This is a very unfortunate situation and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov flew back to Elista to try to resolve this matter.

Will he overturn the forfeit loss? Even if he wants to, is there any provision in the FIDE rule book that would permit this? This would be unprecedented if there is a reversal of game 5.

There have been many problems with this match. Here are some very interesting points:

– The match is held in Russia. Has this rule been changed? It used to be that the venue has to be in a neutral location. Why did Topalov agree to play in Russia?

– Kramnik agreed to this provision and signed the contract:

* 3. 17. 1 The written decision of the Appeals Committee arising from any dispute in respect of these regulations shall be final.

* 3. 23. 1 At any time in the course of the application of these regulations, any grounds that are not covered or any unforeseen event shall be referred to the Presidential Board or the President of FIDE, for final decision.

He claims that the Appeals Committee is biased toward Topalov and they are friends with Topalov. Didn’t he know this before? Therefore, why would he sign a contract with this provision?

– Kramnik’s manager demanded the following:

Requested Apology – Last but not least Mr. Kramnik believes that Mr. Danailov should apologize to Mr. Kramnik in writing.

Does he honestly believe that this will happen?

– Topalov’s manager made this statement:

If the match were to continue, the World Champion would refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and would not take part in joint press conferences with him. Veselin Topalov will make statements for the media separately.

What is this about?

With this kind of rhetoric by both sides, what will happen in the next 6 hours?

I sincerely hope they will put their ego aside and continue the match. I will be on LIVE at 7 AM to bring you the commentary regardless if the game will be played or not. Posted by Picasa

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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