Topalov in the new World Chess Championship cycle

In connection with setting-up the new system, the Presidential Board was determined to close matters related to the previous and recent WCCh cycles. Regarding one of the most critical issues in the world chess community, the Presidential Board received the delegation of the Bulgarian Chess Federation including Ms. Vessela Letcheva, Minister of Sport, Mr. S. Sergei, President of the Federation and Mr. S. Danailov, manager of GM Topalov.

After presenting its evaluation of the situation that former world champion GM Veselin Topalov was unable to participate in the ongoing WCCh cycle anymore and may lose such an opportunity for two years, the Bulgarian delegation accepted the proposal of the FIDE Presidential Board. In accordance with the decision, GM Topalov will have an eight-game Challenger Match against the winner of the 2007 World Cup in the year 2008 as part of the new WCCh cycle.

The winner of that Challenger Match can play against the winner of the 2008 Universal Event Promotion match (UEP) in 2009 for the World Chess Championship title (as can be seen in the diagram). The minimum prize fund for the Challenger Match is set at 150 000 USD. The Bulgarian Chess Federation has expressed its wish to organize the Challenger Match.

According to the regulations if GM Kramnik wins the WCCh tournament in Mexico City 2007, a match between GM Kramnik and GM Topalov, the current and the previous world champions, will take place in 2008. In that case, the winner of the Kramnik-Topalov match will play against the winner of the 2007 World Cup.

Peter Rajcsanyi
PR and Marketing Director

Source: www.chessdom.com

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