The World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov
will defend his title under the auspices of FIDE only

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