Below is an open letter for FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from GM Boris Gelfand of Israel about his concerns:
To FIDE President
Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Dear Mr. Ilyumzhinov,
Around a year ago FIDE adopted a new system of World Championship. In order to fight for the highest title in the Chess world, last December I went to the World cup tournament in Khanti-Mansiisk ,took 6th place and qualified for the next stage – the Candidates matches. In December I signed a letter of intent with FIDE. In January 2006 FIDE made the pairings and announced that the matches would take place 20-30th of October with a minimal prize fund of 40000 US for each match. It meant that for 2 rounds of Candidate matches(8 of 1st round and 4 of next round) prize find should be at least 480000 US. Taking this into account, I planned the timetable of my preparation.
In order to reach the peak of my form for the most prestigious event of the year, I accepted some invitations like a training match with Czech grandmaster David Navara to have an experience in matches. However I declined some other ones, for example, super tournament in Foros with big prize-fund. If I’d accepted this invitation, I would be rated 3rd in the tournament and would have good reasons to get at least 3rd prize-$10,000US. I also rejected an invitation for a rapid event in Cap d’Adge at the end of October. I would be rated 1st there and would have a good chance to win 1st prize of 16,000 Euro, as I did there already 2 times.
I also hired some players specially to analyze the games of my opponent Rustam Kasimdzhanov and my potential opponents – Gata Kamsky and Etienne Bacrot. In order to help me, my seconds also refused some invitations to the tournaments and I had to compensate financially their expected losses.
During this, I didn’t receive no e-mail or any news from FIDE (which is strange by itself) starting from new year, I was confident that matches would start on time. Last month you confirmed it and assured “that the issue will be finalized during the Presidential Board meeting in Elista, during the Topalov- Kramnik match” (I quote from the translation of your interview to Yuri Vasiliev from the Chessbase.com site on 21st of August 2006).
However, yesterday evening in official report of Presidential Board meeting I read the following:
“In order to resolve difficulties in the organization of the Candidate matches, the Board offered a round-robin tournament for the 16 players as an alternative to the original form of the competition. President Ilyumzhinov offered to hold all the matches or the tournament in Elista.”
Of course the chess players are grateful to you for your kind offer to hold such an important event. But unfortunately, dates announced back in January should not be changed, especially not less than a month before the event. But especially harmful is the idea of replacing matches with a tournament. I never heard that in any sport that the structure of the World championship may be changed during the cycle.
I also never hear that in any sport dates of world championship in any stage were moved in such a short notice. It is especially dangerous to break all the rules of sport world when chess is trying so hard to become part of Olympic games .
In case the dates of the matches would be moved from officially stated, or if the matches will be cancelled altogether I would expect FIDE to compensate me for my damaged, as detailed above.
I am kindly requesting you to reply to my concerns urgently, as announced dates of the matches are within less than 1 month.
I consider the questions raised in this letter are of importance to all chess community, and therefore I send a copy of it to some of the most popular sites.
Sincerely yours,
Boris Gelfand
Candidate for the World Championship
Rishon le Zion, Israel
a) This is what happens when an organization is under the control of a single, possibly corrupt person (or small group of people)
b) Was there a signed contract? And possibility of suing thereof?
Then too bad, so sad as they say.
blah blah blah FIDE wants to change the format to “resolve difficulties” and Mr. Gelfand does not want the format changed.
It sounds like Mr. Gelfand is in the wrong this time. An employer and the union should work together to form a successful business. Mr. Gelfand wants the difficulties to be entirely with FIDE and not himself. They both should share some of the difficulty.
With respect, that is not completely accurate. If a commitment has been made by FIDE, even verbally, to Boris Gelfand, resulting in him taking the steps to prepare, then he is quite within his rights to ask to be compensated if they now change things meaning that he has wasted time and finances.
If an employer did it, that employer would be in breach of contract, (there does not necessarily have to be a signed contract — a verbal agreement is a contract), as is FIDE in this instance if what GM Gelfand says is true. And with FIDE’s record, I have no doubt that it is.
How should Mr. Gelfand be compensated? FIDE is not changing the prize-fund, just the format. Does Mr. Gelfand want to be compensated in addition to having a chance to win the same prize-fund but in a different format? Or does Mr. Gelfand not want to participate (forfeiting his prize money) and be compensated? If the latter then at most Mr. Gelfand will get the minimum prize for a 1st-match loss (the cost of all the help he hired is baloney), so Mr. Gelfand is better off trying to play for more.
All Gelfand is saying is that, in any other sport, the format and timing of the championship cycle is not changed after it is already announced.
I think Gelfand knows that FIDE is not *really* going to compensate him. He is just making the point that it is unprofessional to make announcements upon which players rely–at their own financial risk–and then change the rules mid-stream.
Chess will remain a second-rate sport for as long as this keeps happening.
Boris Gelfand is totally correct — what other legitimate world-class organization would change formats mid-stream. The answer to this obviously rhetorical question is “none”. And the details of the monies potentially (and actually) lost by him in preparing for specific opponents in compelling. I hope FIDE will get similar feedback from other challengers, though given FIDE is a virtual dictatorship with shady financial activities, I expect Boris’ well-presented case will fall on deaf ears. Hope I’m wrong.
Mike D.
FIDE is triply wrong
1. They were too late to change the format
2.They never should have changed the format to an inferior embarassing methoed of competition
3. They will ignore intelligent criticisms as usual
if you think the cost of hiring help to prepare for a match is baloney … try paying (and in this case, wasting) it.
if fide is not changing the prize money, what is the reason to change the format?
a round robin candidates match in elista with all 16 participants (!) will last at least 30 days (8 pairings a day, 30 games for each candidate, rest days not included)!!! whow!
why not play all pronounced candidate matches (8 mini matches + 4 mini matches) at the same time, at the same location and why not at elista?
an unchanged format, an unchanged price fund, unchanged candidates and millions of satisfied chess fans to watch a fascinating chess event THIS world has NEVER seen before!
where is the problem?
MR Gelfand trusted FIDE!!!!hahahahah…so funny..can anybody trust FIDE at this time????
no way out: if FIDE will decide an enlargement of the chess board from 8×8 squares to 10×10 and introduce a new piece named – let’s say “giraffe” (moving 4 squares ahead and one square in diagonal) chess will never be the same, but it will be FIDE – chess (like FIDE – tournaments, FIDE – time controls, FIDE – candidate matches, FIDE world champions, etc.)
no doubt: chess players are sheltered by both hands: god’s and FIDE’s …
we are beyond doubt on the bright side of life (unless one unluckily choose to be a chess professional … thank’s to FIDE, a dying out occupation … and thanks to god, who himself gave us the FIDE, and me not the talent which could have made me try to be a pro)
last but not least we are the elected one’s to await the descent of the giraffe … ^^
a patzer’s mind …
I admire Gelfand for this letter. I doubt he really expects to be compensated, but somebody needs to speak up. If a grandmaster skips two chess tournaments, spends months preparing, and then finds out that the time and place have changed, it is an outrage. Generally speaking, a respectable organization cannot be run as a personal hobby of one rich person. It looks like FIDE is Ilumzhinov, and the main FIDE sponsor is Ilumzhinov. This is by definition unhealthy.
FIDE is probably making the changes to the date because of its closeness to the current unification match between Kramnik and Topalov. If this is the case, they should not have scheduled the unification match for now, but on a later date. But what’s done is done. It’d be nice if FIDE and the candidates could have discussions and make a compromise to do what’s best for both of them, short-term and long-term, but if Mr. Gelfand does not want a part of any compromise, then he should be compensated the minimum prize for a 1st round loss.