To:
FIDE President Kirsan Iljumshinov
Russian Chess Federation
Elista, 29. September 2006
Requests of Vladimir Kramnik
• To proceed with GAME 5
Clause 3.17.1., Schedule 2 of the contract:
“All protests must be submitted in writing to the Appeals Committee not more than 2 hours after the relevant playing session.”
The protest made by the Topalov Team were not made within this window after game 4 (27 September 2006) but only hit the FIDE Office and the Appeals Committee on the rest day (28 September 2006). Therefore the protests are not even relevant and should have been rejected by the Appeals Committee immediately.
Clause 3.18.3., Schedule 2 of the contract:
“After the World Chess Championship Committee agrees with the Organizers on the arrangements in respect of the tournament hall, facilities etc. etc. etc……., no objections from the participants shall be acceptable as long as the conditions are in accordance with the rights of the players granted in their agreements.”
This clause clearly underlines the statement made in today’s Open letter: “By starting the match both participants agreed all the playing conditions de facto and de jure and the conditions are therefore legally binding. Any change of the playing conditions without a good reason would in our understanding request the approval of both players which is not the case here.”
Therefore it is clear that the Appeals Committee took a completely wrong decision and was obviously not even aware of the Rules and Regulations. The decision of Chief Arbiter Mr. Gijssen to forfeit game 5 was clearly based on a wrong decision of the Appeals Committee and shall be nullified.
Mr. Kramnik is ready to continue the match and to play the 5th game (with a leading score of 3:1) on the conditions that were accepted prior to the start of the match.
• Toilet issue
The toilets connected to the restrooms shall be opened again. This request is in accordance with clauses 3.17.1. and 3.18.3 (see above) and in the general understanding that by starting of the match both participants agreed to all the playing conditions. Any change of the playing conditions without a good reason would require the approval of both players which is not the case here.
Mr. Kramnik is ready to accept even stricter controls by sealing the toilets before and after inspections. Inspections shall be done before and after each game.
• Exchange of members of the Appeals Committee
We repeat that the Kramnik team does not trust the objectivity of the Appeals Committee anymore. It is evident from this letter and our first Open Letter today that the existing Appeals Committee is biased and incompetent. Mr. Kramnik strongly insists once again that the members of the Appeals Committee will be exchanged immediately.
• Access to Recordings
As Mr. Kramnik in the press conference stated he did not sign a contract for acting in a reality show. The recordings shall be observed by the arbiters. Neither Team Topalov nor Team Kramnik shall have access to the recordings. Investigations shall be in the sole responsibility of the Arbiters.
• Requested Apology
Last but not least Mr. Kramnik believes that Mr. Danailov should apologize to Mr. Kramnik in writing. Remarks such as:
“If the match were to continue, the World Champion will refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and will not take part in joint press conferences with him.” and “Veselin Topalov is disturbed by the suspicious behavior of his opponent Mr. Vladimir Kramnik who takes his most significant decisions in the bathroom.” are clearly insulting.
On behalf of Vladimir Kramnik
Yours sincerely,
Carsten Hensel
(Manager to Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)
Reasonable…
Too late, game 5 is forfeited. Kramnik needs a better manager.
lol anonymous, have you analyzed the regular victories of Kramnik vs Topalov at the Monaco Amber Blind Tournament? Not in speed chess but in the blind games…
And you are telling us that he needs a portable chess device ???
Kramnik might be better than Topalov at blinfold chess, but Topalov is clearly better at regular chess (as proven by his rating, just ask John Sonas). The use of a movable board lets correspondence chess players play at a much higher level than OTB players. There have been numerous studies on the difference in strenght between normal OTB play and blinfold play, or in other terms, between being able to move the pieces on the board or just analysing a static position (see chessbase articles).
What Correspondance Chess Player have is a full backet of time.
Just move the capability to move the pieces around is not that relevant. You think you can just get 300+Stronger with only that, you are in a mess.
You can simply understand what an otb player is, no more what a correspondance chess player is. There are two separates worlds!
The great Leko once tried to play correspondance chess against a good player. He was severly defeated because he dosen’t take it too seriously! moving pieces on a board is not he big thing!
Kramnik and Topalov generation was fond of playing and thinking without a chessboard! Just watching an analyse after a game and you’ll see that they continue to talk about the game long after in a restaurant blindly.
I’ve the chance to saw Kramnik and Svidler talking about a game without the need of a chess set. And their capability was astonishing for most of the other GM around them.
There are GM and GM. Topalov and Kramnik are simply two of the best at our time!
Stop insulting them with your chess set failure! It’s just nonsense for them and all of us!
Even the Polgar’s sisters were famous for their blinding game capability!
We are talking about genius! not of M johnn Doe!
Nobody can have such a gain with just a chess set! talent, imagination, inventivity , and a good computer to check the tactics ideas are juste the top of an immense iceberg!
Just reading you is relevant that you are not a chess player, nore a chess correspondance player!
Is it valid to say that, since the complaint was not filed 2 hours after the game, that the complaint should be dismissed? I wonder. The complaint refers to an ongoing behavior. Yet the rules are the rules. Maybe it was not filed correctly.
Anyway, let’s call it even: Kramnik gets game to play game 5 again, but Topalov gets a person supervising that Kramnik does nothing fishy in the bathroom.
I would insist on sealing the windows, for Morse code can easily be used to beam the moves by mean of light from a nearby location. Very simple. Or the tiny chess set, maybe made of paper, or plastic, thin and undetectable. Hum!
Kramnik is a cheater
I don’t think it is correct to accuse someone of cheating without hard proof. And there is no such proof here. Until there is, Kramnik should be given the benefit of the doubt, just like we all would want.
Kramnik’s position seems rock solid to me. The appeals committee has not correctly applied the rules; there is no evidence of cheating and, in fact, little reasonable grounds for suspicion – Kramnik’s explanation that he was pacing between rooms to relieve tension is perfectly plausible. He is right to be insulted by the accusations and his privacy has certainly been invaded by the decision to give Topalov’s team access to tapes of him in his rest room. I much prefer Topalov’s play and was hoping for a comeback but it is absurd that he is able to gain a full match point with black on the basis of an unfounded (and deeply unsporting) allegation of cheating.
It was not just “pacing between rooms” it was pacing inside the bathroom!!! This is insane.
The two hour rule applies to the reuslt of a specified game. Topalov can complain about possible on-going behavior anytime he likes. He did not ask to change the reuslt of any game.
They are in Russia under Russian security control, not FIDE control or Kirsan control. If the Russian authorities want to help kramnik cheat then ‘sealing’ the bathroom after inspection won’t help.
What does it matter where Kramnik was pacing?? the only question is whether there is any evidence of him cheating. There is none. It is irrelevant which country or organisation controls the security arrangements since both players have agreed to them.
Let us not insult these two great players of our times by saying nasty things about them. Hope Vishy Anand would say something on this.
The games are amazing. The chess world will be missing out on some wonderful games if the match is stopped.