The origin of chaos

Statement by Kramnik (November 14, 2005)

World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik made the following statement to UEP and authorised its publication:

“The commitment of UEP and my readiness to play against Veselin Topalov were a further attempt to take the decisive step towards a final unification of the chess world. However, it has once again become obvious that currently the opposite side does not show any serious interest in realising this aim in a concerned and professional manner.

It is generally known that I have completely fulfilled my part of the obligations for the unification agreed in Prague. It is all the more surprising that FIDE has not made any contribution towards a unification of the chess world and, furthermore, obviously has never had any interest in an implementation of the Prague Agreement. This has been made perfectly clear by the non-organization of repeatedly announced – but never realized – matches between my predecessor Gary Kasparov and the former FIDE title holders Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdshanov, and again now.

Very soon after the contract was signed in Prague I entertained serious doubts that FIDE was supportive of unification because the agreement was not fulfilled, which now must be obvious to anyone. These considerations may serve as an explanation for my interviews and public stand on these procedures in the past.

I am disappointed that FIDE remains inactive, and in addition Veselin Topalov is turning down a serious proposal which could easily have led to a solution. Therefore the unification of the chess world will be postponed for an uncertain period of time.

In the current situation my main objective will be to continue working on staging Classical World Chess Championship events in order to defend my title, in accordance with the 120 year history and tradition of Classical World Championship Matches. In my opinion respect for chess history and pursuance of its inherent values are essential. I am absolutely convinced that chess enjoys the still existing deep respect within our society only because of its own history. This is linked especially to the personalities of the World Chess Champions who emerged from the great duels for the title of World Champion.”

Response by Silvio Danailov:

We regard Mr. Kramnik as a challenger, and nothing more.

In regard to the UEP press release, we would like shed clarity on several points:

We shall not accept the offer for a match against Mr. Kramnik due to several reasons:

1. We do not recognise Mr. Kramnik as a champion. The World Champion’s title belongs by law to FIDE and, after his refusal to participate in the official World Championship in San Luis, Mr. Kramnik automatically lost his right to be designated the World Champion. However, by the looks of it, he has decided to seize the title for the rest of his life. Let us remember that he’s only 7th in the World Ranking list, scoring quite mediocre results recently. At the same time, in addition to being the official World Champion, Veselin Topalov is Number 1 in the World Ranking List of 1 January 2006.

2. We proposed to UEP the match to be an official one under the auspices of FIDE. According to the new rules of FIDE, due to be published very soon, each grandmaster with Elo of over 2700 can officially invite the World Champion to a match for the title if he provides an appropriate prize fund and pays a 20% charge to FIDE as designated by law. Of course, our proposal to the organizer UEP was rejected.

3. We have never made any preliminary arrangements with UEP. Agreement exists only when there are signed papers; everything else is just words.

In conclusion, we would like to stress once again that the World Champion Veselin Topalov is ready to play the challenger Mr. Kramnik, as well as any other grandmaster with a rating of over 2700 in an official match for the title under the auspices of FIDE.

Silvio Danailov,
Manager of the World Champion Vesellin Topalov

Letter by Carsten Hensel:

…It is remarkable that Mr Danailov, in his statement of 16.11.2005, declares that he does not recognise any champion other than Mr Topalov. It is possible that the use of the title “GM Kramnik” in the statement of Mr Makropolous indicates a similar view on the part of FIDE. We would like to point out that in Prague FIDE recognised Vladimir Kramnik as the Classical Chess World Champion. This remains the current situation – also from a legal point of view. The same applies to Mr Topalov, who participated in the Dortmound Candidates Tournament in 2002 and signed a contract to play a match against Classical Chess World Champion Kramnik in case of a victory in this tournament. Even in May 2005 Topalov’s manager signed up Vladimir Kramnik as the Classical Chess World Champion to play in the Mtel Masters in Sofia.

Immediately after Topalov’s victory in San Luis Mr Danailov, when discussing the prospect of a match, referred to Vladimir Kramnik as the Classical Chess World Champion in an interview (quote: “He is, in spite of everything, the successor of the Classical Chess World Title. Kramnik defeated Kasparov and defended his title in the match against Leko”). Until a few days ago the status of Vladimir Kramnik was never cast into doubt by Mr Danailov, not even in the negotiations with UEP. It is quite unclear to me what reasons have led to this sudden change of opinion.

In the name of Vladimir Kramnik I would like to thank chess fans for the countless emails, Telephone calls and messages we received from all over the world.

Carsten Hensel
(Manager of Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)