that the present intermediary title (FIDE Classical Chess World Champion) will not be given any advancement within FIDE in case the final reunification match against the Kramnik-Leko match winner has not taken place (for any reason) within the predetermined period of time. In this case FIDE has to come back to a FIDE World Championships with a FIDE time control (and the intermediary title should possibly be automatically abolished after the first championship of that kind).

If the final reunification championship with the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match has taken place, the intermediary title (FIDE Classical Chess World Champion) should also be automatically abolished (and in this case this is absolutely critical) immediately after the final reunification match has been played and the winner (Ponomariov, Kramnik, Kasparov or Leko) has obtained the most honourable title of FIDE World Champion, which currently belongs (and will belong until the end of the final reunification match in accordance with all I suggest above) to Ukrainian grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov.

This is my suggestion that I have not discussed so far with any of the supposed participants of the reunification championship or their official representatives. This suggestion might seem artificial, but ... artificial is the whole process of unification (and especially, the currently critical match between Ponomariov and Kasparov). Unfortunately, from many points of view, it is always more «natural» to destroy than to build.

It is my view that, after the conflict has recently reached the public stage, now is the time for independent chess experts, those who are not indifferent to the future of the World Championship, to express their opinions. Someone can possibly offer a better scheme, I will be happy if such an attempt leads to success. In any case the balance of interests has to be met. To enter a reunification championship cycle with the status of the current champion diminished would lay a foundation for new disunity in the chess world for many years ahead.

The article was first published in the Russian language at chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_r.htm on 16th January 2003. On 16th-17th January it was re-published at the web sites www.chesspage.kiev.ua, www.bs-chess.com, www.chess-express.ru.
The translation (V1) is by Zoya Vlassova (zoyav@yandex.ru) and Mikhail Golubev (gmi@europe.com). Edited by Graham Brown (www.easytorecall.com).

JANUARY 19 UPDATES

chess-sector.odessa.ua

IS THERE ANY WAY OF SAVING THE REUNIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP?, pdf file
IS THERE ANY WAY OF SAVING THE REUNIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP?, the version, prepared by the Ukrainian translator
IS THERE ANY WAY OF SAVING THE REUNIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP?, edited by our US chess friend Steve Ham

Ivanchuk is ready to play Kasparov? FIDE ultimatum is prolonged till the end of Corus tournament. Ponomariov is ready to defend his rights (in Russian)

INTERNET, JANUARY 18-20

www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=727
Saving the reunification championship
18.01.2003 Negotiations between FIDE and Ruslan Ponomariov seem to have reached an impasse. In this dire situation GM Mikhail Golubev, editor of Ukrainian Chess Online, has come up with a proposal to save the reunification process. Essentially he wants the Ponomariov-Kasparov match to be clearly definied as a semi-final match for the reunification process and for its result to lose valitidy if the process is not completed.
Summary of what GM Mikhail Golubev is proposing:
- The essence of the conflict between Ruslan Ponomariov and FIDE are obscured by an argument about time control and Ponomariov's privilege (or lack of privilege) to retain the title in the event of a draw.
- There is little hope that a contract signed by Ponomariov under incredible pressure would have anything to do with the spirit of the chess world unification.
- The Ponomariov-Kasparov match match must be arranged as a semi-final unification match. It should be called the «FIDE classical chess world championship» and should not be promoted to a full world championship title if the full reunification plans are not completed.
- In case FIDE has to revert to a world championship with FIDE time controls and the intermediary title should be automatically abolished after the first championship of that kind.
- If the final reunification championship with the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match does take place, the intermediary title of classical chess world champion should be automatically
abolished.

www.bcmchess.co.uk
Is There Any Way of Saving the Reunification Championship? [18/01/03]
Click on the above link to read Mikhail Golubev's impassioned plea (posted on 16 January at the Chess in Ukraine website) in which he seeks to save the reunification series match between Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov.

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html#news2
Mikhail Golubev has a page of material on the lead up to this at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/crisis.htm and his comments on the situation: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_e.htm and an improved version at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_us.htm in Russian is a story http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/factfide.htm where Ponomariov has said he is absolutely ready to take legal action. According to the Ukrainian press the FIDE ultimatum has been prolonged until the end of Corus tournament.

www.pakchess.com
Read the complete text of GM Mikhail Golubev's email and his article on the ongoing reunification, Is there any way of saving the Reunification Championship? He has a has a page with ongoing chess crises between FIDE and Ponomariov at:
http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/crisis.htm and his comments on the situation at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_e.htm

www.chessville.com/misc/Editorials/misc_editorials_Reunification.htm
Reunification Ruminations
by David Surratt
(Excerpts)
I got into chess just before the Fischer boom of the early 70s, and Bobby became my instant hero, even before that incredible match in Reykjavik.
(...) Over the years, somewhen, I grew to realize that, despite my beliefs, despite resolutions from the US Congress, even despite winning the rematch 20 years later, Bobby was no longer King.
(...) So it was with a certain amount of bemusement that I watched Garry Kasparov take his title out from under the auspices of FIDE.
(...) Unfortunately, Garry couldn't quite keep on schedule in defending his title. GMA, PCA, ...ABCs all, nothing more it turned out.
(...) I began to long for the «old days», with the exhaustive qualification cycle of Zonals, Interzonals, and finally the Candidate's Matches, leading up to the World Championship Match.
(...) So it was that I was well prepared, psychologically, for Yasser Seirawan's initiative.
(...) Of course, the agreement was less than perfect, wasn't it?
(...) I didn't care.
(...) New developments are beginning to give the appearance of unraveling the Reunification Process though. Ruslan Ponomariov, the current FIDE champion, wants things.
(...) I am saying that I am tired of all the bickering over the title.
(...) The World Championship belongs to us, the average chess Fans around the globe. We deserve better than what we have received over the past decade.
(...) Will FIDE forfeit Ponomariov if he refuses to play the match under whatever time controls and match requirements? I hope so. I want that title reunified; after all - it's my title.
(...) As a last resort though, I think young Mr. Ponomariov should play the match under whatever conditions are set out by FIDE. After all, the title he is playing for is theirs - the FIDE World Championship.
(...) I received a letter from Ukrainian GM Mikhail Golubev... He raises the specter of yet another title, a special «intermediary» title.
(...) With all due respect to my fellow Editor, I have to say - I have to shout - NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need one Champion. One Champion who won the title at classical time controls against the previous title holder.
(...) Below I have reprinted GM Golubev's article... He has a right to his opinion, and I respect both him and his opinion. We have a right to One World Champion though.

tfs_reluctant.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 18, 2003
Chess correspondence
Although I am an avid chess player (and former member of the Internet Chess Club -- I will be a member again, as soon as I start earning enough to pay for membership again), I was suprised to be included in a distinguished list of masters and chess magazine editors this morning. I did do a little work for the NIA chess group in France, designs for their web site which, as it turned out, were not needed as they found a much more capable designer in Paris. In any case, Mikhail Golubev included me in an email discussing a crisis facing the world chess championship. Here's the email:

www.chessbase.de
Golubev-Initiative im Fide-Ponomariov
18.01.2003 Mikhail Golubev, Chefradakteur der ukrainischen Webseite chess-sector Odessa, sieht wegen des Streits zwischen Fide-Weltmeister Ruslan Ponomariov mit der Fide den fur die Schachwelt wichtigen Wiedervereinigungsprozes in Gefahr. Sein Hauptvorschlag ist den Wettkampf zwischen Ponomariov und Kasparov als Halbfinale des Wiedervereinigungprozesses zu definieren. Das Wettkampfergebnis soll ungultig sein, falls der Prozess nicht zu Ende gebracht wird.

www.schach.com
Samstag, 18.1.
Mikhail Golubev fragt auf Ukrainian Chess seit heute auch auf Englisch, ob es einen Weg der Rettung gibt fur den Wiedervereinigungprozess um den «wahren Weltmeister» mit den Weltmeister Ponomariov und Kramnik, dem Weltranglistenersten Kasparov sowie Braingamesherausforderer Leko.

chessbase.com/espanola
Por la salvaci�n de la reunificaci�n
18.01.2003 Las negociaciones entre la FIDE y Ruslan Ponomariov parecen haber alcanzado un callej�n sin salida. En esta horrible situaci�n, el GM Mikhail Golubev, editor de Ukrainian Chess Online, ha llegado con una propuesta para salvar el proceso de reunificaci�n. En esencia quiere que el encuentro entre Ponomariov y Kasparov se defina claramente como un encuentro de semifinales para el proceso de reunificaci�n y que su resultado carezca de validez en el caso de que no se complete todo el proceso.

www.notzai.com/notzai/index.shtml
Voici maintenant les reactions du GMI Ukrainien Mikhail Golubev sur son excellent site (dont certaines sections sont consacrees a Ponomariov) a lire ici:
http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_e.htm (en anglais)
Interessante aussi cette page du site «Ponomariov-FIDE Crisis: materials and messages» a lire ici : http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/crisis.htm

Ponomariov at Corus 2003 tournament.

Picture used with permission from Pascal Villalba
© Pascal Villalba

OPEN LETTER TO FIDE

Date: 20 January 2003 1:50
From: jbouard@magic.fr
To: info@chess-sector.odessa.ua
Dear IGM and Web Editor Mikhail Golubev,
I would like to share my thoughts with the chess-players world community through your website, concerning the present FIDE crisis around the Chess Championship Reunification process. I would be most grateful to you if you would accept to publish the present message on your web site Ukrainian Chess Online, as a follow-up to my open letter from 15/1/2003. The present message would be also an open letter addressed to FIDE itself (I would manage to send them a copy through their website, too).

PART I: LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP REUNIFICATION.
According to its own Statutes, FIDE is a non profit organisation, based on a famous article 61 in the Swiss Civil Code, and its headquarters are in Switzerland. This means that FIDE is subject to Swiss law, which does have far reaching consequences, as we will later see. According to its statutes, FIDE is an organisation, whose members are not individuals, but national chess federations. This means that no chess-player is individually a member of FIDE, but only a member of his own federation, which is itself a member of FIDE. Consequently, no rule of FIDE itself can govern any chess-player, and the obligations set forth in FIDE Statutes are not opposable to any chess-player!
However, FIDE itself has bound itself in its own Charter to set-up Competition Rules, among them the rules governing the World Chess Championship!
This means that national teams, representing national chess federations who engage in FIDE competition, are automatically regulated by FIDE Statutes, and the FIDE does not have to sign any contracts to its member federations, prior to beginning any FIDE chess event!
However, in individual competitions, the players engaged in playing a FIDE event have to sign a contract with FIDE.
These contracts are ruled by Swiss civil law, since FIDE is a Swiss organisation! But FIDE can also choose to put a clause stating that in case of conflict, the Lausanne sports committee has to be seized, instead of the Swiss civil court! Of course, no player is really obliged to accept such a clause in his individual contract with FIDE (I would not personally advise him that, because simply the civil jurisdiction offers the player much more guarantees!).
Well, if you wonder why am I recalling these general legal matters, is simply because they are at the heart of the matter in the last events in Corus around Fide World Chess Champion Ruslan Ponomariov crisis with Fide officials, Mr omuku and IGM Azmaiparshvili.
It's only obvious that these FIDE officials simply want Ruslan Ponomariov to sign the contract for his match against Garry Kasparov, under FIDE auspices.
Remember my previous analysis: neither Ponomariov nor Kasparov are FIDE members! So FIDE has to make them sign a contract each. But now everyone knows that you never sign a contract in a hurry! Because, a contract has to be cautiously studied! Every word in it can have far reaching consequences (just like, any move in chess can lead you to a hopeless position or to winning one!). Well, chess moves are never innocent, and they have to be pondered carefully! And the same goes for contracts! If this sounds logical to everybody, can anyone explain to me why FIDE officials had to come on 10th and 11th January to hassle World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and make him blindly sign the contract they offered him?
Well, any party that proposes a contract lets the other party:
1) get all the necessary information, and in particular, have a copy of ALL DOCUMENTS relating to the object of the contract! But not FIDE, since they want Ponomariov to sign a contract to accept to play against Kasparov, under the conditions reached by the Prague agreements! Well, but they refuse to let him read these famous Prague Agreements! Did anyone in the world see them apart from the people who participated in them? That is very few people, among them, certainly Kasparov himself, but also Kramnik and Leko, and Einstein TV (the «owner» of the title Classical Chess World Champion: if that really means anything, I will create tomorrow a Paris based company claiming also to «own» this title! You bet?).
Anyhow, Mr Omuku's reaction on FIDE website to Ponomariov's letter to Mr Ilyumzhinov, FIDE President, is in itself very funny!
Mr Omuku pretends that Ponomariov had a copy of the Prague agreement and of Bled GA since Nov 2002, if we believe Mr Omuku, the Ukrainian federation got these copies, and Ponomariov's fax was not working! Well, in this case, the solution is simple: Please, Mr Omuku, fax them back to Ponomariov!
Or even better: make them public, so that all chess-players in the world can see them! After all, these Prague agreements are not a shared secret between FIDE/Enstein TV, Kramnik, Leko and Kasparov! Let's hope so, Mr Omuku!
2) After what was said concerning the usual way of negotiating contracts, and FIDE hidden Prague contract, it becomes completely obvious why FIDE officials had to rush to Ponomariov's hotel in Wijk aan Zee, to make sign under an ultimatum!
i guess that if i anybody tries to put such a pressure on anybody, just to make him sign blindly a contract, it's more likely that he would be charged of swindling (at least that's how it goes in French law!).
Well, this is Fide's threat to Ponomariov: If you do not sign our contract, FIDE President will take the decision to replace you with Ivanchuk!
This makes me seriously laugh! I hope that FIDE has good Swiss lawyers (I am sure, they do!), because, if they really execute this pseudo-threat, they would run in trouble!
Well: Ponomariov is the official FIDE Chess World Champion, and according to WCCC FIDE regulations, only the FIDE World Champion, i.e., at this day, Ruslan Ponomariov, can defend his title!
Suppose that FIDE replaces Ponomariov by anybody else! Then:
1) just remember that FIDE is ruled by Swiss civil law.
2) let Ponomariov get a good Swiss lawyer.
3 ) let the lawyer attract FIDE to court.
Guess what will happen? The Swiss court will apply Swiss civil law (very similar to the French civil law!), and then annihilate any kind of fide chess world championship in which Ponomariov will not take part! A simple as this, with, moreover, money that FIDE will have to pay Ponomariov as a compensation! Well, if you carry out this same analysis, you can immediately also deduce that the present match between Kasparov (instead of Ponomariov), as FIDE Champion, against the computer program Junior, is doomed to the same fate!
Yes, Kasparov-Junior match, sponsored officially by FIDE as world championship match Man-Computer is illegal according to FIDE own statuses!

PART II: A COMMERCIAL PROFIT INTERPRETATION OF THE SUPPOSEDLY «NON-PROFIT» FIDE ORGANISATION.
Continuing our reasoning about FIDE practices, and without entering into much details, it would also be clearly apparent that some FIDE manoeuvres are not as innocent as FIDE officials want us to believe! First of all, why during the secret negotiations leading to the famous secret Prague agreements, some of the best players in the world were kept totally away from these talks?
After all, it's very surprising that players like Ivanchuk, Anand, Shirov, and many others, who are all legitimately eligible to have a word, or even to participate in the Reunification process, were kept completely out of it, by FIDE itself! If FIDE were really a non-profit organisation, as its own Statutes claim it, then all these important matters had to be discussed.
Democratically, among FIDE members, that is (let's not forget that!) national member federations, acting on behalf of all the chess-players of the world (Well, FIDE's motto is not just that: Gens Una Sumus!).
But the mere fact that negotiations on Reunification took place, very discreetly, between FIDE and a commercial company, Einstein TV, and a happy few players, with the help of some middlemen (player's agents, IGM Seirawan, Mrs Ojjeh, etc), so exactly along the mood of ordinary commercial negotiations, between usual business for-profit-companies, only sheds more light on the behaviour of some FIDE officials, who just use FIDE non-profit status and its huge infrastructure derived from the contributions of its national member federations, to dwell money on a business like basis, to diverting it from going into the pockets of the majority of professional high level chess-players (I mean, Ponomariov, Ivanchuk, Anand, Shirov, and many others!).
Well, only the happy few that were allowed to be part of Prague negotiations, did have the right to a share of the cake (well: TV/internet and media Rights, dear!).

PART III / A FEW OPEN QUESTIONS TO FIDE.
Finally, let me address directly my open questions to FIDE officials themselves:
Q1: If you pretend that you forwarded the complete copy of the Prague agreements and the Bled Nov 2002 GA to World Champion Ponomariov, why not make them publicly available to everyone in the world, by just publishing them on FIDE website? Would that not be just normal, since FIDE Charter stipulates that it's working for the interest of the Chess game, and that all chess-players belong to one family, so that no discrimination can be exercised against any chess-player by FIDE!
The whole Chess world community is now a witness to the fairness and loyalty of FIDE officials, and would put to a test Mr Omuku statement that Prague documents were actually communicated to World Champion Ponomariov!
Q2: FIDE is officially a non-profit organisation. Why, then, in every contract, FIDE insists so much that players sign contracts that are completely unfavourable to them, in which they have to give up all Media/TV/Internet rights to FIDE itself? Why, besides, FIDE has to take 20% of their prize money?
Why FIDE is signing always contracts with sponsors and chess organisers, in the back of the player's themselves, in which it reserves to itself all the financial advantages of the tournament, and guarantees to its officials (president, committee members, etc) more advantages, than the players themselves? (Example: the president must travel 1st class, have a suite in 1st class hotel, etc, while the players do not enjoy these same conditions! Do the FIDE officials make the show, or rather the players? Who then needs to get rewarded by the tournament organiser and sponsor?).
Well, I am sure never to get an answer to this second question, because it's completely in the centre of FIDE's hypocrisy, to pretend being a non-profit organisation, purely working for the sake of chess and chess-players, while it's actually turned into a big machinery that generates money, in the usual business practice, to the sole profit of its managers!
Q3: by the way, what's the role of the business company: FIDE Commerce international limited? Just a profit corporation, belonging to FIDE managers, and whose purpose is to get from chess sponsors, the monetary counterpart to the Media/TV/Internet rights, that FIDE officials oblige chess-players to give up, if need be, by going as far as hassling them right to their hotel rooms (remember Azmaiparshvili and Omuku coming to Wijk aan Zee on 10/11 January in the middle of Corus tournament, to harass World Chess Champion Ponomariov, and completely shatter his mental concentration for the whole tournament! Well, even if you take a little exam, and you are bothered by these kind of shameful and mean practices, you can be made to miss your exam!).
These methods are really unworthy of the image of Chess, a noble game of wit and culture, that FIDE is normally destined to defend.
But it seems now that everything is rotten in FIDE Chess World.

Joel Bouard, Paris, France.

JAN 20-21 INTERNET NEWS

Thanks to Stephen Ham and The Chess Cafe website (editor Hanon Russell), my article, IS THERE ANY WAY OF SAVING THE REUNIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP?, is posted and started to be discussed at ChessCafe.com Bulletin Board (M.G.)

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html#news2
Final FIDE Chance for Ponomariov? I understand here was supposed to be a FIDE meeting during the Kasparov vs. Deep Junior match but there is an unconfirmed story that this has been postponed until the end of Wijk aan Zee to allow Ponomariov to attend.

OPINIONS

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 03:55:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Luis F. Gonzalez-Silen
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua

Hello,
Short and to the point. I think FIDE's behavior and organization leave a lot to be desired, and I do think that they have excluded you from the negotiations when they should have not. However, to the rank and file of the chess world, and I'm not saying that I speak for all of us, even though certainly from my conversations it seems that it is a prevalent feeling, some of your demands sound a little like fear of Kasparov.
First of all, draw odds. They are part of the many archaic traditions that we must get rid of. If it is a championship, there has to be a winner. Tie-breaks are the way to go. I think you should debate more the nature of the tie-break games and not insist on draw odds which seem to suggest that you would be prepared to try to draw all games to keep your title, suggesting that you may think you are not strong enough to defeat Kasparov outright, but stand a chance by trying for draws.
Secondly, FIDE time controls. We all know from experience that shorter time controls favor intuition and, to a certain degree, luck. If you think you would best Kasparov in chess thinking abilities, why would you favor a shorter time control? Surely, a longer time control would only serve to demonstrate more fully your superior analytical skills. Are you afraid that, in the long run, Kasparov can come up with better plans than you?
Yes, argue against FIDE's unequal and unfair treatment of you, yes, argue about a fair system of tie-breaks. But please don't disappoint the rank and file and diminish the position of World Champion by allowing us to think that you fear losing your title. Onwards with confidence and good luck.
Sincerely,
Luis

PAKCHESS.COM ARTICLE

Reunification of Kasparov and Ilyumzhinov!
by Abdul Karim

(...) The Prague Unity Plan is a reunification of two chess personalities, two chess lovers and two chess dictators. One is the «man with a thousand faces» Gary Kasparov and the other is the man with «millions of dollars» Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Read complete article at www.pakchess.com

GM KOMAROV'S CORUS REPORTS

GM Komarov's January 23 and January 25 Corus Tournaments Reports (in Russian language) are available at
www.facts.kiev.ua/Jan2003/2301/02.htm#1 (FIDE Commerce, FIDE Grand Prix, etc.), and
www.facts.kiev.ua/Jan2003/2501/02.htm#1 (Interview with A.Roshal, etc.)

Worldchessrating.ru Ponomariov photograph is discussed (in Russian) at
www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?62081
, and also at
www.chess-express.ru/article/wijk-photo2.html

JANUARY 26-27 NEWS

Corus Tournament (Jan 10-26, 2003), final standings: Anand 8.5; Polgar 8; Bareev 7.5; Shirov, Van Wely, Grischuk, Ivanchuk, Kramnik 7; Radjabov, Topalov 6.5; Karpov, Ponomariov 6; Krasenkow 4.5; Timman 2.5.

Corus interview with Ruslan Ponomariov by Yuri Vasilyev is available at www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?62162
My latest Komanda article is re-published at chess-sector.odessa.ua/komanda1.htm (both materials are in Russian language - M.G.)

OPINIONS AT CHESSBASE WEB SITE

«Champion who? FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov is the Rodney Dangerfield of chess. No, he's not old and fat, but he gets no respect. At least not as much as he thinks he should get. Since winning the 2001 FIDE KO World Championship in Moscow he has discovered that one big paycheck and a nice medal do not automatically earn you respect in the chess world.» [journalist M.Greengard]
Full story: www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=749

«Not losing a game is not my goal, but winning the tournament is», said Vishy Anand after his plus-four win in Wijk aan Zee. He spoke to India's national newspaper The Hindu about the FIDE world championship cycle and reunification plans, calling the possible forfeit of Ponomariov «inappropriate».
www.chessbase.com (28.01.2003)

More on V.Anands's opinion: www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?62258 (interview by Yuri Vasilyev; article in Russian)

OPEN LETTER TO KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV

Chessbase.com: Top grandmasters dissatisfied with FIDE tournament policy

28.01.2003 Following the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the six top grandmasters have appealed to FIDE president Kirsan Illyumshinov in an open letter. Points of criticism are the abandonment of the FIDE world cup after two of five scheduled tournaments, as well as the uncertainty about date and form of the once planned world championship.
More: www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=758
Original letter in Russian: www.chessbase.de/Nachrichten/bilder2003/2003openletter.jpg

WWW.FIDE.COM, JAN 31 NEWS

«We publish the minutes of the FIDE General Assembly, 8-10 November 2002 in Bled, Slovenia.»
www.fide.com/news.asp?id=115

Download PDF:
www.fide.com/minutes/ga2003/ga2003.pdf

GENS UNA SUMUS, BLED 2002

Bled 2002 report of the USCF Delegate to the FIDE Congress

(...) Ignoring the inaccuracy of Mr. Kasparov's comments, the Assembly heartily endorsed the sentiment, and gave him a rousing ovation.
The only party crasher was a Mr. Danilev, who represents the interests of the current FIDE world champion, Ruslan Ponomariov. Mr. Danilev stated that, although Mr. Ponomariov supports the Prague agreement, he feels that as the current FIDE World Champion he should receive draw odds in next year's unification matches.
Whether Mr. Ponomariov is serious, or just using this as a negotiating tactic remains to be seen. If Garry Kasparov does not play in the upcoming unification matches he would be greatly missed. On the other hand, if Ruslan Ponomariov does not play almost no one will notice. A player like Anand could be a more than adequate substitute for Ponomariov, but on the other hand, there is no substitute for Kasparov. Therefore it seems certain that Ruslan will not get draw odds. (...)
Bill Kelleher
USCF Delegate to FIDE
Full story: www.uschess.org/org/govern/fide_report_nov02.html

[Ed. note: «Mr. Danilev» is known as Mr. Danailov. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is one of the organizers of the Kasparov-Deep Junior 2003 match.]

CHESSNETWORK SITE COMMENTS

www.chessnetwork.com/ncn

FIDE's gambit: Sacrifice the King!

Politics: The tense manoeuvres over the world championship re-unification have taken a dramatic turn, with reports that FIDE has lined up Vassily Ivanchuk to replace its own champion, Ruslan Ponomariov, in the planned match with Kasparov.
Australian GM Ian Rogers reports in the Sun-Herald newspaper that FIDE officials at the Corus tournament in Holland have signed-up Ivanchuk - the FIDE championship runner-up, and a Ukrainian - to replace Ponomariov if he continues to reject its match conditions.
Ponomariov has so far refused to sign an agreement with FIDE, insisting that he receive «draw odds» iin the Kasparov match (ie, he «wins» if the match is «drawn») and that FIDE stick to the faster time-limits used in its own championship, rather than return to the classical, slow-chess format.
Elsewhere there are unconfirmed reports that Ponomariov has been given another extension to the deadline for agreeing to the conditions.

Comment: FIDE's move is based on some cold-blooded but correct calculations: it estimates that bringing both Kasparov and Kramnik within the FIDE fold is essential to establishing the bona-fides of a «reunification» match, while Ponomariov is dispensible.
Ponomariov is a player of immense talent, and quite possibly will one day be an undisputed world champion. But at the moment no-one - not even FIDE - believes he is «really» a world champion. And Ivanchuk is one of the few players who has actually beaten Kasparov on a number of occasions. From FIDE's point of view, though, an even more convincing move would be to sign up Anand to replace Ponomariov.
How legitimate are Ponomariov's complaints? It seems to us that some are, and some aren't. His insistence on quick time limits is unlikely to impress the many fans who want a «proper», slow-chess world champion. On the other hand, Ponomariov's insistence on «draw odds» has some weight, given that Kramnik enjoys this priviledge against Leko in their «semi-final». It would be better, in NCN's view, to abolish draw-odds altogether - even a pair of blitz play-off games is preferable to giving the incumbent such a big advantage.
Ponomariov's underlying complaint - that he has not been adequately consulted throughout the process - is much more serious. As one of two «world champions», he certainly deserves to be taken seriously. However, the political reality is that Pono - along with Leko, Ivanchuk et al - is just a bit player in a drama starring Kasparov, Kramnik and Iljumzhinov.

Republished with permission from www.chessnetwork.com

GM OPEN LETTER TO KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
3 February 2003

Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Dear Mr President,

We, a group of leading grandmasters participating in the international tournament in Wijk aan Zee, turn to you in this critical moment for the fate of world chess. We are deeply worried about the fact that the three stages of the FIDE Grand Prix have not been played. The first stage took place in Dubai in April 2002, the second in Moscow in June of the same year. As it is known, during the FIDE congress 2000 in Istanbul it was decided to return to the 2-year cycle of staging the world championship. The prize fund remained the same as for the 1-year cycle, i.e. three million US $ instead of the 5 million US $ for the 2-year cycle in 1997-1998. The explanation for reducing the prize fund was that the money saved this way would be used for the FIDE Grand Prix.Without stating reasons, the FIDE Grand Prix 2002 was stopped after two stages instead of the scheduled five. Furthermore, its official results have not been published. As this is one of the most important tournaments in the official FIDE calender, we find these situation unacceptable. Also, we are worried about the lack of reliable information concerning the world championship 2003 which the FIDE congress scheduled for November/December of this year. For professional players like us, it is absolutely necessary to plan far ahead so that we can prepare ourselves for the confirmed date and the rules of this tournament. In this letter, Mr President, we have expressed but a small part of the problems which have recently been worrying the grandmasters and the whole chess world.

Sincerely yours, L. van Wely, E. Bareev, A. Karpov, R. Ponomariov, A. Grischuk and A. Shirov.

Wijk aan Zee, Holland, 26.01.03

Additional signatures: V. Kramnik, V. Topalov, J. Polgar, M. Krasenkov, T. Radjabov.

Link to this document (in Russian) and faximile of signatures at:
www.chess-express.ru/article/letter.html

THE CORUS TOURNAMENT AND THE PONOMARIOV-FIDE CONFLICT

Mikhail Golubev, International Grandmaster
chess-sector.odessa.ua

This article was first published in Russian, in the Ukrainian sport newspaper KOMANDA, on January 25th, 2003.

(...)

It is common knowledge these days that Ruslan Ponomariov has to fight not only chess adversaries, but also FIDE, which threatens to deprive him of his title. Fortunately, this second front slackened, at least by the time that this review was being prepared. The latest news was of an unofficial message regarding a possible transfer of the forthcoming Presidential Council from New York to Europe at the beginning of February. This was done so that Ruslan Ponomariov may attend it.
We hope that FIDE would not go so far as to exclude Ponomariov from the world championship. That would result in Ponomariov bringing legal action against FIDE. It seems that the final steps in this direction have not yet been taken. Meanwhile, Vassily Ivanchuk, whom FIDE views as Ponomariov's compulsory replacement, has not expressed his position publicly. So we hope that all of the parties officially involved in this very complex situation can reach a compromise.

Let's analyse how the chess world entered this difficult crisis. After all, FIDE's motto is: «GENS UNA SUMUS» («We are one family»). Almost every family experiences quarrels which remain unresolved until their true causes are clarified. It is clear that such a quarrel recently arose in our chess family - so all family members should now have the right to express their opinions. But a genuine conflict can't occur in the absence of earlier unfortunate and illogical happenstances. Therefore we should not be surprised that this conflict's foundation was laid unconsciously by those who are not directly involved in the situation now.

In 2001, a grandiose Online World Chess tournament was announced (later transformed into the Prague tournament) and a list of participants was immediately made public (current information is that Grandmaster Timman was responsible for this list). The list included all of the world's strongest players, but it omitted the name of Ruslan Ponomariov, the highest-rated junior player. His high rating in the international ranks justified inclusion onto the list, regardless of his junior status. But even prior to this time, the organizers of the largest tournaments of 2001 preferred players other than Ruslan, for unknown reasons. So the Online World Chess tournament announcement caused a shock within Ponomariov's team. Being an Internet activist, I was asked to contact the organizers, and an exchange of email ensued. One vacant place remained in the tournament lineup, and the organizer's response suggested the possibility that Ruslan could still be nominated, an action which is something more than a polite come-off. However, quite soon the entire Online World Chess project (related, by the way, to Kasparovchess), as it was initially composed, came to an end. We dwell upon this episode primarily because we are convinced that a small error on the part of the organizers, has, together with all the rest, predetermined Ponomariov's opposition to the system of breaches of sporting principles, and to the endless protectionism that existed in chess for many years.

The manner in which the events unfolded is now common knowledge, but it is advisable to recollect them once again. In the same year of 2001, FIDE's President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced to the whole world that the next FIDE World Champion would play a match against the strongest chess program. In January 2002, eighteen year old Ponomariov became the FIDE champion, having won the Final match against the other Ukrainian, Ivanchuk. Ponomariov won and his victory placed him at the intersection of all chess related interests. Subsequently, complications with the Linares tournament organizers followed. This lead to press conferences and Ponomariov's eventual participation in the tournament, where he won second place behind Kasparov.
Yasser Seirawan authored proposals that favored unification of the chess world. His plan called for bringing together Ponomariov, classic chess champion Kramnik, and the rating leader Kasparov, within the framework of a reunification championship to be played with classical time controls. A super tournament was organized in Prague with the participation of 16-chess players. Concurrently, the Prague unification summit meeting was held, but Ponomariov was the only top player who wasn't represented. This time he was invited, but no mutual understanding with the organizers was reached. So the Prague unification summit took place in Ponomariov's absence. Long-time FIDE opponent, Kasparov, who did not agree to participate in any of the two parallel championships (FIDE and Classical) within the existing formulae, was now ready to cooperate with FIDE. However, Kramnik's classical chess championship had already scheduled an event to determine his future contender, so this process had to be honored. Following difficult negotiations, it was decided that Kramnik would play as originally scheduled against the winner of his qualification tournament, while Ponomariov would play against Kasparov. The winners would meet in the unification final. The participants at the summit, along with the entire chess world, entertained the the false belief that FIDE either represented Ponomariov, or somehow controlled his opinion. The necessity of inviting Ponomariov as an equal (!) to approve of the summit resolutions, was completely ignored.
As a consequence, a group of leading players found themselves thrown overboard from the consolidation ship, and (at least for some time) without FIDE regular championship prizes. They wrote an open letter of protest, but without any real consequences. Peter Leko subsequently won the qualification tournament, thus gaining the right to play against Kramnik. Ruslan Ponomariov split with his sponsors, who had made efforts earlier to establish working contacts with FIDE. Mikhail Ponomariov became Ruslan's chief coach again.
Ruslan Ponomariov received an offer from Boris Alterman to play a match against the software program «Deep Junior», for a fee that is less than modest for a World Champion. Ruslan rejected the offer. But then Garry Kasparov, with FIDE's participation (!), was offered a match against the same program for a fee that was ten times greater. Kasparov agreed. Ruslan Ponomariov gave an interview, and the complete computer match story was made public. Mikhail Ponomariov criticized the Prague agreements in the press, making the strain between FIDE and the Ponomariovs appreciable. By the end of September, Mikhail Nikitovich Ponomariov suffered a sudden stroke and died, never seeing the FIDE Congress in Bled where the Prague agreements were to be discussed. This was the heaviest blow for the world champion, who considered his homonym and coach to be his second father. Ruslan lived many years with Mikhail Ponomariov's family.

The Chess Olympiad and the FIDE Congress took place later in Bled. Staying almost alone, Ruslan Ponomariov entrusted Silvio Danailov, Veselin Topalov's coach, to represent his interests (he cooperated with both of them during the FIDE world championship). At the Congress, Danailov declared Ponomariov's terms for playing the unification match against Kasparov - Ponomariov wins in case the match ends in a draw (Kramnik enjoys the same advantage in his match against Leko), and retention of the faster FIDE time control, which was used when Ponomariov became FIDE World Chess Champion. Ponomariov's terms were not accepted. At approximately the same time, it was announced that Yasser Seirawan, the pioneer of world chess championship consolidation, may become the head of one of FIDE's divisions. Following the Bled Congress, the situation entered a period of long and fruitless talks between Ponomariov's representative and FIDE. Danailov announced in public that Ponomariov will agree to play in the next championship, starting from its earliest stage, in accordance with the old knockout formula. Meanwhile, Kasparov's match versus Deep Junior was transferred from Jerusalem to New York, due to the lawsuit brought against Kasparov in Israel. The Ukrainian Chess Federation became involved in the process. They contacted FIDE and requested the Bled Congress documents and resolutions regarding the world championship. On the day of Ruslan Ponomariov's departure for Wijk aan Zee, the Ukrainian Federation published its summation, clearly indicating at last that no agreement exists at all. Ponomariov was unwilling to sign FIDE's drafted contract. FIDE's response was to deliver an ultimatum to Ruslan: either sign the contract or there will be an announcement of a match between Ivanchuk and Kasparov.
FIDE's representatives came to Wijk aan Zee, and the «negotiations» ended with Ponomariov's open letter to Ilyumzhinov. Several days later, FIDE issued a tough press release signed by Omuku, which stated that FIDE's patience came to an end and that it is ready to take action. Ilyumzhinov commented on the situation for the TV media. The Ukrainian press published a communication that Ponomariov was ready to defend his rights in court.

The entire story of the emergence and management of FIDE by an extraordinary leader, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, reminds one of a fairy-tale, though not necessarily an Eastern one. I believe that many of you saw the movie «Lady's Visit» starring Vasilyeva and Gaft [a well-known USSR movie, based on Duerrenmatt's famous story «Besuch einer alten Dame». M.G.]. Once having experienced previously unseen financial opportunities, decent citizens go out of their minds, if not out of their consciences. And all that was once human, becomes soaked with cynicism. It is similar to what has happened in the chess world lately. To make an even greater similarity, there was no visible victim until now. If no compromise is reached, then it is FIDE World Champion, Ruslan Ponomariov, who unfortunately risks becoming this victim (thankfully not to the same radical extent as Gaft's hero). In reality, should no real unity occur, the victims will be all those who still love chess.

Edited by Steve Ham

chess-sector.odessa.ua/komanda.htm

OFF TOPIC

(1) Kasparow auf dem Kriegspfad

The popular German chess magazine Rochade Europa in its February 2003 issue devoted a couple of pages for articles, related to the Kasparov-Junior match, and to the Ponomariov-FIDE situation.
On the pages 14-15 there is the second half of Gerald Schendel's article, called Kasparow auf dem Kriegspfad. In the beginning, the German journalist cites and analyses different versions (translations) of recent Kasparov articles, where 13th World Champion expressed his political views. An typical example:

Jewish Observer
But, first, a direct strike should be delivered. Baghdad remains the nearest but not the last target. The list should also include Teheran, Damascus and, naturally, Er-Riyad.
Wall Street Journal
But offense comes first. Baghdad remains the next stop but not the last. We must also have plans for Tehran and Damascus, not to mention Riyadh.

In the final part of his article, Gerald Schendel writes about Ilyumzhinov's and Kasparov's business interests.
For example, an important point seems to be, that Ilyumzhinov travelled to Florida, US, in 2002, also because the company Itera has his headquarter there. Itera seems to be a company which has connections to Russian energy giant, Gasprom.
Another little known information is that an UK company, called Clipper Media Ltd. has, as described in the article, an exclusive worldwide contract with Kasparov.
Many references to original media sources are given in the article.

(2) Curse of Kirsan

The book Curse of Kirsan by Sarah Hurst is reviewed by John S. Hilbert at Chess Cafe (www.chesscafe.com/reviews/books.htm).
(...) Hurst now lives in Alaska, her passion for chess dead; Ilyumzhinov has been reelected FIDE president, and shows no sign of slowing down his connection with the game. And, as Hurst sees it, «the sycophancy towards Ilyumzhinov continues unabated» (p.193).
Permanent URL of this review is www.chesscafe.com/text/review362.pdf

Curse of Kirsan, by Sarah Hurst, 2002 Russell Enterprises, Inc. 2002.

OPINIONS

From: Andrei V. Yeremenko
To: Mikhail Golubev
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 16:13:01 -0200

Dear Mikhail!
Here is my modest opinion respect to FIDE-Ponomariov matters. There are several banal roots of this crisis:
(1) Obviously FIDE is not a democratic body since late 40th when Soviet federation has joined FIDE. There are numerous examples of 'double standard' of FIDE. All of them are just in a line of famous Churchill's 'We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests' with a good deal of additional totalitarian cynicism. An early example is Soviet support of Alekhine for his match with Botvinnik, and simultaneous suppression of Bogoljubow, Bohatirchuk, et al.
(2) So, chess-players are disorganised by FIDE, they have no professional organization in fact. On the other hand, national chess federation of Ukraine is awfully weak and passive. It is ridiculous that national federation became legal only in 2003 (according to decision of the Ministry of Justice). Despite of this weakness and only due to several persons Ukrainian chess federation had strong trumps at the beginning of 2002: FIDE team and individual champions and vice-champion. Nothing was done to employ these trumps. As a sequence a year was lost, our national team was not prepared for the Olympics, the FIDE vice-champion Ivanchuk is not invited to Linares tournament which he won three times (some lower rated players are invited instead of him), Kasparov is playing Deep Junior instead of Ponomariov, an so on.
How to solve a problem of the world title unification now? I think Ponomariov's managers have to develop some simple counter-proposals to FIDE. There are two simple basic versions:
(A) Ponomariov - Kasparov match should be played with draw odds in favour of ... Kasparov. I believe FIDE will accept this offer.
Or
(B) FIDE has to award a title to Karpov (as usual).
Frankly speaking Bronstein's idea of the world champion title cancellation is quite natural and logical.
Sincerely,
ICCF-IM Andrei Yeremenko

SPORT-EXPRESS INTERVIEW WITH RUSLAN PONOMARIOV

Sport-Express, 27th January 2003
www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?62162

A HAT TRICK BY PONOMARIOV

Interview by Yuri Vasiliev

The FIDE World Champion fell almost to the very bottom of the tournament table after completing two thirds of the event. But the guy has a miner's guts! He won three games in the row. It's all clear with Timman - only «the lazy» may not defeat him. However, Ruslan's successes in his games against Loek van Vely and the 12th chess champion, Anatoly Karpov, cost him!

Ruslan, how did you manage to forget the troubles caused by the FIDE ultimatum?
I just focused myself upon specific preparations for meeting specific opponents. That was the only option at my disposal.
How are relations with FIDE going to develop, with regard to the contract for the Kasparov match?
I was informed that my manager, Silvio Danailov, and Maria Bulatova, Chairman of the Sports Committee of Ukraine, and I were thought to be invited to the FIDE President's Board in New York. But FIDE recently changed their mind. It is said that the Board will meet in some other place.
Are you ready to accept FIDE's terms or are you going to stand firm?
First I would like to obtain the Congress documents that have made the basis for approving the terms that I am offered. Neither my representatives nor I have such documents in our possession.
However, Emmanuel Omuku, belonging to FIDE's management, asserts that he has handed them to you in person and that they have been mailed as well.
These were the short-hand notes of the FIDE General Assembly session but not the official documents.
Should such an indefinite situation continue until the Linares tournament, would you be able to play there successfully?
No doubt that any definiteness is better than uncertainty.
Are you going to maintain your firm attitude or are you ready to yield a bit?
My view is that a normal and legally bound contract for a match with Kasparov should be concluded. It ought to be signed by Kasparov, me, FIDE, and the match organizers. However, all of this is of minor importance. We should avoid situations where I say one thing and Kasparov says another. As to consolidation, I believe it would have been sensible for us four - meaning Kramnik, Kasparov, Leko, and myself - to sit down at a table and formulate the rules for the consolidation.
Are you ready to play a match with Kasparov?
Certainly, I am ready to defend my title against such an interesting and strong adversary. However, I do not want to be at a disadvantage. A standard legal document is required that will consider all trifles and possible occurrences. Suppose that somebody gets ill or refuses to participate in the next competition. Also, at present, we do not even know what title is at stake in my match with Kasparov. Another supposition: what happens if Grandmasters Kramnik and Leko don't play their consolidation match?
What is your forecast about Kasparov's play versus the computer?
If FIDE applied the same pressure upon Kasparov that I experienced at the beginning of the tournament, then he has very few chances. On the other hand, as Kramnik's match versus «Deep Fritz» indicated, the man can get the best of it.

Republished with permission from Sport-Express.ru
Translation: chess-sector.odessa.ua
Translated by: Nikolai Borodavkin, e-mail: aleshin@te.net.ua
P.S. Maria Bulatova was dismissed by Leonid Kuchma on February 5, 2003.

FEBRUARY 7 NEWS

(1) An important article by GM Dmitry Komarov and journalist Olga Gurina is published in Russian, in the Ukrainian newspaper FACTY (Facts) on February 7th, 2003. The web address is
www.facts.kiev.ua/Feb2003/0702/07.htm#4
Both the history of the conflict and the current Ponomariov-FIDE situation are discussed in the article. The main news is that Silvio Danailov has delivered an important message to FIDE still in the end of January. The message was about the continuation of contacts between Ponomariov and FIDE, but till now there is no answer.

(2) I received unconfirmed information that Presidential Board (where the fate of the World Championship will be decided) will take place in Bucharest, and can be scheduled for the end of February (one can find information regarding the 2002 invitation of the Romanian federation at www.fide.com/minutes/ga2003/ga2003.pdf). By the way, Linares tournament, where Ponomariov will participate, shall begin on Feb 22.
(M.G.)

CHESSWATCH SITE COMMENTS

www.worldchessrating.com/chesswatch.html

Ponomariov Dustup Continues
by Gene Venable
2-7-2003

(...) You can read all you want and more of the reaction of FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov and many others to the slated world championship reunification conditions at the Ukrainian Chess Online site.

(...) This is simply a continuation of the FIDE tradition that whoever is designated World Champion becomes involved in major disputes with FIDE. (Exceptions who prove the rule: Khalifman and Anand.) Perhaps this is inevitable, considering the fact that FIDE did not create the title of chess World Champion and a certain mystique attaches to whomever is seen by the public to hold the title. This mystique gives its holder some power beyond FIDE's control.

(...) Reunification of the title is a messy political process which is bound to dissatisfy some who are involved. The test is not whether this or that player boycotts the matches; the test is whether the chess public accepts the final result. It requires a great deal of clout to fight against FIDE, clout which Ponomariov does not have at this time.

CHATHURANGAM.COM INTERVIEW

www.chathurangam.com/interview/vishycorus2k3.asp

«World Cup Champion Viswanathan Anand clinched his first undivided title at Wijk Aan Zee drawing his final round game against defending Champion Bareev. Immediately after the game he spoke to our special Correspondent Vijay Kumar.»

(...)

Vijay : The Chess fraternity is still confused about the outcome of the unification treaty. What according to you is an acceptable solution?
Anand : I think the only acceptable solution is to take the process all the way, I mean, if Kasparov plays Ponomariov than there should be a match with Einstein people and there should be a unification match and we should have one World Champion again otherwise there is no need to have Kasparov-Ponomariov match if it does not lead to unification.

OPINIONS

From: J. Franklin Campbell franklin@voyager.net
To: ruslan@chess-sector.odessa.ua
Subject: Please play Kasparov
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 21:26:12 -0500

Dear GM Ponomariov,
Your fans, including me, are hoping you will play the match with GM Kasparov. Please do not disappoint us. If it is necessary for you to make compromises, please do so. This is a very important match for the history of the world championships. Please ... have courage, you can defeat Kasparov if you will agree to play. If you have confidence in yourself you will not disappoint us by failing to play. You are smart and will surely find some way to make an agreement with FIDE to play this match.
Best regards,
Your fan Franklin
J. Franklin Campbell (Mason, Michigan USA)
email: franklin@voyager.net
http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/
http://JFCampbell.US/

KASPAROV VS JUNIOR ENDS IN 3-3 DRAW

Garry Kasparov played the Israeli computer program Deep Junior in a six-game match in New York, USA. The event was called the «The FIDE Man Vs Machine World Chess Championship» and was sponsored by FIDE and presented by X3D Technologies Corporation which covered the Kasparov - Karpov 2002 match. The prize fund was $1m, with GM Kasparov receiving $500,000 just for appearing. Official match site was www.x3dworld.com, the event was covered also at Chessbase.com, TWIC, Worldchessrating.com, Chessclub.com, and various other www sites.

PRAGUE AGREEMENT WILL NEED TO BE REVISITED?

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic431.html
The Week in Chess 431 10th February 2003 by Mark Crowther

(...) If there are problems with the Kasparov - Ponomariov match and it proves impossible to get a sponsor for Kramnik - Leko (not yet announced with only 3 or 4 months to go) then the Prague agreement will need to be revisited.
I think a four player all-play-all of several cycles (6 for 18 games) is the ideal solution. I hear the objection is that players would throw games. This kind of «match fixing» is not permitted in other sports and a contractual obligation backed up with real sanctions would I think work. Personally I don't see too much evidence that players in the elite would throw games (and if there is such a problem then its time it was stamped out) but the regulations would be there to stop it and address the more paranoid's worries.

(...) A match tournament every two years for the World Championships would be my long term solution also. Qualifiers would be one big Swiss (anyone in the top 100 plus leading players from unrepresented continents would be entitled to play) a Candidates tournament of 10 players 18 rounds producing 3 finalists joining the World Champion in the final (one could also put the Champion in the Candidates and directly have 4 qualifiers).

BUT GETTING THERE IS NOT FOR SURE

(1) Gazza Will Not Go To Gaza

The chess journalist Lev Khariton informed me that he reacted to Kasparov article 'The Next Battle; the War is Not Yet Won' still in September 2002. Mr Khariton's article 'Gazza Will Not Go To Gaza!' was published at Pakchess.com site. The full article is available at
pkchess.bizland.com/chesspress/september/sep_1.html
Below are few short excerpts:
(...) I am writing these lines under the shock I received upon reading Garry Kasparov's article 'The Next Battle' the War is Not Yet Won' published in Wall Street Journal on August 5, 2002.
(...) Yes, today Kasparov is not a communist ( I would remind the readers that he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the tender age of 19 - to fight Karpov successfully!), but still with an inimitable conviction that he is never faultless he is absolutely like Botvinnik.
(...) Many years ago Alexander Nikitin, Kasparov's first coach, told me that Garri's dream was to become a journalist and to write on world politics.
(...) Kasparov, so versed in chess strategy, is trying to extrapolate the rules of the ancient game on the political board.
(...) Is he the same Kasparov whom we used to know? Kasparov, who years ago gave thousands of dollars to Chernobyl's victims? And now, as if exchanging rooks for knights, he compares the casualties in Pearl-Harbor with the innumerable human losses for decades in Hiroshima and Nagasaki! Even in the most surrealistic imagination we refuse to believe that the hand that wrote that disgraceful article was guided by common sense.

(2) In Defense of Garry Kasparov

The link to another article on Kasparov was provided by Chessville Weekly (Volume 2, Issue 6). Article, which was published at Don Schultz Home Page (chessdon.com) is called 'Garry Kasparov'.
Some excerpts:
(...) I have long time been considered a critic of Garry Kasparov.
(...) That aside, my opinion of Garry is very high and I will give some examples that have influenced my thinking. Garry never hides his feelings, he is an open book.
(...) But Garry gave an extremely objective analysis of the situation emphasizing all the advantages of an Olympiad based in Florida just before the 2004 US elections. As for unification he said that a Kramnik/Kasparov match would be a great attraction but getting there is not for sure. He pointed out that neither he nor Kramnik were locks to get to the finals and if they didn't, the finals would be minimally attractive. It was clear to me that during this discussion Kasparov was expressing what he felt was best for chess and not necessarily best for Garry Kasparov.
(...) The fact is Kasparov is good for chess. He comes across as an open and honest man. We are lucky to have him in our world chess community.

URL of this Chessdon article is
www.chessdon.com/feedback.htm#In Defense of Garry Kasparov

FRANKLIN CAMPBELL'S PROPOSITION

From: J. Franklin Campbell franklin@voyager.net
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 11:10:42 -0500

I suggest that both parties in the dispute should make a major concession.

1. GM Ponomariov should be given draw odds. This has a traditional standing. Also, GM Kramnik is already receiving draw odds as the reigning Einstein champion. After this cycle the draw odds should be dropped, but for this first cycle it makes sense.
2. The movement to classical time controls for top events is generally accepted. These matches should all be conducted at the classical time limit.

Of course, no one would be happy with this, but what can you expect when compromise is required? Both choices make a lot of sense to me. Both sides could claim one victory and both would suffer one defeat. Perhaps GM Seirawan could be asked to step in as an independent party to champion this simple solution. It's possible that neither concerned party could find it possible to suggest this solution themselves.

If GM Kasparov found it difficult to accept the draw odds, perhaps he could be offered some additional incentive, such as an additional appearance fee. Of course, he already got a big payoff as the FIDE representative in the Man-Machine World Championship match.

COMMENT ON MR. CAMPBELL'S PROPOSAL

To quote Mr. Campbell: «If GM Kasparov found it difficult to accept the draw odds, perhaps he could be offered some additional incentive, such as an additional appearance fee. Of course, he already got a big payoff as the FIDE representative in the Man-Machine World Championship match». Thanks to Mr.Campbell for the original idea. I propose, however, some improvement on that. What if we increase Kasparov's appearance fees, even if he loses the match, and whatever the outcome of the match, we'll confer on him the World Title? Possibly, the idea makes sense! - Lev Khariton, 12 Feb 2003.

FEB 13: VLADIMIR KRAMNIK'S INTERVIEW

In the new interview, given for Shakhmatnaya Nedelya (Chess Weekly), the Classical Chess World Champion Vladimir Kramnik extremely strongly criticizes FIDE and its recent actions against Ruslan Ponomariov. The quotes from the interview, in Russian, are at: chess-sector.odessa.ua/kramfide.htm

PRESIDENTIAL BOARD

Presidential Board Meets 24-28 February in Bucharest

2/12/2003
The 1st quarter FIDE Presidential Board meeting shall be organized by the Romanian Chess Federation, 24-28 February in Bucharest. Among the Agenda items are the Unification of the World Championship. The Board also takes ministerial action on title applications.
(...)

www.fideonline.com/news.asp?id=121

PRESIDENTIAL BOARD (VERSION 2)

Presidential Board Meets 22-23 February in Bucharest

2/12/2003
The 1st quarter FIDE Presidential Board meeting shall be organized by the Romanian Chess Federation, 22-23 February in Bucharest. Among the Agenda items are the Unification of the World Championship. The Board also takes ministerial action on title applications.
(...)

www.fideonline.com/news.asp?id=121

[Ed.: Information on fideonline.com was changed on 13.2.2002]

VLADIMIR KRAMNIK ON SITUATION IN FIDE

The quotes from the interview, given for «Shakhmatnaya Nedelya» (No 7, 13.2.2003).

Vladimir KRAMNIK:

(...) The FIDE has taken an obligation in Prague to establish a professional structure in charge of holding world championships. However, nothing has been done: the FIDE is not going to part even with a tiniest fraction of its power. Neither of the obligations that the FIDE pledged to in Prague was fulfilled though more than half a year has elapsed.

(...) I witnessed the methods used by the FIDE in Wijk aan Zee and just wondered. The FIDE must alter something in its structure, replace people and change the mentality. A straightforward pressure was applied on Ponomariov which is absolutely unwarrantable! I am not in the know of all particulars but most probably I would have behaved myself in a similar way being in Ponomariov's shoes. When one sees that all terms are dictated by your adversary in the world championship match and that all organising structure also takes his side, everybody would hate it. I believe this to be the main reason why the problems with the match originated.
One can as well understand the FIDE when it apparently prefers one of the adversaries. But is it necessary to demonstrate it so visibly?

(...) It is quite evident that the FIDE needs its own champion, and either Ponomariov or somebody else is obsolete. Still, the FIDE is an international organisation and we wish it were definitely objective.
I do not know who is right and who is wrong. Maybe, everything happens through no fault of Kasparov and it is just the FIDE officials who wish to oblige him.

(...) As far as now two parallel cycles are in progress. «Einstein's» task is to hold my match with Leko, and it will be held surely. Afterwards, it will be possible to talk about some consolidation. Nowadays we are absolutely not bound to each other.

(...) It is likely that the match Ponomariov - Kasparov is in the pending category. As far as I grasped it, in Wijk aan Zee there were some talks with Ivanchuk about his match against Kasparov. With all due respect to Ivanchuk, who is an absolutely fantastic chess player, it all looks absurd: why the world championship match is to be played between Kasparov and Ivanchuk who have not been selected and hold no titles? We may just as well have the match Anand - Topalov, and why not?!
The main trouble with the FIDE is that it does not follow clear rules. Everything gets mixed. The FIDE begins to act not as the worldwide professional chess body but as a private sponsor keen to see this or that match

(...) Should the match Kasparov - Ponomariov or any other cycle of the FIDE world championship struggle with the participation of these players do not occur (it is worthwhile to invite also Anand who is now in a wonderful shape and several other grandmasters), it might result, regrettably, in the end of all consolidation process. Certainly, any contestant can be appointed but it will be a fiction. To say nothing about the fact that no basic condition of the Prague agreement has been fulfilled, but if even this would not happen?! Everything that had happened until now is frightening. Exclusion of Ponomariov from the world championship is just ridiculous as it would mean the dead failure of the FIDE.

The interview was taken by the Shakhmatnaya Nedelya editor Vladimir Barsky, e-mail: editors@chessweek.ru.
Translated for chess-sector.odessa.ua by Nikolai Borodavkin, e-mail: aleshin@te.net.ua.

MIG GREENGARD, NO-BRAINER

Mig on Chess 186

www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=161

(...) When I visited him in his room at the New York Athletic Club the day after his match with Deep Junior concluded in a 3-3 tie, Garry Kasparov seemed more concerned about the other humans in the chess world.

(...) «So what are we supposed to do, wait forever?» Kasparov began. «Einstein wants to postpone the Kramnik-Leko match until when, 2004? Never? We are supposed to start the second cycle this year! These players who signed this open letter [in Wijk aan Zee] complaining about the Grand Prix, what about the World Championship? And the Prague unification agreements were in part to support the classical time control and now Ponomariov is holding everything up because he wants to play the rapid control. The players who signed that letter were there with Ponomariov, they should talk to him instead of writing letters to FIDE!»
To be fair, they also complained about the world championship, in a vague way. The strangest thing about Ponomariov's demands (draw odds, fast time control) is that he is making demands at all!

(...) Instead, the 19-year-old has a big-money match against the world number one and an inside chance at winning the first unified title in 10 years. How do you say, «no-brainer» in Ukrainian?

(...) As for Einstein and Kramnik-Leko, I'm hoping to hear from them instead of speculating.

(...) Kramnik is the world champion, but I don't think the chess fan in the street would argue with the winner of a Kasparov-Ponomariov match, especially if the next cycle is started promptly.

[Comment by Lev... Apologies. By Mikhail Golubev. Dear intelligent Mr. Greengard, in Ukrainian «no-brainer» is very close to «the chess fan in the street». For more, visit lingresua.tripod.com - or ask your Russian friends, they will tell you.]

PONOMARIOV, ILYMZHINOV HAVE MET EACH OTHER IN MOSCOW

The news is more or less as follow:
On Feb 12 Ruslan Ponomariov arrived in Moscow, the capital of Russia. There he met Omuku and Balgabaev, and two representatives of the Ukrainian Federation, including its President Petrov [Note that Ukrainian Federation has the large duty to pay FIDE]. Ruslan Ponomariov's personal respresentatives (including his lawyer) were not allowed by FIDE side to take part in negotiations, that started at approx 18:00. Omuku have spoken a lot in English, but there were no interpreters. Ilyumzhinov there emerged at approx 22:00, and negotiations continued until approx 6:00, Feb 13. In the end, when Ponomariov hardly could speak, he signed some paper. It seems, that in accordance with the signed declaration, Ponomariov withdrew his demands (draw odds, FIDE control) and in exchange was somehow ensured that Ponomariov-Kasparov and Kramnik-Leko matches will be organized by the same formula. The final decisions regarding Ponomariov-Kasparov match (official contract, etc) will be taken after the Linares tournament end. On Feb 13 Ponomariov left Moscow for Ukraine. Kasparov (or the Kasparov side) was not represented in Moscow negotiations, according to reports. There was no official confirmation of these news till now, and the FIDE-Ponomariov document is not yet published, as it seems. (M.G., 14.2.2003)

Sources in Russian:
www.facts.kiev.ua/Feb2003/1402/02.htm#7
www.chess-express.ru

LINKS AND COMMENTS

My Feb 14 message was re-published at ChessBase (www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=795) TWIC (www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic432.html), Schakers.info (www.schakers.info/NewsGolubev.htm), www.chessville.com, www.pakchess.com, and other web sites. Many thanks, respected colleagues!

COMMENTS:

British Chess Magazine (www.bcmchess.co.uk):
There seems to be a contradiction here: Ponomariov has signed away the right to draw odds - but we are led to believe that this regulation does apply in the Kramnik-Leko match.

ChessBase:
In the meantime we hear that the Kramnik-Leko match is still on track. Einstein CEO Steve Timmins wrote: The current state of play is that we are still negotiating with two locations with sponsorship for the match to be held on schedule in 2003.

Chess Watch (www.worldchessrating.com/chesswatch.html):
The Gulag Chessapelago? by Gene Venable
(...) Very interesting. I have just finished the second volume of The Gulag Archipelago, so the language sounds very familar. Under what conditions of torture did Pono agree not to have representatives, to participate in negotiations in a language he didn't understand well, to sign some paper when he could hardly speak, and presumably couldn't understand the paper?
Pono is familiar with pressure, having survived quite a bit to become FIDE World Champion through many harrowing games. Having a high regard for his character as revealed by his chess, it seems dubious to me that he would accept conditions that were totally unacceptable or sign a paper that he didn't agree to or understand.

FIDE PRESS RELEASE AND WORLDCHESSRATING EXTRA

www.fideonline.com/news.asp?id=126
www.worldchessrating.com

Press Release
2/14/2003

World Champion Ponomariov to Defend His Title Against Kasparov

Following a meeting with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in his Moscow office Wednesday, World Chess Champion Ruslan Ponomariov reaffirmed his willingness to defend his title against World no 1 rated player Garry Kasparov under the Match Regulations as approved by the FIDE President and the Presidential Board of FIDE.

The meeting which was attended by the President of the Chess Federation of the Ukraine, Mr. Victor Petrov, FIDE Executive Director Emmanuel Omuku, Assistant to the FIDE President Berik Balgabarv and Representative of the State Committee of Physical Culture and Sport of the Ukraine, Mr. Leonid Timoshenko saw both the FIDE President and the World Champion reviewing the principles of the Prague Agreement and the unification matches for the World Championship.

President Ilyumzhinov commended World Champion Ponomariov for his suggestions regarding his upcoming match with Kasparov as well as his proposals regarding the unification match between the winner of his match with Grandmaster Kasparov and the winner of the Kramnik - Leko match, as well as the post unification cycle of the World Championship. President Ilyumzhinov assured the World Champion that his proposals will be submitted to the next meeting of the Presidential Board of FIDE scheduled 22-23 February 2003 in Bucharest for consideration.

www.worldchessrating.com

WorldChessRating Extra
In addition to receiving the press release above, WorldChessRating.com's Denis Bilunov spoke to FIDE Assistant to the President Berik Balgabaev about the situation. Balgabaev commented that some irresponsible elements of the Ukrainian press have invented and misrepresented sensationalistic quotations indicating that Ponomariov was under intense pressure from FIDE to agree to this match. He said that Ponomariov himself commented that on some occasions statements he supposedly made had been invented by the press. Balgabaev said that Ponomariov was quite willing to play the match and simply wanted his suggestions to be taken into consideration. Balgabaev said that President of the Chess Federation of Ukraine Victor Petrov was especially helpful in finalizing the agreement for the match.

ILYUMZHINOV'S SPORT EXPRESS INTERVIEW

TWIC, 18th February 2003

Yuri Vasiliev of Sport-Express has interviewed FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov at:
www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?63354

Highlights (translation Mikhail Langer):
Ilyumzhinov: «Ponomariov agreed to all the conditions, worked out by the FIDE commission in charge of organizing world championships. He agreed to play with a 7-hour time control and dropped his claims for any privileges. Even before, Ponomariov never raised the question of whether to play or not to play against Kasparov. He was more concerned with the fate of the unification process as a whole.»
(...) «As a matter of fact, it will be officially announced this Saturday in Bucharest on the FIDE Presidential Board meeting...However, Sport-Express can be the first in the world to announce it. Here are the principal dates of the match: 19 June - 7 July 2003. It will take place in Buenos Aires. Prize fund: no less than 1 million dollars. Match will take place under the patronage of the Argentinean President, Eduardo Dualde, who is a big fan of chess and quite a strong player himself.»
(...) «Grand Prix was thought about completely as a commercial project. So far, there are no interested sponsors. And FIDE cannot constantly pay money from its own pocket. I hope, chess players also understand this.»

GM OPEN LETTER

www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic432.html

Open Letter

Statement from a group of players with regards to newly formed GM steering committee and possible changes in the WCh.
At the moment professional players (grandmasters) are facing challenging times with regards to the WCC and reunification of the chess World. From the reports in the press it could have been understood that GM Steering Commitee hads been established to cooperate with FIDE in order to ensure that the next WCC and the postunification period would be organized in the best interests of the professional players involved. Sadly, the GM Steering Commitee had not been elected using any form of general elections principles. It should be therefore understood that grandmasters currently «elected» in the Steering Commitee can not take decisions on behalf of the other players. GM Steering Commitee should be an important body representing the intrests of the players and elected by the players. Therefore top two hundred players (according to the last two FIDE Elo lists)should be given a chance to choose their representatives in the legal and fair elections. Needless to say grandmasters sitting on the Steering Commitee should not hold other functions within FIDE or expect to receive wild-cards for the various kinds of the FIDE events. Currently FIDE is planning drastic changes in the World Championship cycle possibly forfeiting democratic achievements of the past years and giving privilleged positions to the very few. Hopefully majority of the grandmasters would be consulted before such (unpopular) moves will be made.
Kramnik, Shirov, Gelfand, Khalifman, Svidler, I. Sokolov, Kasimdzhanov, Sasikiran, Rublevsky, Bologan, Andersson, Tregubov, Vaganian,Tkachiev, Chernin, Huzman, Cu. Hansen, Vallejo, Illescas, Zvjaginsev, Iordachescu, Onischuk, Smirin

INTERFAX INFORMATION

www.interfax.ru
18.02.2003 14:05:03

Kasparov-Ponomaryov chess match to take place in Buenos Aires in summer 2003

MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) - A chess match between FIDE Champion Ruslan Ponomaryov and the world's number one ranked player Garry Kasparov will take place in Buenos Aires from June 19 to July 7, 2003. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced this at a press conference at the Interfax main office on Tuesday.
The prize fund of the match is $1 million, he said.
Interfax asked when and where a match between leading grandmasters Peter Leko of Hungary and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia could be held. Ilyumzhinov said this is likely to become known at the upcoming FIDE Presidential Council meeting in Bucharest, to which representatives of both players have been invited.
A unifying match between the winners of the Kasparov-Ponomaryov and Leko-Kramnik matches will probably take place in Buenos Aires or New York in November, Ilyumzhinov said. Kasparov, who also spoke at the press conference, briefed journalists about his recent six-game match with the super computer Deep Junior, which ended in a draw.
(...)

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? (20 FEBRUARY 2003)

Possibly, enough is enough. Still, few more URLs:

My comments on SovietSport article. Ponomariov-FIDE declaration (in Russian)
chess-sector.odessa.ua/fidejoke.htm
World Chess Championship 2002-03 Unification
www.mark-weeks.com/chess/a2a3$wix.htm
The War Is Going On by Garry Kasparov
www.jewukr.org/observer/jo16_35/p0101_e.html
Enough is enough by Yasser Seirawan
www.gmsquare.com/gmforum/openletter.html
A Fresh Start by Yasser Seirawan
chess-sector.odessa.ua/seirawan.htm
Ponomariov on Ponomariov-FIDE declaration (in Russian)
www.facts.kiev.ua/Feb2003/2102/07.htm#2

LEV KHARITON: POLEMICS AT CHESSWATCH

Dear Mr. Venable,
I have just read your comment on Ponomariov's consent to play against Kasparov. I do not understand where GULAG comes in here. It is most unlikely that Ponomariov was under any special pressure during his session with Ilyumzhinov. And certainly, you are right, he has the strength of character not to sign any paper imposed on him. What he (and probably, Mr. Golubev) does not understand is that today's chess at top-flight level has nothing to do with the epoch, say, of Botvinnik or Alekhine. Nowadays, if you want to defeat the reigning champ, you have to have a massive, mafia-like backing. If you remember, Kasparov in his first match against Karpov in 1984-85 was fighting against Karpov's team which included apart from his trainers the whole host of people who were aliens to chess, but extremely powerful people who actually ruled the USSR. For the second match Kasparov had already gained the support at the highest political level (for instance, his 'godfather' in that match was Mr. Aliev, Brezhnev's right-hand man and now President of Azerbaijan). Another case in point is Gata Kamsky who was really under Ilyumzhinov's pressure and who had to go to Elista in 1996 to play a match against Karpov. Certainly, Gata was doomed and he lost the match although at that moment he was probably one of the best match players in the world! But he was fighting against Karpov almost singlehandedly, while Karpov was enjoying the support of many specialists and non-specialists, including Ilyumzhinov himself.
The answer why Pono signed the paper to play against Kasparov is very simple. He understood that Kirsan would not wait and replace him by Ivanchuk or simply declare Kasparov winner be default. Such things have already happened in FIDE history.
Best regards,
Lev Khariton

INTERVIEW WITH YASSER SEIRAWAN

My interview with Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan is published in Chess Today, issue 836 (21.2.2003). Complete interview is also available at www.gmsquare.com/interviews/seirawan2.html and at chess-sector.odessa.ua/yasser03.htm (M.G.)

Dear Yasser, you initiated Chess Unity Plan back in 2002. The biggest recent problem - Ruslan Ponomariov's involvement in the process - seems to be solved now. Are you satisfied with the current standing of the Unity Plan? Do you think whether the chess world has had to pay a certain price for the unification?
Dear Mikhail, it is my pleasure to answer your questions and to try and to bring some satisfaction to your readers. The road to unity in chess has been very difficult, requiring the goodwill of all parties concerned. As expected, problems have hampered the effort, yet I remain hopeful that it will succeed.
First, we should put World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov's position in perspective: on the one hand he is very fortunate that the effort to unify the chess world has occurred 'on his watch'. Without the unity effort, he would face being placed in Round One of the next FIDE World Knock-Out Championship. While he could be expected to win a handsome prize, mathematically, his chance to repeat his performance as World Champion is very slim. Indeed, it is the randomness of the format that I and others have criticized, that paved the way to the new double-elimination format proposed by GM Khalifman in Prague. Being 'forced' to play a World Championship match for a one million dollar prize fund against the World's best-known player, Garry Kasparov, is quite a fortunate happenstance. On the other hand, as World Champion, Ruslan has certain rights. He is putting his title at stake ahead of his expected challenge of a December 2003 Knockout event. If he were to lose the match to Kasparov, he would no longer be World Champion and would lose certain commercial advantages. Ruslan therefore felt quite justified in making certain demands.
I was fearful that the draw-odds and time-control demands would be insurmountable. I was therefore quite relieved to read that Ruslan and FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov were able to meet and overcome these differences. I've also read that this match is to take place in Buenos Aires during a timeframe and for a prize-fund formula suitable for Ruslan. So both parties compromised and I congratulate Ruslan and Kirsan for making their effort. As a chess fan, I look forward to an exciting Ponomariov versus Kasparov match!
Regarding the Kramnik versus Leko, Classical Chess World Championship match, I don't have any information. I've read that two cities are being considered but little else. The Prague Agreement envisioned two World Championship matches in the May 2003 time frame and a unification match in October 2003, completing the first cycle. This would be followed by a Knockout tournament in December 2003 for new challengers to emerge in a second cycle. If the Kramnik - Leko match gets postponed there will be to many practical problems to overcome and the possibility of unity in 2003 will simply slip away.
So, a mixed picture. A lot of time has passed since Prague and I would have liked to have seen much more progress made. Yes, the whole chess world paid a price for uniting the chess world. Whether one likes the FIDE Knockout tournament or not, the format had the huge advantage of confirming a World Champion at its conclusion within a very short period of time. While grandmasters will be able to compete for the FIDE World Championship Title in 2003, the process of Candidate Matches means that 2005 is the earliest date for a grandmaster other than Ponomariov, Kramnik, Kasparov or Leko to be crowned. That is indeed quite a price to pay. Yet at the end of the day, it is absolutely imperative for sponsors, organizers, players and fans that unity is achieved so that chess can grow.

(...)

JANUARY ARTICLES

Thanks to Konstantin Maliszewski, my Jan 16 and Jan 25 articles are now available in single PDF file (chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity2.pdf). M.G.

LINARES 2003 SUPERTOURNAMENT

Linares 2003 is a 7 player double round robin tournament.
Participants: Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Leko, Ponomariov, Vallejo and Radjabov.
Schedule: Round 1 22nd February - Last round 9th March 2003. Rest days 26th February and 4th March 2003. Play starts at 14:30 GMT.

Official websites: www.elmundo.es and www.todoajedrez.tv.
Internet coverage: www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html, chessbase.com, chessclub.com, worldchessrating.com.

Preview in Russian

[ Home][ Ponomariov][ Ukraine][ UkrBase][ Games][ Chess Today]
[ What's new][ Links][ About us][ Russian][ Search][ E-mail]