Dear Vladimir,
Through no fault of your own, you have suffered a great deal due to the mistake of the Appeal’s Committee.
In spite of an evidently unfair treatment, you have accepted to continue the match, for the sake of reunifying the chess world. This is a very impressive decision. It testifies to your remarkable sense of honour and is worthy of your true status of Classical World Champion.
Regardless of the final result of this match, you have earned the deepest respect of your fellow grandmasters and colleagues, as well as countless chess fans around the world. Thank you for being a model sportsman in a time and place where so many circumstances turned against you. I wish you the best and may the best man win on the board!
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
There are a number of versions of the letter of support for Kramnik. To see all of them and the list of who signed them, click here.
Georgios Makropoulos:
” I would like to inform you of the decision of the Appeals Committee and the efforts of the Organisers and FIDE undertaken in order to provide ideal conditions for both teams.
Before the match we had long negotiations with Messrs. Hensel and Danailov. We thought that we managed to provide best conditions. After the arrival of the participants, new requirements were tabled, which fulfilled to the satisfaction of both delegations.
Both sides have undertaken considerable efforts in order to exclude any possibility of using any external assistance to the players. I would like to say that FIDE is not sharing any fears regarding use of external assistance during the games, but our opinion here is not important – we should meet the players halfway, in order them to feel comfortably at the board and not to be afraid for fair play.
This was exactly the reason why the glass screen appeared on the stage following the request of Mr. Hensel. It is not included in the contract, but we satisfied the request of Mr. Hensel. It is possible that the other side felt hurt, but no decisions of FIDE could satisfy both teams in 100%.
When the match started, we have received a declaration from the team of Topalov with the request to get acquainted with the video recording from the restrooms. The Organisers provided all the materials, and based on these materials the team of Topalov produced an appeal, where they noted that Kramnik visits the toilet in his restroom with an unusual frequency.
They requested to close the toilets and restrooms and also provide the accredited journalists with the video recordings. At the yesterday’s meeting of the Appeals Committee we watched all the video recordings. Only the third game was recorded in full. There are recordings of one hour and a half from the first and second games and there is a blank of one hour and a half in the recording of the fourth game. We have found out that the team of Topalov exaggerated the number of Kramnik’s visits to the toilet.
However, the numbers are still unusually high. In the video recording which we got hold of, Kramnik visited the toilet 25 times. In the third game the number is 18. In the first two games, in one hour and a half – 11 or 12 times.
I would like to reiterate that we have no connection between the number of the visits to the toilet and possible use of some external help. We have requsted Mr. Hensel to comment on these numbers and received the explanation to the tune that Vladimir uses the toilet space for walking. According to the opinion of the Appeals Committee, this explanation is unsatisfactory, as Kramnik was staying each time 1 or 2 minutes in the toilet.
Once again I repeat, for us the most important thing is for the both players to feel protected from the use of the external help by their respective opponent. For the first time we are facing such strong suspicions from both sides. I think here there is some partial fault of the journalists who were actively speculating on this topic before the World Championship. Of course when you read on a regular basis about this, that it is so easy to cheat, you start to get worried.
We spoke to President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov before taking a decision regarding the appeal of Topalov’s team and the FIDE President himself proposed to close the toilets in the restrooms.
The other points in the appeal of Mr. Topalov were declined by us. It is resolved not to close the restrooms – they are equipped by the video cameras and are well watched by the Chief Arbiter. It was not in our authority to provide the journalists with video recording, as we thought that this is a violation of the player’s right for privacy.
Further to this, we received open letters from both sides. I would like to share my opinion with you. According to the contract, FIDE shall provide both players with a restroom and a toilet. It is obvious for us that the contract is not binding us to provide the toilet in the restroom, otherwise the sentence would read “a restroom with a toilet”. Therefore, the appeal of Mr. Hensel regarding this point of the contract are groundless.
I think this will be a terrible mistake if this match would remain in the sports history as the match stopped because of the toilets… It is bad for FIDE, bad for Kalmykia, bad for the Russian Chess Federation and its President Mr. Zhukov who made efforts to organize this great match and it is just terrible for chess. I hereby strongly request both players to continue the match.”
Thanks for the link, Susan,
Wow!, with the whole knowledgeable! chess world sending him such strong support, Kramnik will surely continue the match and sue Kirsan Makrapoulos at the conclusion.
Kramnik isn’t stupid.
I bet he would played even if they decided to tie him to a chair.
By abandoning the match he would
loose formally everything.
You were right before to say that Kramnik is not blameless. We should not forget that his refusal to play game 5 (under protest, if he so chose) led to his being forfeited.
I BELIEVE SUSAN DOESNT MIND MASTERS CHEATING IN CHESS …HOW WOULD THOSE GRAND MASTERS THAT SEND THEIR WELL WISHES TO KRAMNIK REACT IF THEY WHERE IN THIS SITUATION, WHERE YOUR OPPONENT SPENDS MOST OF HIS THINKING TIME IN THE TOILET AND THEY WHERE TWO GAMES DOWN .
let me teach you how to do it .
YOU DONT NEED THE PIECES ON THE BOARD ALL YOU NEED IS A BOARD. look at where the pieces are on the monitor ,then go into the toilet and analysis,if you dont understand come out again look at the monitors and go back into the toilet and if you still dont get it come out of the toilet look at the monitor again go back into the toilet and move the invisible chess pieces with your finger on your flat pocket board
One way or another,I’m dying to know what is Kramnik doing in his private toilet!
With this statement here,I have just put myself in a grave danger to be charterized as homosexual ,but what a heck…
Listen CAPSLOCK asshole. Kramnik didn’t spend most of his time in a toilet. That is a lie. Lie invented by Danailov and Topalov to throw the match into turmoil. You can even read it in the Makropoulos letter above, in which he admits that Kramnik didn’t visit the toilet even 20 times during any game. You have been corrected in the past on this lie, several times. Yet you still repeat it. You are an asshole of a human being with your purposeful lies.
I’d like to say that the letter from GM Lautier makes sense.
Also GM Polgar did a an excellent job covering the event so far and also in her open letter.
Kramnik indeed deserves support given the unfair conditions.
Chessbase.com is listing lots of GMs agreeing with Lautier’s point of view, shared by millions of fans.
Topalov revealed a side we didn’t know .
Also during this championship,
GM Susan Polgar blog is becoming a reference, a very popular and instructive web-site with analysis,comments,up-to-date coverage.
This is by far a better place to read and write than
Mig’s blog. How funny it would be to see Mig sign the open letter/petition
by saying Mig ( rating 1824).
Mig’s rating is available on this link.
http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12525629
Despite boasting a friendship with Kasparov, his effort on his blog is lagging behind Susan’s fine work.
Susan Polgar brings a GM understanding, a world champion experience, and U.S point of view of chess affaires.
Keep up the good work !
You don’t even need a board. These guys have no problem visualizing quite a bit, to say the least, in their heads.
A board, or even a board with pieces, is not the issue. A computer or receiver in the bathroom is the issue.
Susan, I don’t like the letter you signed but it’s much better than Lautier’s letter. His letter is unbelievable. Saying that one player deserves to win after 1/3 of the match is played (including some inspiring chess by Topalov, if it matters) is nothing but prejudice. Your letter corrected that last sentence, and it’s an important correction.