Chess champ asks for delay

Apr 19, 2010
Chess champ asks for final delay

SOFIA – CHESS champion Viswanathan Anand has asked for a delay in the world final starting this week because he has been held up at a German airport by the European airspace shutdown, organisers said on Sunday.

The Indian national was due to battle Bulgarian Veselin Topalov for the world title in Sofia over 12 games starting on April 23.

However the world champion said he was stranded at an airport in Frankfurt after a cloud of volcanic ash shut down airports across Europe for days.

Bulgarian Chess Federation president Stefan Sergiev told the Bulgarian news agency BGNES that organisers had been informed by the International Chess Federation of Anand’s request for a delay in the championship.

He said they had thought Anand was already in Sofia because a member of his delegation had earlier fetched the keys for his accommodation. Mr Serguiev said a world chess title final had never been delayed before.

Anand’s manager Silvio Danailov told AFP that the champion was meant to be in Bulgaria before Wednesday’s opening ceremony at 1500 GMT. He said the organising committee was expected to examine the request for a delay on Monday. — AFP

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com