It is with sincere regret that I must withdraw from the Morelia/Linares 2007 chess tournament. A recent crime incident involving my father and me, which occurred on February 10th in Patzcuaro, Mexico, only a few days before the start of the tournament, has forced me to withdraw from the competition and return home. The tragic circumstances which occurred surrounding the criminal act is as follows.
The Mexican Organizers of Morelia/Linares 2007 instructed the participants to acclimatize from travel in the small city of Patzcuaro, Mexico. I came very well prepared and completely ready to play in this tournament for first prize. Unknown to my father-coach or me, Patzcuaro is a very high crime rated town. On the evening of February 10th, my father-coach and I went to have a very quick dinner. Returning to our room within 30 minutes, we found my father’s door open, lock broken, and the room completely in disorder and searched. Upon investigation, many important and valuable items for us were stolen, which pertain both to my professional chess career and my father`s professional activity.
Due to the very fast nature of the burglary and the specific valuable items which were stolen, it is felt that this crime was carefully planned and pre-arranged by the local criminals. We immediately asked for assistance and reported the crime, but received absolutely no help at all from the local authorities, not even a police investigation.
This crime incident has greatly affected both my father and me. In particular, I have not been able to sleep for several days and have certainly not be able to continue my preparation for such a high level chess competition. We have received no support from any of the authorities or Mexican organizers, and feel that no one even slightly cared what happened to us and that, had we arrived back to the room a few minutes earlier, my father and I could have been shot or even killed by bandits.
Therefore, I requested reparation for the damages that we have sustained, attributing much of the blame directly on the Morelia/Linares Mexican Organizers for making unsafe and improper safety arrangements in the known, high crime city of Patzcuaro, Mexico. I feel that this is a fair and proper request for the clear mishandling and improper security provided by the organizers of Mexican part of Morelia/Linares chess tournament. My father and I are extremely upset from this horrible incident, and have been clearly given no support at all over the past several days. I have given the Tournament Organizers ample time to consider my request, delivering a letter on the 12th of February, and if necessary given them time to acquire an appropriate replacement as to not significantly disrupt this important tournament.
The Mexican Morelia/Linares Organizers have refused my request for fair compensation of incurred damages and I have been forced to withdraw from participating in this tournament due to the complete lack of any support and emotional reasons. I have provided them several options and time to come to a reasonable decision, but to no avail.
I’d like to express my gratitude to Juan Fernández, the mayor of Linares, who came and met me in Morelia on the 15th February, showed his full understanding and invited me to participate in the upcoming 30th anniversary Linares chess tournament in 2008.
We appreciate the understanding and support of all the chess public, friends, and well wishers. I hope to continue my career and commence playing in the very near future.
Sincerely,
Teimour Radjabov
International Grandmaster,Twice Champion of the European Club Cup Championship 2002, 2004; bronze prize-winner of the World Championship 2004, Vice-Champion of Europe 2005, winner and prize-winner of many international super chess tournaments, Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF.
Ivanchuk will take the place of Radjabov in this super event. I wish Radjabov and his father the best and hope that they are OK.
pity
for crying out loud…
What a loss. I was expecting Radjabov to make a good showing at this tournament. This was a chance to beat the elite and establish himself as a contender for the crown.
I sincerely hope that he recovers and that his chess continues to improve.
Ivanchuk as a replacement… wow, this tournament just got more interesting. If he plays like the Chucky I know and love, we can do little more than “expect the unexpected”.
strange but it seems that nowadays a chessplayer can not do without his computer and databases….
what is happening to our favorite game?
what do you expect in a third world country?
Anonymous said…
what do you expect in a third world country?
————–
what do you mean?
your post is so rude. Do you think that a third world country is always by default inferior to the western countries in terms of human resources and potential?
If you do – you are pathetic
when i go to Russia for a meeting, they keep us in a boat along the Volga river, so no person from the outside can get any close to us. The Mexicans need to exchange ideas with the russians.
I think everybody deeply inside thought more or less the same thing and that the burglary would have fewer chances of happening if the whole tournament took place in Linares. So I agree with the guy two comments above who said that it was not so unexpected.
So, not inferior or with less potential, but perhaps with less security as Teimour and his father would agree.
Not two, three comments above I mean.
Los responsables del robo son los organizadores mexicanos, con esto se pueden olvidar de más linares/morelia y a lo mejor de hasta del WCC 2007 en la ciudad de Mexico.
This is typical. We have seen it all before when KRAMNIK loses access to his beloved data cable in the bathroom and can’t play for a day.
Too bad they did not find Kramnik’s Laptop computer instead of the cable. That would have put him out of business for months!
anon, nobody needs this kind of interpretation, indeed. Kramnik is irrelevant to those sad events in Mexico.
How did Kramnik get into this discussion?
I am sorry for Radjabov. What a waste of his time. And probably of all preparation. Hopefully, he has backups.
“strange but it seems that nowadays a chessplayer can not do without his computer and databases….”
Maybe he can, but all the others are going to have their computers and databases. Also, they won’t have to worry about running around to replace daily necessities, such as clothes, toiletries, etc. Radjabov would be in such disadvantage, that I can understand his withdrawal.
Susan,
I have the following suggestion.
From now on delete any comments with accusations for cheating unless there is 100% proof. It does not matter who is the accused.
If it is necessary you can put a vote here – may be most of the visitors do not agree with me.
Yesterday I visited one of the most popular Russian chess magazines – “chesspro.ru”. I am a Topalov fan and I expected to find a lot of unpleasant comments or articles there. What I found there is a surprisingly unbiased, objective and professional tone in the publications there – a great difference from chessbase.com.
My point is that I would be glad to find this tone in the comments here. Throwing dirt on players or authors of comments happens more often and more often here.
Anyway, that is my opinion and of course I have my choice – if I don’t like what I read here I will not be coming here.
Best Regards,
Dean
Anonymous said…
what do you expect in a third world country?
Yeah, they should have played in a civilized place like New York or LA, where they don’t have crime.
—————————
Yeah sure in New York and LA where there is no crime but 99% people have double digit IQ like you, perfect place for chess.
Деянчо, уважавам мнението ти, но твоят постинг не е за този топик, момчето ми..
Сю…
How are chessfans stupid:
Anonymous said…
This is typical. We have seen it all before when KRAMNIK loses access to his beloved data cable in the bathroom and can’t play for a day.
Too bad they did not find Kramnik’s Laptop computer instead of the cable. That would have put him out of business for months!
Friday, February 16, 2007 12:07:00 PM
uh, but may be it is danailov and topalov together robbed poor boy and his father to eliminate strong opponent, stole his king indian analizes and discreditate future Mexico World Championship. Moreover they made it together with organizers, who are friends of danailov, and local authorites :))
But more than a joke, if really some analizes of Radjabov team were stolen, I think it could be very valiable and big lose to Radjabov,
(don’t forget his preparation to the possible World Championship Match) as i read in a book during Haaga-Moscow World Championship Tournament in 1948 when Max Euwe passed soviet custom his analysis were taken by authories (what is the strange notes? May be he is a spy?). On the next day all data were returned to Euwe with appologies, but somehow Botwinnik team got a copy of that notes.
I think Radjabov is completly right to drop out from a tournament.
I would think Luis Rentero would treat his players better than this. They deserved better security. I agree with Radjabov. This is another black mark on chess. Radjabov not only has to be concerned that the players might be cheating over the board, but now he has to worry about his personal safely and the safety of his possessions.
The organizers should have been more accomodating than to simply brush him aside for Ivanchuk. I would have preferred to see Shak Memadyarov. ( hope I spelled it correctly. )
Yeah sure in New York and LA where there is no crime but 99% people have double digit IQ like you, perfect place for chess.
~~~~
Good thing you posted this anonymously. You missed the joke entirely. Single digit IQ?
Why could it not be the Topalov -Danilov group?
a] What is the market for these goods?
Very limited… only valuable to those playing at the ultra-high GM Level.
b] Why would anyone risk jail for this kind of theft?
Probably because they will be paid well.
c] Who could afford to pay for a break-in and/or the cost of the materials?
Someone who recently won 500,000 in a match for example.
d] Who has the motive for doing this?
Someone who views Radjabov as a threat.
Putting it all together you can only conclude one thing!
This is typical. We have seen it all before when KRAMNIK loses access to his beloved data cable in the bathroom and can’t play for a day.
>>
Typical. Radjabov drops out of a tournament, and it proves Kramnik cheats.
The scary thing is that nobody woudl say anything like this if they had any clue how stupid it sounds, so they must REALLY be this dumb!
(Uh oh. Looks like it’s clouding up outside. That darn Kramnik!!!)
Hee hee hee.
There are several parts of this story worthy of note.
1) The third world country part. The police would not help him. Nobody would help him. That’s wrong.
Mexico does have real problems with crime and poverty. The people of Mexico think so. Why are they voting with their feet and coming to the USA? Sadly, the elites in Mexico have adopted a policy of exporting their problems to the US instead of dealing with them. It is the people of Mexico that are victimized the most.
2) The Mexican Chess Officials indifference to the problem. This part is more immediate.
3) The pre-meditated part. Why was only this one guy targeted? – And the possibility that he could have been shot?
Conclusion: maybe top chessplayers ought to boycott countries/organizers that have these kind of problems.
What exactly are the police going to do anyway. With a Car Jacking on another street are they really going to care about the theft of someone’s latest analysis of a possible exploit in the King Indian Nimzo-Saemish Variation?
Try to assign a value to that? The only person it would be valuable to would be another high level GM.
Having lived in a US/Mexico border town I can tell you for a fact that the police and government are crime rings themselves. The corruption runs so deep you could never find the bottom. Say you go across to do some cheap shopping, like so many fools in US border towns do. You are having a party so you go to get some cheap alcohol over there, save yourself 20 bucks altogether, good for you. Then you get back to the border crossing, and the Mexican police are there, determining who to let through, and who to pull over. Most everyone is getting the green light, but when you pull up the light goes red. Even the Mexican police know a Jaguar when they see one. They ask you what you are bringing back, just a few bottles of alcohol you say. After all it is perfectly legal. He tells you to open your trunk, you do. The alcohol is there, but so is your laptop, your briefcase and some other random items. What does he do? He lets you go, if your lucky. If he is my sister in law he cleans out her trunk, shares it with his corrupt buddies and laughs at you as you drive off. Do you tell him something….not if you are smart. You don’t want to go to Mexican jail….after all our government it powerless to help you. But let one of them come over here illegally rape and kill five women, end up on death row, and next thing you know the Mexican government wants us to send him back over there, and we do. Go figure. You think it doesn’t happen, your problem, it does. Believe it rather you want to or not. Call me a racist, you’d be a fool, I am Hispanic, only difference my family came here legally four generations ago.
Yes, that’s right. Mexico is a third world country, period. Not because of the crime but because of the lack of cooperation from the authorities. There’s nothing rude about stating the facts with their real name.
I bet it all shows up on EBay in the middle of the tournament.
I don’t know if we can blame Rentero for what happened before the crime, but his complete non-support afterwards is odd.
The way he tells the story, Radjabov believes the crime was not just a random robbery, but was directed specifically at him. Without knowing exactly what was taken, it’s impossible to tell if the criminals planned it on their own, or were hired. He says the items were “valuable”, but that could mean a lot of different things.
I wonder what kind of compensation he asked for? The lack of support is about the worst advertisement the Linares tournament could have gotten.
>
Chess is being tainted by obnoxious, uneducated morons, much like the ones making idiotic statements on this blog.
Use some common sense (if you have any) when commenting on these things. This is getting ridiculous and pathetic.
Please wake up people!
Who is this stuff of any value to? Except:
Topalov, Anand, Leko, Svidler, Aronian, Morozevich, or Carlsen
Please connect the dots here!!!
Don’t forget KRAMNIK !!! Mexico city is only a short time away and he could make use of it too!
Maybe it was a KGB job?
It is definitely KGB. These guys like to operate in Mexico. They killed Trotsky back then.
The burglary was masterminded by Ivanchuk and executed by Topalov (don’t forget he’s fluent in Spanish and could have easily impersonated a room-service hop). The dual purpose was to secure Topalov’s first place and Ivanchuk’s participation in the tourney. How’s that for a theory?
Apparently, Radjabov lost his laptop and all backups.
Let’s not blame the Mexicans here! It makes absolutely no difference where the robbery occurred – USA, Russia, Germany, Azerbaijan, Mexico, anywhere… Things have been stolen from me on (almost) all continents.
I would think that a Super GM like that has a copy of all his valuable data that can be DHL-ed to him within 24 Hours, together with as many laptops as he needs.
D.
The other players in the tournament should have refused to play until Radjabov was given adequate compensation by the organizers.The organizers rely on the lack of solidarity among the players to divide and conquer.
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
Another very sad story for chess – and for Radjabov.
To try to avoid “possibilities of rubbish”, after several scandals, organizers shoud (and should have)made several rules :
– No super tournament in low developped countries (this is not racism at all, it’s a fact)
– When a non player had a reprehensible attitude, he should be “persona non grata” in the tournament hall (and if possible in the tournament country) – this is for Danailov.
Poor chess:-(
My sympathies are with the Radjabov family. Putting the words “helpful” and “Mexican police” in the same sentence is no more than a cruel joke.
Why post the same comment SEVEN times??? Pretty juvenile!
I agree that it is not so much the crime but the response of the Mexican authorities and the organizers to the crime.
The Mexican authorities are clearly a bunch of hopeless fools when you think of the amount of energy they must have put forward to attract such events and the upcoming World Championship in Mexico.
Do you really believe that an average PATZER will pay money for the database of a Grand Master? If you want suspects look who the data is most valuable to and most benefits!
KRAMNIK, TOPALOV or any other GM in contention for victory!
The problem is you all bury you head in the sand! Look at the WIRES and look at the HAND SIGNALS!
The only thing that will prove Topalov cheats is if Danilov comes up and moves the pieces!
Get a clue people!
Ivanchuk also looks very sad as a top player jumping in to take advantage of the situation. I hope he finishes bottom last.
The organizers should have been left to use a Mexican player or scrape the bottom of the barrel for a replacement. It is may be too high an expectation in light of all the sewage pervading the chess world nowadays.
>>Why post the same comment SEVEN times??? Pretty juvenile! >>
I guess he thought the points were very weak. The pros space it out more, though.
It’s not the Mexicans fault that the crime happened, but the fact that they wouldn’t so much as investigate something as serious as the theft of a laptop computer is a black eye for the tournament and city. If a VIP like Radjabov can’t get satisfaction, what chance would I have? Sounds like a good argument for taking my tourism dollars elsewhere.
However, I think Radjabov is not above reproach here…. He is a professional. He was being paid an appearance fee. It isn’t clear what he wanted the organizers to do about the theft,… but if he wanted them to compensate him for his stolen property, I don’t think that was their responsibility… Professional sportsmen are in show business, and the show must go on.
>>>
Your own argument works against you. If this is show business, and the show must go on no matter what, then the organizers were obligated to do whatever it took to keep him there. To not so much as try was unprofessional, in your own words.
I don’t know if Rentero’s youth and/or inexperience was a factor in this, but either way, it was pretty unprofessional.
I also felt Radjabov could have stayed. He is one of my favorite players and I would not want to criticize him; he knows his situation better. But asking the organizers for compensation did not sound good to me. Also the fact that he could not sleep well can be contributed to the time zone difference. This is what usually happens to everybody after flying from Europe from America.
And again he knew better his situation. I just would have preferred if he stayed and played.
Well, it’s possible he asked for something unreasonable. If he did, we’ll hear about it.
If he asked to be moved into more secure accommodations, they could hardly have refused him.
About: “Why post the same comment SEVEN times???”: I’m sorry: I have a computer problem – the message was sent 7 times.
Arrogant and unreasonable to demand compensation for one’s own failure to secure one’s belongings. The organisers were certainly correct to deny Radjabov’s request.
Bandits?!
Maybe you never left your room, got hammered on tequila & trashed your own room…
In defence of the organizers, they are neither an anti-crime police department nor insurance agents. They are definitely not responsible for this situation. On the other hand FIDE can consider blacklisting Mexico as an unsafe place to play in. Blasklisting of countries is a pretty common practice (but it usually happens for countries like Iraq; shockingly FIDE had/has blacklisted Spain for some ridiculous actions, which I am sure all us chess followers know about).
what do you mean?
your post is so rude. Do you think that a third world country is always by default inferior to the western countries in terms of human resources and potential?
If you do – you are pathetic
U r the one who is pathetic. I bet u r a mexican. Mexico sucks and this incident has already shown what a sucky country mexico is!!!!
>>Why post the same comment SEVEN times??? Pretty juvenile! >>
He meant to do it 8 times but counted wrong.
Your own argument works against you. If this is show business, and the show must go on no matter what, then the organizers were obligated to do whatever it took to keep him there.
The show is going on: The organizers have replaced Radjabov.
It seems that Radjabov is blaming the organizers for selecting the “high crime” city of Patzcuaro and for “making unsafe and improper safety arrangements”, and is demanding reparations. I don’t think this is reasonable. The tournament is in Mexico, which is not the safest country for tourists. Radjabov is essentially blaming the Mexican organizers for staging the tournament in Mexico.
Besides, the organizers picked Patcuaro because it is one of the safer places. But hotel rooms can be robbed anywhere and that isn’t just true in Mexico Were the organizers supposed to have layed on round-the-clock security guards for the players? The tournament is in Mexico; a five-minutes Google search tells you that theft, or worse, are problems for tourists in Mexico. If Radjabov and his father weren’t prepared for the possibility of a theft, they could have passed on the tournament. They are grown-ups, supposedly.
As for reparations, is it normal for tournament organizers to provide travel insurance for the players? Whenever I’ve travelled, that is something I’ve arranged for myself, especially when travelling to third-world countries. (I have travel insurance through my credit card, which is something Radjabov might look into.)
Anyway, was it in his contract with the organizers that they would provide travel insurance? If so, there is no controversy, and Radjabov has a point. If not, then there is also no controversy and Radjabov doesn’t have a point.
It’s like Kasparov to attempt to fabricate a new “right” for grandmasters playing in top-level tournaments vis-a-vis organizers, and to demand of his former colleagues that they enforce this right via “solidarity”. One is entitled to be a little cynical, since one didn’t see a great deal of “solidarity” from Kasparov himself when he was a participant rather than someone expressing an opinion from the sidelines.
These guys are great chess players, and Kasparov was the greatest ever, but their behaviour as professionals falls somewhat short.
>> Dimi said…
Let’s not blame the Mexicans here! It makes absolutely no difference where the robbery occurred – USA, Russia, Germany, Azerbaijan, Mexico, anywhere… Things have been stolen from me on (almost) all continents. >>
Well the police could have secured fingerprints. What if some of the fingerprints were from another player? At least if the fingerprints had been secured and then it would give a possibility of showing that there were no fingerprints from the other players.
No one blames the police for the crime happening, they blame the police for not doing anything afterwards to help solve the crime.