Below are some of the important issues that came out from the latest FIDE EB Meeting
Following are the decisions taken at the 78th FIDE Congress Executive Board meeting – Report by Mr. Bill Kelleher
Olympiad
The 2008 Olympiad will be held in Dresden Germany. FIDE signed a contract with the City of Dresden to hold the Olympiad next year from the November 12th to the 25th. There was some concern about the financing but the Dresden City Council finally approved the necessary funds. There are a number of significant rules changes for next year’s Olympiad:
Both the men’s and women’s teams will consist of 4 players plus one reserve. Currently the men’s team consists of 4 players plus 2 reserves and the women’s team consists of 3 players plus 1 reserve.
The number of rounds will be reduced from 14 to 11.
The scoring will be changed from the current game points to match points.
Anti-Doping
In compliance with new WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) regulations, FIDE will introduce “out of competition” testing in 2008. This decision has the potential to be extremely controversial. Fortunately the testing will be limited to the 80 top-rated men players and the 5 top-rated women. Additionally only 10% of these 85 players will be tested. I do not have the latest rating list in front of me, but I think that no more than 4 or 5 of our players are rated high enough to be tested. FIDE has been sensitive to our concerns about testing in the past so hopefully none of our players will be tested.
Women’s World Championship
The Women’s World Championship will be held in late June 2008 in San Luis, Argentina. Initially it was scheduled for mid-May which would have conflicted with the US Women’s Championship. However the Argentine’s graciously agreed to move the dates for the WWC.
Men’s World Championship
Negotiations are ongoing between Anand and Kramnik for the World Championship match next year. Deputy President of FIDE, Makropoulos briefed the board about the status of negotiations. He said that Anand had put forward number of demands before he would sign a contract to play the match. Makropoulos said that he felt all of Anand’s demands could be accommodated except one. Anand wants to restore the right of the champion to claim victory if the match ends in a tie. Makropoulos said FIDE should oppose this and the Executive Board agreed. However the delegate from India then spoke and said that there was another sticking point not mentioned by Deputy President: Anand is insisting that the match be played at a “neutral venue.” The Executive Board did not discuss this issue because of the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations.
And it is clear why. This is a trickier issue than it seems. Prior to the World Championship tournament in Mexico City, FIDE had signed a contract with a German company, Universal Events Productions (UEP), to sponsor the 2008 World Championship Match. It was agreed that this match would be played in Germany. It appears that Anand does not regard Germany as a “neutral venue” because Kramnik’s manager, Karsten Henzel, is a German citizen and has close relations with UEP. Also there are rumors that UEP gave Kramnik “extra inducements” to play the match in Germany. This issue is a potential showstopper.
By Bill Kelleher
Anand is right. He shouldn’t have to play in Kramnik’s territory. And if FIDE wants to go back to the old rules with matches, the WC has the draw odd just as Botvinnik did. Can’t have it both ways. Go Anand!
Playing a match in Germany is like playing in Kramnik’s living room. Forget it. The match should be held in Crossville, TN, the capital of US Chess! Bill Goichberg should run it and Randy Bauer should be the Chief Arbiter. Lafferti, Sloani, Mottershi, Alari and Paini should be in the appeals committee.
Anand IS the World Champion. He should get what he wants.
At this stage it looks like Kramnik will get the title by default?
… and in the end there will be no match nowhere and we – the chess fools / fans – will have again TWO chess world champions – a tournament one and a match play one – … sometimes i feel sick and tired … and sometimes – only sometimes – i feel the need to stop playing competitive chess …
btw: even Topalov agreed to play decisive games in Elista 2006 …
and – yes – germany, for sure a moscow satellite – has to be wiped out from any european landscape … there was a lost chance – some ages ago …
hummm … but what the heck makes Anand playing chess for the OSC Baden-Baden (a german team, by the way …)? Money?
Hopefully the bugs will tke over here …
a sick and tired Vohaul
Why are the players against drug testing? You can’t call chess a sport and not be tested.
It is a shame that we are 90% of the way towards a fully unified and fully accepted World Championship, and to still hear of this stuff. Everything has been laid out for more than a year, since well before Mexico.
If Anand blocks enough FIDE is in a position to forfeit him. If he wants to be difficult he should win the match and then demand changes, when it will not be so easy to claim that Kramnik is a legitimate champion because he never lost a Championship match to Anand.
Since the players are going to locked up behind glass with armed guards patrolling bathroom breaks, and no windows to look out since that allows you to communicate via laser or mirrors or smoke signals or whatever, and an Appeals committee made up of FIDE VPs, how can location possibly matter?
Kramnik showed good faith and a lot of selflessness to play in Mexico because of the existing contract. Anand should do the same with the current contract, win, and be World Champion without question.
Or maybe he is pretty sure he cannot defeat Kramnik head-to-head? Sure sounds like it to me…
The inability for Anand to be able to play in Germany seems like it’s based on unreasonable paranoia.
As a world champion, Anand should be an example to us all by playing his match like a real sportsman and not demanding silly things like this. In fact, I believe that no player should be in the position to demand anything.
Vohaul said “and – yes – germany, for sure a moscow satellite – has to be wiped out from any european landscape … there was a lost chance – some ages ago … “
What on earth are you talking about? This is no longer the cold war! 1989 is long gone and Germany cannot be considered a satellite of Moscow. Don’t be ridiculous.
Kramnik is Russian. He is not German. Honestly, the paranoia of these chess players is just ridiculous. Anand (who plays in the German Bundesliga) – just get on with it!!!
In compliance with new WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) regulations, FIDE will introduce “out of competition” testing in 2008. This decision has the potential to be extremely controversial. Fortunately the testing will be limited to the 80 top-rated men players and the 5 top-rated women. Additionally only 10% of these 85 players will be tested. I do not have the latest rating list in front of me, but I think that no more than 4 or 5 of our players are rated high enough to be tested. FIDE has been sensitive to our concerns about testing in the past so hopefully none of our players will be tested.
FIDE should have refused. Doping in chess? How likely is that, when most chemicals in this class rather reduce the ability of thinking than raise it. Amphetamines would be the only reasonable exception, but even that is debateable, whether it just makes one feel high/fresh, than more capable to think. I remember, decades ago, I was preparing for a test in medical school. I was way behind with preparation. I took amphetamine (it was legally available at the time). I felt like a “champ”, the material was “pouring in my head”. At least that’s how I felt. Then I flunked the test big time. In other words, the perception was totally different from the reality. Never took amphetamine again to prepare for any intellectual challenge.
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At the same time, it seems that the doping test sometimes target characters, “somebody doesn’t want to win”. The world now assumes, that the doping tests are done in a squeeky clean fashion. I have my doubts. Unknown people in unknown labs are performing those, and just how difficult to slip something into somebody’s urine? Yeah, in both A and B which comes from the same specimen. But I admit that there are sports which are notorious that the participants are trying to use performance enhancers. In chess? I doubt it.
So, the world of chess is taking a risk on allowing scandals to pop up, while the true advantage of testing must be negligible.
Gabor
He said that Anand had put forward number of demands before he would sign a contract to play the match.
What if Anand won’t play?
I predicted this shortly after the Kramnik-Topalov match. Unless Kramnik wins Mexico, the exact same situation would emerge as before the Kramnik-Topalov unification match. Somebody else wins, Kramnik, the last winner of the one-on-one match, while participating in Mexico, still refuses to admit that the winner is the true WC (while Kramnik announced on his website that Anand is the WC, later made remarks that made it clear, that he will really acknowledge Anand as the WC, if he can defeat him in a match). So, back to square one, if Anand happens to refuse to play.
This was all an organizational screw-up. Mexico 2007 was organized as the “next world championship”, because at the time nobody was sure that the Kramnik-Topalov match will actually takes place. It did. Yet, FIDE didn’t modify Mexico 2007, let it ride that it IS the next world championship. Worse yet, allowed Kramnik to play. That was the big mistake. After Kramnik defeated Topalov, he should have been declared the WC (as it was) and Mexico 2007 should have been reduced to what all the next similar round robin tournaments will be: a selection who can play the WC for the title next year. Kramnik should have been allowed to stay out, they should have played the round robin and the winner would have the right to play the WC. FIDE wanted to have its cake and eat it too. It was the wrong decision.
Gabor
Probably, there may be a solution to this issue. One-half of the World championship can be played in Germany(or wherever kramnik team is OK) and the other half can be played in another country where Anand team provides. A coin has both sides, similarly if FIDE consider both of their opinions, then this situation can be handled in a better way. If they are biased towards a single person, the situation will not improve.
ANAND SCARED!!!! he knows he cannot defeat krammik head to head! Anand the lesser “sportsman” and his reputation tarnished forever by these cowardly demands!!
Good old FIDE is making der Führer proud all the way down in the flaming nether regions. Why can’t you guys just admit you hate sportsmanship and just declare your reich like any other tyranical nut-job outfit?
Vishy is too good to be mixed up with your crazy rule changes… like giving women extra 100 points and not Susan Polgar.
Typical junta tactics from a mideval group of euro-thugs.
anand should also ask for a rematch clause. how can topalov get a rematch clause for winning a disputed title and anand cant get one for winning the undisputed title?
Anand is a coward. He is afraid of losing a match. His match play results are poor and he is begging to show the signs of stress.
Anand may play solid for half the match, but if he is not ahead by the halfway point his collapse is certain.
Anand is a great player, who could have been World Champion for many years, but for his nerves in Match play.
I think it is something about the Indian mind set. They just do not have the killer instint. To much Ghandi, be nice, avoid war and avoid confrontation. A very peaceful country is India.
Anand just does not have the nerves or real desire to win a big time match
I think when Anand lost to Kasparov in 1995, he told: “I do not want to play any World Championship Match anymore.”
I think he just scared, not Kramnik, he scared to play.
He is great player, one of the greatest, but he was psyhologically crashed by Kasparov, as all other top World players for exeption of Kramnik.
If he will decline the match for any reason, he will be soon inactive, and play only blitz and rapid chess for fun. He need to play it for byself, it could be certainly the top point of his great career.
KRAMNIK is the real World Champion as decided by matches. The fact that he played in the Mexico Tournament is immaterial. I hope Kramnik goes back to calling himself the “Classical World Champion” after this Anand BS. Has anyone looked at Anand’ record against Kasparov lately? (23/8)Kramnik is (21/22). Anand has a right to be scared, but he should have thought about that before participating in Mexico City. Sponsors of chess tournaments are difficult to find and players must bend to the reality of that fact. I thought Anand was a classy guy but he will be a big of an idiot as Lasker or Alekhine.
If Anand wants the rules changed for a tied match he ought to first show that he can win the WC in a match. Right now, after reading this, to me and most of the world Anand is a poser.
Too bad Kramnik was reasonable, this is how he gets repaid. The World Chess Championship is no more unified now than it was before Mexico.
If the match does happen, I hope Anand gets crushed!!!
Good for Anand!
History teaches that there is little point complaining after the event- it is of utmost importance to make sure that you are satisfied that all the conditions are up to standard and fair beforehand.
I think that this was one of kasparov’s mistakes in 2000 as he was too desperate to get a match. Topalov also should have insisted on a longer match and perhaps in a prefarable country in 2006. Both should have insisted on a rematch clause.
anand big chicken
Kramnik big coward.
Kramnik is celebrating his love for himself and FIDE. Click my name.
implementation of WADA control is a big concern. these rules are for different sports and have nothing to do with chess but the players will have to take care of thousands of rules, chemicals, drugs and so on.
The reason WADA testing is a joke in chess is because chess is not a sport.
That aside I dont see what the fuss is all about, the procedure is simple, provide a urine sample with an official observing.
The only other thing to do is check any medication that you take.
I think if the FIDE specifcally did not test US players that would be of some concern for WADA. Indivduals should be chosen at random (from the list) regardless of country of origin
I don’t understand even the rationale for this match-up.
We just had a world championship.
If people do not agree to the tournament format for selecting the world champ, then don’t have that tournament.
If you do have the tournament, and play in it, then accept the results.
Because Kramnik’s fans don’t want to see him lose his title. They want him to be their WC for life.
“He is great player, one of the greatest, but he was psyhologically crashed by Kasparov,”
“he is pretty sure he cannot defeat Kramnik head-to-head?”
“ANAND SCARED!!!!”
” Anand is a coward. “
Ghandi, India and its people have a history of non vilolent oposition.
the stress and grit required to win a chess match are way to much for Anand. Frankly, he is a typical chess geek. In most cities he would get his but kicked by the local bully, and he would learn to fight back or at least handle the tension and stress.
Anand has been coddled by a group of wussy peace nicks. Not the forumula for an all or nothing match play.
This is ridiculous.
I dont see any problems in Anand trying to get a neutral venue especially if Kramnik has worked out some deal with UEP.
Also I thought Anand as the WC would retain his title in case of a draw as has been the case since the start of the WC cycle. That is something no sane WC would agree to.
Why you guys start giving names to great players like Anand and Kramnik? I see this whole limbo dance as a prelude to real negotiations concerning the venue. Correct me if I’m wrong but currently there is No agreed upon date and place. Expect next Vishy proposing someplace like Spain. Eventually we should end up in Japan or the US.
Not very nice tactic by Henkel though, leaking to the media news before the discussions are going…
Kramnik is a big chicken. He is trying to use FIDE to play his politics.
Bravo Anand..thats the way to go. Dont let FIDE or Kramnik make any rules. In case of a tie, the WC retains the title. This has been there in all WC’s. Even Kramnik-Leko 2004 was a tie (poor Kramnik cant even defeat Leko in a match), and kramnik retained the title.
If Kramnik is allowed to play in Russia or Germany, then he will find some other alternative to using the toilet.
Go Anand Go… for once Anand is involving himself in politics, and this will augur well for him.
Kramnik is a BIG CHICKEN.
robert: whatever you mentioned is crap. It has no relevance to Anand being the WC. The world deserves champs like Anand rather than cranky freaks like Kaspy and Fischer. Btw, Kramnik too isnt exactly a warrior or anything.
If you think that whichever country you come from, the people are more violent there, then pls ask some chess player from your country to defeat Anand.
Until then, pls dont talk crap.
To all the Anand fans:
To all the Kramnik fans:
Don’t lower the chess “fan-ship” to the level of the soccer crowds please. Anand is a great chess player. Kramnik is a great chess player. Even Topalov is a great chess player. None of them can be blamed for FIDE’s incompetence to screw up this whole thing (for many years). Having said that……….
All previous world champs had various demands. Anand can’t be blamed having demands too, and certainly can’t be blamed wanting to play on a neutral territory.
Who is the real champ?
Currently Anand. I explain why (not because I am an Anand fan, because I am not. I am a chess fan and I don’t particularly pull for anybody in particular):
FIDE made a mess out of the setup, allowing yet one more round robin world championship, which was organized BEFORE the Kramnik-Topalov unification match.
Which clearly resulted in the current situation: Kramnik who won the last match (against Topalov), plans were made and announced that the future WC will be decided by one year round robin, and the winner next year can play against the WC, a match, for the title. Thus the round robin will result in a challenger, not a WC. Yet, FIDE allowed 2007 Mexico to “slide” and still declared the winner the WC (as it was before the unification match). That was the mistake. However……..Kramnik had the clear choice NOT to go to Mexico and announce:”this is a transitional stage we are in. I am the last winner of a match, resulting me becoming the WC. I am not going to play in Mexico, but I will be happy to play with the winner.”
Kramnik didn’t even have to declare that “I don’t acknowledge the winner of Mexico as the WC”. It would have been an unspoken given.
Yet, Kramnik didn’t do that. He went to Mexico, perhaps hoping that he can win and then everything would have been crystal clear. He went to Mexico and he didn’t win, Anand did. With Kramnik going to Mexico, pretty much acknowledged FIDE’s bad decision. He even acknowledged Anand as the WC, on his own website. Therefore, Anand IS the current WC, whether we all agree or not. It was all screwed up, I admit that, but Kramnik chose to accept it all.
Gabor
Which kind of assured that this mess will happen, unless Kramnik would have won Mexico too.
Wow! The posts in here are getting huge! My eyes are tired from reading the last one!