FIDE Vice President Mr. Geoffrey D. Borg has kindly agreed to share his opinion about the events surrounding Topalov-Kramnik match in Elista:
I was in Elista last week for the opening in my capacity of a new FIDE VP. The organisation of the opening ceremony was tremendous and no efforts were spared. Similarly, the organisers bent over backwards to accommodate the players and their teams.
It is clear that the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has changed his outlook on the chess world and understands clearly that we require a professional approach to organisation, marketing and commercialisation of chess. This debacle in the World Championship match should have never been allowed to go so far, since either there should have been a clear accusation with proof by Topalov’s team, or else the whole claim should have been thrown immediately out of the window.
The rest of Mr. Borg’s letter can be read on WCN. 
You are correct that we who are not in Elista do not know the full story, but Danailov’s recent interview shed some light, at least for me. It sounded like Kramnik’s usual behaviour was to hide out away from the board until Topalov moved, then come out, look at the board for a short while, move, and then disappear. If you faced such an opponent over the board, what would you (meaning both Susan AND blog readers) make of it? This could EASILY be seen as disrespectful, possibly a deliberate attempt to distract the opponent, and just a wee bit suspicious.
In the players’ rest rooms and washrooms, are there video displays of the playing area? If so, I’d be doubly suspicious.
Players do a lot of irritating things at the board. It is hard to know when a player has crossed the line and is disturbing the opponent.
Try being a tournament director sometime, and listen to all the myriad complaints players make about one another’s behavior – you’d be amazed! Some players do anything imaginable to disturb their opponents, while some other players are disturbed by the most minor things!
Nothing in the rules says Kramnick cannot get up and walk away from the board after every move. Similarly, nothing in the rules says one cannot offer a draw after every move. On the opposite hand, the rules DO state that one player cannot intentionally disturb or distract the other. Where to draw the line?
I’ve had an opponent who kicked me under the table several times, another who crunched hard candy constantly, another who slurped his coffee loudly, and one who silently ate tree leaves! All disturbed me but I didn’t complain.
On the other hand, I’ve heard players complain about opponents who are merely staring, adjusting pieces just once, squeaky pencils and pens, hard clock-hitting, piece-slamming, silently moving one’s lips (talking to himself), and more. So, some players are easily disturbed!
Some here are saying Kramnick is intentionally trying to make Topalov think he is cheating, by leaving the board too often. Is this against the rules of chess? Is making your opponent think you are cheating enough to complain about? Is Kramnick intentionally disturbing Topolov? Or maybe Kramnick is taking medicine that has a side effect requiring frequent bathroom breaks?
Susan, (and readers), do opponents sometimes disturb you? On purpose? When does it cross the line so that you complain?
tja