Carlsen caught up in chess politics
August 29, 2014
A political drama continued to swirl around Norway’s international chess star, Magnus Carlsen, as he tried to concentrate at a tournament in Missouri. Some say the conflict over whether he’ll play at a new world championship match in Russia this fall threatens to once again split the international world of chess into eastern and western camps, just as Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine also threatens to throw the world back into a Cold War.
The match could then be played between the man Carlsen defeated in Chennai last year, Vishy Anand, and Russian reserve player, Sergei Karyakin, who’s portrayed himself as a big supporter of controversial Russian President Vladimir Putin. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, re-elected at a noisy meeting at the Chess Olympiad in Norway earlier this month, also is said to have close ties to Putin.Carlsen has continued to resist pressure from the Russian leadership of the international chess federation (FIDE) to defend his world championship title in Sochi in November. He had still not signed a contract to play in Sochi as of Friday afternoon, prompting the federation (FIDE) to threaten to strip him of his world championship title if he doesn’t sign by their deadline and show up.
‘Squeezing out the champ’
The head of Norway’s chess federation, Jøran Aulin-Jansson, suspects the top chess officials have their own agenda and are trying to squeeze Carlsen out of the world championship in favour of the Russian reserve. “For me it almost seems that they don’t want Magnus to show up,” Aulin-Jansson told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “It’s quite extraordinary that they’re pushing such a rigid time frame now, while they’ve been quite weak in respecting deadlines in other situations.”
The Russian women’s team, for example, failed to register for the recent Chess Olympiad in Tromsø by the deadline, risking disqualification. The Russians and FIDE objected strenuously to a disqualification and even threatened to cancel the Chess Olympiad unless the Russian women and several other teams were excused for their late registration. Olympiad organizers ultimately relented, allowing the late sign-ups to appease the Russians and FIDE, yet now the FIDE is pushing deadlines hard against Carlsen for a rematch championship tournament that’s been packed into an already hectic autumn season and is to be held in a country that’s been stirring up great tension with much of the democratic western world.
Carlsen attended the Winter Olympics in Sochi as a spectator, but that was before Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in an annexation described as illegal by the EU and NATO, and before Russia started being accused of supporting Ukrainian separatists. This week Russia was accused of invading Ukraine.
Full article here.
Why are these clowns from Norway behaving like kids? The timeline for WCC2014 was decided last year. The venue and prize fund has been disclosed a few months back. Why the fuss now? Why is it unsafe/immoral to play in Russia? Don`t mix Chess and Politics. Magnus is definitely not in good shape; it seems he fears Anand who in current form will send him to the cleaners.
Why are these clowns from Norway behaving like kids? The timeline for WCC2014 was decided last year. The venue and prize fund has been disclosed a few months back. Why the fuss now? Why is it unsafe/immoral to play in Russia? Don`t mix Chess and Politics. For definite, Magnus is not in good shape; it seems he fears Anand who in his current form will send Magnus to the cleaners.
The game is bigger than any individual. In American Football, Soccer, Tennis, Track and Field, or any other game (sans boxing), if you don’t show up, you lose.
Carlsen probably feels he is not in top form based on his recent losses… which is probably the real reason why he wants a postponement.
Why does he have to defend every year? Isn’t it traditionally every other year or even less frequently?
I agree with the comment above. He doesn’t have to defend it in that short a time span.