Norway Chess blasts Karjakin’s pull-out
Nina Berglund
Organizers of the major Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger later this month are furious with Magnus Carlsen’s challenger Sergey Karjakin and the Russian apparatus around him after it was announced that Karjakin won’t be participating after all. They’re accusing Karjakin of contract violation and called his withdrawal “disrespectful” to the game itself.
Karjakin reportedly feels he needs the time he was expected to spend at the tournament in Norway to instead prepare himself for meeting Norwegian champ Carlsen at the Chess World Champions in November.
“Karjakin has a signed contract with us and it does not state that he can withdraw from the tournament if he qualifies for the World Championship in November,” fumed Jøran Aulin-Jansson, a board member of Norway Chess, in a press release issued after Karjakin announced on Wednesday that he was dropping out.
Aulin-Jansson went on to call Karjakin’s decision to withdraw “disrespectful, to us as the organizers of the event as well as the other players in the tournament, not to mention the entire chess world that (was) looking forward to the dress rehearsal for the World Championship match between Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen.”
Karjakin’s withdrawal came in a letter from from the Russian Chess Federation and not from Karjakin himself. “That’s probably because they’re playing a central role in Karjakin’s preparations against the (championship) match with Carlsen,” Kjell Madland, Norway Chess “general,” told newspaper VG. He described the letter as “short.”
‘Can’t just run away’
The withdrawal is likely to indeed be a major disappointment to chess fans who were anxious to get a sneak preview of the much-hyped face-off between Karjakin and Carlsen in New York later this year. Karjakin only recently qualified to be Carlsen’s rival for the World Champion title, and Norway Chess is the first tournament where they both were due to take part. It’s also the only tournament where the two would meet before the World Championship action gets underway.
Full article here.