Short accused of libel
By Malcolm Pein
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 30/04/2007
There have been some laughable episodes in Fide over the years but I thought Nigel Short was joking when he told me that he has been hauled before the Fide Ethics Committee accused of defaming Fide Vice President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos. Given the antics of this pair over the years I cannot see how this is possible.
At issue is an interview the former world title finalist gave on 30th January 2007 to the Indian newspaper DNA. Short heard of the move in a letter from Fide which did not reveal the source of the complaint.
Short was a commentator at the Fide World Championship which was held in the Argentinian town of San Luis in 2005 and the interview touched on some of the goings on there and the infamous ‘Toiletgate’ scandal at last years world title match at Elista between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.
The whole issue was so mishandled by the Fide officials that it nearly caused the termination of the match and Kramnik eventually defaulted a game rather than walk away.
In his interview Short was highly critical of Azmaiparashvili and Makropoulos who were both on the Appeals Committee in San Luis and Elista:
”The Fide Deputy President + Vice President spent more time at the hotel 16km away despite being paid 1000s of dollars plus considerable expenses to do their job on the Appeals Committee. It came as absolutely no surprise to me that these dumbheads would flunk the first crisis they were presented with (Elista). I might add that Azmai is singularly inappropriate for such work having by his own admission cheated to win the 2003 European Championship.”
The letter from Fide accuses him of violating articles 2.2.10 and 2.2.11 Fide code of ethics. Short is unrepentant and intends to use the simple defence of truth. He said: ”I have nothing to retract and I look forward to humiliating them in any hearing or court.”
Here is the full article.
Wow!!!
I am so happy that these things are finally going to be formally settled – hopefully in courts of law with civil and criminal penalties.
If Topalov say can put Kramnik on ice for a few years for those unjust assertions about hand signaling it will do a lot for the sport.
Someone needs to go to jail over all this libel stuff and having the sitting World Champion in the pen. would go a long way toward discouraging others.
I hope Kamsky will sue Short too. Short needs to keep his filthy mouth shut.
I agree with both posts above. Short has been out of line for years. Let’s see him lose millions. He moved to Greece to evade paying taxes. He’s as unethical as you can get when it comes to professional chess. He’s the reason why Bessel Kok lost the last election.
I can’t stand Short either. Hope he gets the max and loses millions. That ought to teach him a lesson about insulting everyone.
“Short has been out of line for years. Let’s see him lose millions. He moved to Greece to evade paying taxes. “
Wow. I guess you think it’s government’s money first and yours second. But his desire to keep more of his money is irrelevant to the case against him by FIDE.
I think Short has the right of freedom of speech. It’s a universal right, and not just an American one.
Short was reckless. He has a big mouth. I hope the court will slap him silly.
Come on guys, give this Short a break!! 🙂
Yes, some of his words are quite rude but who cares? It is just fun, he has a big sense of humour. Why can’t people see the fun of that all!?! He’s just a jester kinda…. An entertainer 🙂
There is no chance he will lose in any court
Especially since in this case he is more lucid than some other times
>>I am so happy that these things are finally going to be formally settled – hopefully in courts of law with civil and criminal penalties.>>
I’m glad you’re happy, because if they’re going to start enforcing the ethics rules for this match, then the first thing they have to do is ban Topalov for 3 years for violating Rule 2.2.8. They can’t even think of nailing Short otherwise, so I’ll go along with that too.
>>If Topalov say can put Kramnik on ice for a few years for those unjust assertions about hand signaling it will do a lot for the sport. >>
It’d be hard, considering Kramnik never opened his mouth. Topalov, on the other hand comitted his crime in public. If you’ve got this idea in your mind that we’ll punish the people that you personally din’t like, and let your friends slide, you may be about to meet the real world, possibly for the first time.
>>Someone needs to go to jail over all this libel stuff and having the sitting World Champion in the pen. would go a long way toward discouraging others.>>
LOL, wouldn’t that be funny. Jail the victim, and let the crook go free. That’ll sure send a message.
Can someoone please shed more light on the following statement? What were the details surrounding this?
“I might add that Azmai is singularly inappropriate for such work having by his own admission cheated to win the 2003 European Championship”
Short likes to insult people and calling them names. He deserves what’s coming to him.
Re: Azmai and cheating … This quote is from a Telegraph article by Nigel, quoted by Chessbase
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2406
The FIDE vice president Zurab Azmaiparashvili of Georgia won the 2003 European Championship, on his own admission, by retracting a move during the decisive game against Malakhov. There is not much point in expressing regret about this later, as he did in an interview in New in Chess (2003/5), when the deed, which is totally forbidden under the laws of chess, has already been done.
(I don’t have any New In Chesses to be able to quote the interview).
–gb
About taking move back..
Kasparov has done the same with Polgar and was not even decent enough to admit it (even if cameras caught him).
When you are public person you cannot make accusations without prove. In any country (and definetly including US dear michael) if you accuse with no evidence somebody you face the consequences.
You guys seem to forget that this is “Fide Ethics Committee” not Guantanamo Rendition Center.
I think they have limited power to extract millions of dollars or impose jail sentences on Mr. Short.
Who are these randoms and what motivates them to hate Nigel Short so much?
I realise he is not popular with all of the chess world (just ask Gata Kamsky) but I don’t think there are people around who have such a level of animosity to wish complete ruination upon the man.
>>
I think they have limited power to extract millions of dollars or impose jail sentences on Mr. Short.
>>
Well, there are two entirely different issues here: 1) Libel Laws, and 2) FIDE Ethics Rules. Only the first is criminal.
Truth is a defense against libel, so if it’s true that Azmai did indeed admit taking a move back, then they have no case.
Not sure how it would work with general statements. If they complain “He said we spent all our time at our villa 16km away, and it’s really only 15.9km away, the dirty liar”, then a judge would probably… judge it. He would not, as so many people here want him to do, decide guilt or innocence based on whether he liked Nigel Short. That’s the kind of thing judges do when they’re tired of being judges.
Now, the FIDE Ethics Rules are a different thing. It’s possible to violate those without committing a crime. Ricardo Calvo was declared persona non grata for little more than criticizing FIDE’s competence, so Short could theoretically be nailed the same way, crime or no.
Nobody’s quoted the actual rules in question, to see whether or not Short broke them, most people seem to want to decide the case based on personal preference. But, just for a lark, let’s look at them anyway.
The article mentions Rules 2.2.10 and 2.2.11. Both of these are followups to 2.2.9, which is the rule Topalov broke (not 2.2.8, as someone mentioned yesterday).
>>
2.2.9 Players or members of their delegations must not make unjustified accusations toward other players, officials or sponsors. All protests must be referred directly to the arbiter or the Technical Director of the tournament.
2.2.10 In addition, disciplinary action in accordance with this Code of Ethics will be taken in cases of occurrences which cause the game of chess, FIDE or its federations to appear in an unjustifiable unfavorable light and in this way damage its reputation.
2.2.11 Any conduct likely to injure or discredit the reputation of FIDE, its events, organizers, participants, sponsors or that will enhance the goodwill which attaches to the same.
>>
As you can see, 2.2.10 and 2.2.11 are basically the same rule, slightly reworded. Both are extremely vague and interpretational, and could be used to nail pretty much any player they wanted. They could certainly nail Short with it.
Now, whether they will bother to do so is another question. Unlike most of the people here, they don’t have a grudge against Short, their prime motivation is improving their own image, which has been bad for years, and got much worse after the Elista match. FIDE’s prime motivation now is getting chess into the Olympics and other mainstream areas. Anything that calls undue attention to incompetence or mismanagement is not going to facilitate that.
They’re hamstrung already by the fact that an Ethics complaint was already filed against Topalov under Rule 2.2.9, and summarily dismissed without consideration. Which is, more or less, fine. They’ve decided to bury the whole thing. Not the best decision, but at least not especially noisy either.
It would be a lot noisier if the world knew that there was a big scandal in the chess world, lots of untoward things were said, and FIDE responded by punishing the people they disliked, and letting their friends slide. Short has got a big mouth, as so many people have pointed out, and so doing this would be the same as putting a club into his hands and inviting him to swing it. This kind of publicity FIDE doesn’t need and doesn’t want.
Remember, Topalov not only accused Kramnik, he accused Kirsan himself of cheating (in the ABC.es interview). As long as they’re letting that slide, their hands are tied. They can’t do anything to anyone else involved in the matter without suffering another big reputation hit. Their strategy all this time has been to let it blow over, so it’s unlikely that they’d change it now for no reason. Most likely they have no intention of following through here, and are only trying to intimidate Short into piping down a bit.
The ignorance displayed by the first few posts in this thread, perfectly demonstrates why I rarely visit here anymore.
I hate to think that people so dumb are allowed out on their own, my only hope is that they are safely institutionalized somewhere warm for them, and safe for the rest of us…
I like Nigel Short. I like to read his writings. He is great fun to read. A good sense of humor. I hope that he will be found innocent.