From a Fresh Start to a New Dawn
By GM Yasser Seirawan
To state that the last three months of my life have been
the most productive and exhausting that Ive ever experienced would be a
gross understatement. I could never have expected to be so deeply involved in
any single project, and especially one that would try to unify the chess world.
Hundreds of phone calls all over the world and well over one thousand e-mails
combined with multiple meetings all worked to produce unity in the chess world.
My work was interesting, exhilarating, challenging and fun, but there was also
annoyance, frustration, anger and despair. On the night of May 5th,
2002, the eve of the chess peace conference in Prague, I could not sleep, as I
felt certain that agreement would not be reached. What was the background to
the Fresh Start proposal? How did it all evolve? And how was a
final agreement achieved? I invite you to join me in a personal odyssey that
was simply amazing.
Editors of chess magazines and websites may reproduce my
account in full or in part, subject to giving a credit to the Chess Café
website.
Background
It is no secret that for a very long time professional chess
has been in an alarming state of decline. The game may be growing by leaps and
bounds on the Internet and in schools, but professional chess has been
suffering mightily. That decline stems from the events in 1993 that caused a
split in the chess world: the decision by the recognized World Champion Garry
Kasparov and his Challenger Nigel Short to break from FIDE, the recognized
International Chess Federation, and to play their match outside of FIDEs
auspices. FIDE responded by staging its world championship match between
Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman, the two players whom Nigel Short had eliminated
in order to become the Challenger. Having defeated Short, Kasparov played a
match against Viswanathan Anand in 1995 under the auspices of a newly founded
organization, the Professional Chess Association (PCA). The following year FIDE
staged its championship match between its Champion, Anatoly Karpov, and his
Challenger, Gata Kamsky; Karpov successfully defended the title that he had won
against Timman. At the 1995 FIDE Congress, the General Assembly elected a new
President, the relatively unknown Kirsan Iljumzhinov, who ran on a platform
undertaking to unite the chess world. He seemed to be an extremely promising
choice, enjoying good relations with the recognized Champions, Karpov and
Kasparov; better still, he had the deep pockets necessary to induce Kasparov to
return to the fold.
In 1997, Iljumzhinov introduced his novel plan of condensing
what had been a lengthy three-year or, at times, two-year long world
championship cycle into a single four-week event. Approximately one hundred
players from zonal and national championship events would join a number of
seeded rated players and enter an elimination match competition boasting a five
million dollar prize fund! To entice Kasparov and Karpov to accept the new
format, both players were invited to join at the semi-final stage. Other
players would also enter the tournament at various stages, depending upon their
ratings. Certain players would have a bye for the first round or two of matches
and receive a seeding into the second or third round. It was a grand design
that was enthusiastically endorsed by the vast majority of players, including
me.
There were a few hiccups and one major one: Kasparov
didnt endorse the new format and he refused to participate.
Kasparovs position was a principled one: the elimination matches in the
new format were far too short and were unworthy for deciding the worlds
strongest player and the world championship title. In Kasparovs view,
such a format would lead to a completely random Champion.
We mustnt forget that World Chess Champion
has traditionally been an extremely prestigious title with long historical
roots practically unrivaled in any professional sport. Since 1886, deciding the
title of World Chess Champion had generally been achieved through lengthy
championship matches producing some of the most important chess games ever
played. Kasparov strongly objected to a format in which a match of merely two,
four or six games would decide a Champion. In his view, such a format cheapened
the title and would make a mockery of the great chess traditions.
Kasparovs decision not to participate had another decidedly negative
effect on the launch of a new championship format: the defending Champion,
Anatoly Karpov, would no longer be seeded into the semi-final; now he would
become a direct participant in the final match! This decision met with almost
universal derision. The chorus of angst became even louder when an exhausted
qualifier, Viswanathan Anand, narrowly lost the final match in a Rapid Chess
tiebreaker.
I would like to make a point here about seeding the
defending Champion into the championship final match. Historically, this is
precisely the tradition of the chess championship. The defending Champion
comfortably awaited the emergence of a Challenger. Furthermore, the Champion
also received draw-odds in the championship match; also, on some
occasions if he lost he was entitled to an early rematch. These traditional
advantages have been baked into the cake, so to speak. It would be hard to
imagine the outrage had Karpov also received draw-odds in his January 1998
final match with Anand. Yet stop and think about the situation for a moment; if
Karpov had received such an advantage, this would only have been a
confirmation of an advantage traditionally granted to the defending Champion.
This critical point of draw-odds was to play a vital role in 2002, in the
events leading up to Prague.
FIDEs new world championship format evolved into the
contest that took place in December 2001 in Moscow and culminated in teenage
sensation Ruslan Ponomariov becoming the new FIDE World Champion in January
2002. FIDEs format has now become a one hundred and twenty eight player
knockout featuring several rounds of two-game matches with all players
beginning in round one. In FIDEs view, such a competition is far more
sporting, with no players having the advantage of being seeded. This is
undoubtedly true, but in the process the prestige of the title of World Chess
Champion has been severely damaged. No player has successfully won two of these
competitions. FIDE Champions abound. If mathematical statistics are to be
believed, the favorite will rarely win such a competition, because of the
random nature of the matches. After my original participation in the 1997/98
FIDE championship, I changed my view and now agree with Kasparov that the FIDE
format of short match play is fundamentally flawed for deciding who is
the worlds very best classical chess player. On two occasions, I
have declined to participate in FIDEs championship cycle because of my
disagreement with the format.
While FIDE was evolving its championship format, Kasparov
was having difficulties of his own. The PCA organization that he had created
for his matches against Short in 1993 and against Anand in 1995 had floundered
and collapsed. By the late 1990s Kasparov had given up trying to stage a grand
inclusive world championship cycle open to the rank and file grandmasters.
Instead, he was content to accept the challenge of his strongest rivals based
solely upon rankings on the FIDE rating list. In 1998, Viswanathan Anand and
Vladimir Kramnik, the worlds two highest rated players after Kasparov,
were invited to play a match to determine a Challenger for Kasparov. Anand
declined his invitation and was replaced by Alexey Shirov. Shirov defeated
Kramnik and expected a million dollar Kasparov v Shirov match to be organized.
When a bid for a modest $600,000 prize fund came from California, Shirov
declined, fully expecting that a better prize fund would be forthcoming. It did
not come, and Shirov never played Kasparov for his title. This tragic result
has caused a bitter dispute to develop between Kasparov and Shirov.
In 2000, Anand, then the worlds second highest rated
player, was again invited to play a world championship match directly with
Kasparov. When this plan collapsed, Kramnik, the third highest rated player,
was invited to play Kasparov, despite having lost a qualifying match (against
Shirov). By now, though, Shirov had slipped significantly down the rating list.
A new company, Brain Games Network (BGN) headed by GM Raymond Keene, organized
a match in London between Kasparov and Kramnik. As World Champion, Kasparov
held draw-odds but voluntarily relinquished the right to a return match. In an
upset, Kramnik defeated Kasparov and became the 14th world champion
in the long line of traditional world champions that extend back to Wilhelm
Steinitz.
As part of the BGN 2000 contract, both Kasparov and Kramnik
had committed themselves to accepting a candidates qualifier event to
determine a Challenger for the winner in the next cycle. I was not privy to
these negotiations or how the BGN candidates qualification system
evolved. I am, however, aware of the results: BGN had a limited period to set
up its qualifier for the second cycle, the company delayed the announcement of
its qualifier, and the period expired. Kasparov was no longer contractually
obliged to participate in the BGN qualifier. The lengthy planning that must, we
assume, have gone into the BGN qualifier produced a startling format. The
traditional Dortmund tournament decided to host the BGN qualifier, and the
event would feature eight players split into two groups of four players, with
each group playing a double round robin. The top two finishers in each group
would play four-game elimination matches based on FIDEs own elimination
format! Just as with FIDEs format, the Dortmund system of short matches
was fundamentally flawed. Kasparov was incensed and reacted angrily. He would
certainly not play in Dortmund and would thus be out of the cycle to determine
who would challenge Kramnik.
I too was shocked by the Dortmund format. I could not
understand how chess grandmaster Keene, with his great experience and intimate
knowledge of world championship cycles, could have proposed such a silly
format. The only possible explanation was financial. The Dortmund event would
be economical, quickly producing a Challenger before moving on to a big money
world championship match final. I was disappointed that the Dortmund event
didnt feature a qualifying stage for rank and file grandmasters such as
myself. Unhappily for me, there would be no opportunity to compete in
Kramniks cycle and having voluntarily withdrawn from FIDEs cycle, I
had no chance to practice my craft.
Eligibility for the Dortmund/BGN tournament seemed simple:
the highest-rated players were invited. But here the troubles began. Kasparov
and Anand, the worlds top and third ranked players respectively, declined
their invitations to Dortmund. Originally, the worlds number nine ranked
player, Vassily Ivanchuk, accepted an invitation, only to be reminded by FIDE
Executives that as a finalist in the 2002 FIDE championship he would be in
violation of the contract, which prohibited the final and semi-final players
from competing in rival world championships. Ivanchuk withdrew from the
Dortmund qualifier. Logic dictates that the Dortmund organizers would continue
moving down the ranking list and invite a replacement for Ivanchuk. Instead,
they decided to invite a wild-card player and tapped German Champion
Christopher Lutz. While Im sure this was a popular decision among German
players, the organizing committee and local sponsors, it is also quite
shocking. Seeded into a Candidates field of eight top players competing for the
highest title is an extraordinary gift for a player ranked only 40th
on the rating list.
I sum up now the situation in early 2002. Vladimir Kramnik,
as the 14th World Champion in a historic line of title-holders
extending back to Steinitz, supported the Dortmund Candidates tournament
for producing a Challenger; Garry Kasparov, the worlds top-ranked player,
refused to participate in either Kramniks cycle or in FIDEs
championship. That FIDE championship had just been won by Ponomariov. FIDE
appeared happy to continue its championship and had accelerated the time
controls for official FIDE events. Therefore, at least three claims existed as
to who was the worlds very best player, and the divisions among the
claimants were as deep as the seas.
Chaos
Chaos has been the only word to describe the situation in
professional chess. Since 1993 the simplest way of starting a discussion in any
chess club has been simply to ask, Who is the World Champion? The
impact of this question has had a profoundly negative impact upon sponsors
worldwide. Consider, for example, the great Linares 2002 tournament. One has to
pity the poor organizers, who made an outstanding effort. Having secured what
they felt was a star-studded field, they were surprised when Ruslan Ponomariov,
who had accepted his invitation before winning the FIDE world championship,
explained that with his new role he had inherited new responsibilities and he
had to withdraw. After various undignified threats had been made, the Linares
organizers made some compromises, including recognition of the new World
Champion, and finally Ponomariov agreed to participate. It is no secret that
any World Champion commands an important marketing value and receives a hefty
fee for participating in tournaments and exhibitions. With two recognized world
champions, Ponomariov and Kramnik, plus Kasparov as the worlds most
recognized and top-ranked player, organizers have to satisfy the demands of
three players, treating each of them as Champion. Conflicts, especially on
financial conditions, are inevitable.
Even worse, FIDE has taken a very confrontational approach
with major chess organizers stating that, Those organizers who are not
with us are against us and We are at war. Which organizers or
sponsors in their right mind would want to host an event that will be savaged
by conflicting claims? Think about the decision of the poor Dortmund
organizers. They want to host a magnificent tournament of great chess stars.
Would the Dortmund organizers be a casualty of war? Would FIDE sue them for
making claims about staging a world championship cycle? Who would willingly
accept such aggravation or even the possibility of it? Welcome to the
world of professional chess!
As Kramnik laconically explained in an interview on pages
44-45 of New In Chess magazine 2002 #1, when describing the 2001 Moscow
FIDE championship clashing with his own exhibition match against Kasparov:
I didnt have any special feelings about the clash with the FIDE
tournament. Some time ago I reread an interview with Vishy (Anand) after he
became FIDE world champion last year, and I understood what he meant when he
more or less said that the chess world has been in such disorder for so long
already that he has the feeling that everybody is happy with the situation and
no one wants to do anything about it. But of course it looks a bit nonsensical
to have two such big events at the same time in the same city. Unfortunately
for the chess world this is quite normal. That is very scary. It is normal to
have scandals and it is normal that FIDE tries to destroy our event. Its
so normal that I didnt have any strong emotions about it. But of course
it means that there is something wrong in the chess world. If there is a way
out I dont know, but at least I am trying to contribute something
positive.
Such a view is deeply disheartening. In truth the average
chess fan and the top players are very upset about the situation in chess but
how to resolve the situation?
Fresh Start, A Hope and a Prayer
For a long while I had been thinking deeply about how to
resolve the problems in the professional chess world. At Wijk Aan Zee in 2001,
I developed a unity plan and began discussing it with a number of colleagues. I
spoke briefly with Kramnik, respecting his position as the new Classical World
Champion; I considered him as the key person and the one most capable of
changing the situation and charting a new course for professional chess. In
March 2001, we exchanged e-mails about a new cycle. At that time, Vladimir was
deeply involved in the discussions for launching his new cycle and
was necessarily busy, so our exchanges didnt reach the necessary
conclusions. In Prague, October 2001 during the Eurotel event where Kasparov
faced the Czech National Team, I spoke with Garry about unification and asked
him if he had a plan. He responded that he wasnt a magician and
couldnt pull a rabbit out of his hat! Unfortunately, he didnt pose
the same question to me, and when the topic at dinner changed I couldnt
reveal to him what I had in mind. I had to satisfy myself by sharing my
Fresh Start plan with GM Genna Sosonko, who was a guest at the
event. He was quite thoughtful but was understandably skeptical. He encouraged
me to launch my plan and wished me his very best but also warned me that I was
sure to raise the ire of one side or another. It wasnt the last time that
I would be the butt of jokes as being a dead peace pigeon. I didnt mind.
During the January 2002 US Championships in Seattle, I spoke
to some of my colleagues about my plan and got a varied set of responses,
ranging from hopeless to great! The overall sentiment,
though, seemed to be, Just do it! After all, what would be lost? If
the chess world didnt unify in dramatic fashion, and quickly, it would
continue its downward spiral, with an increasing exodus from the game by
talented players and sponsors.
At the 2002 Wijk Aan Zee tournament, I had a very lengthy
meeting with Carsten Hensel, Kramniks representative and consultant to
the Dortmund tournament. Carsten was enthusiastic about a number of ideas that
I presented to him but explained that Kramnik was legally bound by his
contract with BGN and that he had to face the Dortmund winner in a championship
match. He advised me to await the outcome of that cycle before launching my
plan. During the Wijk Aan Zee tournament, my wife Yvette and I hosted a dinner
at our Amsterdam apartment for a few friends, including IM Gert Ligterink.
Ive known Gert for almost 15 years and have come to respect his opinions
very much. He is a superb writer, and his weekly column in the
Volkskrant newspaper is a Dutch favorite. I bent his ear, and the ears
of our other guests for the evening, and he was unequivocal in his support. To
paraphrase, Great plan, Yasser. If anyone can do it, you can. Of course,
you have no chance. Gotta love a challenge.
I decided not to take Carstens advice, and following
the conclusion of the Wijk Aan Zee event I wrote my A Fresh Start
article (PUT URL LINK). It was a lengthy, detailed proposal, and needed to be
drafted with extreme care and absolute clarity. A key part of the plan was the
creation of the Chess Commissioners Office and I had three persons in
mind: Erik Anderson from Seattle, representing the United States, Dato Tan Chin
Nam of Kuala Lumpur, representing Asia, and Bessel Kok of Prague, representing
Europe. In due course I approached them individually and they all agreed that
their names could be mentioned and that they would serve as Commissioners
should unity be achieved. I was very grateful to them for giving me much
detailed feedback on the draft plan.
On February 22nd Yvette and I joined GM Jan
Timman and Bessel Kok for dinner in Amsterdam. The Fresh Start, as
I had decided to call it, was very much the topic of conversation. Jan was very
thoughtful about the proposal and pronounced it good. We spent the whole night
at GM Hein Donners favorite hangout, the De Kring Club, discussing the
initiative. Bessel agreed to my proposed role for him as a Chess Commissioner
and on February 26th A Fresh Start was published on the
Chess Café website. I also prepared a slightly longer version for the
Club Kasparov website, as I was simultaneously responding to an article by
Kasparov. I sent a third version of my article, an executive summary proposal,
to FIDEs headquarters and to all the Federations in my e-mail address
list, as well as various other interested parties. Then I waited.
It was the shortest wait of my life. Within 24 hours I had
received 196 responses, a funny number as it was exactly the same number of
players that I had recommended for inclusion in the Swiss system world
qualification tournament that would launch the proposed cycle. Yvette and I
joked that I had received an e-mail for each participant.
At this moment, I have to interrupt my narrative to explain
an important point. Although I dont know the exact date when it happened,
I became aware that BGN had sold its chess assets, and specifically its
contract with World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, to Einstein TV, a UK-based
multi-media content company that broadcasts over a pan-European cable system
and by satellite. I had never heard of Einstein TV and was anxious to learn
about it. Once more, I didnt have to wait long. On March 1st,
Vladimir Kramnik had a press conference in London, introducing Einstein
TVs CEO Steve Timmins to the chess world. We had a new partner in
unifying the chess world. Keene was out.
Despite what I considered perfect timing for launching
A Fresh Start, some chess journalists were far less enthusiastic,
and not only about the timing. My article appeared during the 2002 Linares
event, and the wordsmiths were busy covering the tournament. I had asked John
Henderson, writer for The Scotsman newspaper and The Week In Chess
(TWIC) reports, to provide a copy of A Fresh Start to Ruslan
Ponomariov. John told me of Ruslans reaction, Its very
long. Hmm. That was a bit deflating but hey, if unity in the chess world
was a simple problem, I could write a simple answer.
I was also deeply anxious for a reaction from Kasparov and
asked Miguel Greengard, also known as Mig, to tell me what Garry thought of
A Fresh Start. Mig wasnt as forthcoming as hoped:
Garrys focusing on the tournament but he didnt toss your
proposal away. A particularly funny moment came courtesy of Mark
Crowther, the editor of TWIC website. While other websites had published
A Fresh Start quickly, TWIC had not. When I asked Mark why, he
explained that my proposal had a zero chance. Oh great, I thought,
an editor with attitude!
In late February a well-known writer in the UK commented
thus on A Fresh Start: I don't think there is a cats
chance in hell of it coming to pass.
But things continued to move forward. On March
5th, Bessel Kok, on behalf of the proposed Chess Commissioners,
issued a press release inviting the parties to Prague to hold a meeting on how
to unify the chess world. This was a catalyst for really heating things up.
Folks turned serious and began thinking about a peace conference for the first
time in many a long year.
Party Positions
Ive given the background history on how the chess
world landed up in its current situation, but it would also be helpful to
understand fully the position of each of the parties. That will underscore the
uphill battle that was being faced.
FIDEs public position was clear: we are the official
international federation composed of national federations, recognized by the
International Olympic Committee and other sporting bodies. We have our
championships, which are fair and sporting; we have our Champions; any other
claims are illegitimate and are none of our concern. We have no reason to
compromise; we are happy continuing our work on behalf of chess. Privately,
though, FIDE officials were most anxious to end the divisions in chess. Without
the participation of the very best players, Kasparov and Kramnik, in the FIDE
cycles, sponsors had not stepped up to the plate to help Kirsan Iljumzhinov
support the FIDE championship.
Kramniks position was that he was contractually
committed to defending his title against the winner of the Dortmund tournament.
He would welcome a plan to achieve unity, provided that such a plan respected
his rights as the Classical Chess World Champion and all the attendant
advantages that such status offered.
Kasparovs position was that he was the worlds
highest ranked player, had won the past ten consecutive Classical Chess
tournaments in which he had competed and had therefore more than earned the
right to a direct rematch with Kramnik, whom he considered the only
World Champion. Furthermore, Kasparov considered that any world
championship that did not include him was hollow. Recently, Kasparov has
admitted (at his website) that the break-away for the 1993 London match with
Short was
the biggest blunder of my life. Kasparov was
anxious to repair the fissures in the chess world but couldnt see how it
could be done.
How to reconcile such reasonable yet entirely incompatible
positions? The answer was simple: firstly, to get all the parties actually to
think about the possibility of chess unity and to get them all
together for a meeting. I have a great belief in the magic of meetings.
When folks begin to talk and positions are laid out, we all instinctively reach
out for consensus and compromise. We needed to have a very good meeting indeed!
E-Mail Overload & Plenty of Support
Arguably the most rewarding part of this whole unity project
was the enormous outpouring of e-mail messages that I received. A Fresh
Start had struck a very sympathetic cord with the chess public and their
response was overwhelming. I received well over 1,000 e-mails from grandmaster
colleagues, club players, federation Presidents and chess fans. A clear pattern
emerged in many of them: a warm welcome for my proposal, followed by a
prediction of which party would make a deal impossible. Those suggestions were
wonderfully incompatible. There was no consensus on who, if anyone, had the
most to gain from my proposal, which I saw as a very positive sign in favor of
the neutrality of A Fresh Start. Sometimes I would receive a
message saying that Party X came out best, but shortly afterwards messages
would come claiming that Parties Y or Z would derive the most benefit. Then
again, an e-mail would tell me that Party X would never agree to the
Fresh Start; not long afterwards I would get messages saying that
Parties Y or Z would be the stumbling block. With failure all but assured in
many peoples eyes, the blame game was a close race, with Kasparov
garnering the largest number of votes.
A common remark, even among so-called experts, was that
although my proposals were fair the protagonists egos would always make
an agreement impossible. The pundits would prove to be very wrong, but,
overall, the welcome extended to A Fresh Start was overwhelmingly
positive. Nearly everyone realized that trying to bring all the various parties
together was a worthwhile goal. An isolated exception was, quite expectedly, a
rabidly anti-FIDE writer/propagandist in the US, who wrote a particularly silly
article aimed at torpedoing the chances of A Fresh Start. His
attempt had zero impact.
One of the most interesting exchanges I had was with the
statistician Jeff Sonas. He asked if I would be interested in a statistical
analysis of world championship cycles. I certainly was and encouraged him in
his work. He published a remarkable article analyzing over 13,000 possible
formats. Not surprisingly, his analysis showed that the FIDE championship
format was one of the poorest ways of running a cycle. I was flattered when his
analysis showed that the cycle proposed in A Fresh Start was one of
the very best! I encourage all chess fans to read his article:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=260
The Fresh Start proposals had several
motivations: to present a unity plan that was inclusive yet fair to
everyone; to propose a new office of Chess Commissioners to insure the success
of the cycle and to chart a clear path for future cycles. The first
cycle would be a one-off circumstance, with things settling down for the second
and third cycles. Finally, with unity achieved it would open up the possibility
of two other lines of world championships, Rapid and Blitz chess.
Fresh Start: Quick Death
Following the press release issued by Bessel Kok in early
March, Vladimir Kramnik telephoned Bessel to explain his worries about the
proposed meeting in Prague. The Eurotel Trophy tournament invitation had
coupled with it an opportunity to participate in a Players Workshop to
discuss such items as the future of chess and the effect of the Internet.
Participation in the Workshop was entirely voluntary. Kramnik was concerned
that such a Workshop was being taken over by a discussion regarding chess
unity. Kramnik explained to Bessel that he was bound by contractual obligations
to Einstein TV and that he couldnt accept a situation, which might lead
to a violation of the terms of his contract. In short, Kramnik could not
participate in such a Workshop. In turn, Bessel worried that the Eurotel
sponsors would not be happy if a major meeting on chess unity upstaged a
fantastic tournament. On March 10th I spoke with Bessel, and he
explained why he felt it was necessary to cancel the meeting that he had
proposed a week earlier. There would be no peace conference. I glumly e-mailed
the proposed Chess Commissioners and informed them that the meeting had been
canceled and I released them from their commitment to serve. Without a meeting
there would be no unity agreement.
Einstein TV CEO, Steve Timmins to the Rescue
Once more, chess caught a very lucky break, in the new
figure of Steve Timmins, the CEO of Einstein TV. Following his March
1st press conference I had contacted Steve, and after a polite
exchange of messages he surprised me by agreeing to meet in Seattle as his
company was conducting business with Real Networks, whose headquarters are a
few blocks from my condominium. In the meantime, I flew from Amsterdam to
Seattle and onwards to Palm Springs for the underwriters retreat of
Americas Foundation For Chess (AFFC), formerly known as the Seattle Chess
Foundation. Sun and fun, interspersed with discussions on how to bring chess
forward in America, were the order of the day, for that brief time. I was
grateful that my colleagues Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen and Anna Hahn
were able to join the retreat.
My meeting with Steve Timmins was scheduled for March
15th and after realizing that he was in town visiting Real Networks
I also arranged a luncheon on March 16th with, in addition, Larry
Jacobson, the Chief Operating Officer for Real Networks. Larry enjoys chess and
has helped support the AFFC. I was grateful that he was able to change his
schedule on such short notice.
On March 15th, Steve Timmins, his colleague and I
had dinner at the Kitchen Palace, my favorite Seattle restaurant. Steve turned
out to be a wonderful chap and, fortunately for me, a great listener. Poor
Steve had to withstand quite a data download and I spoke for hours. Steve was
very complementary of my efforts and urged me to continue despite having just
had the unity meeting canceled. He promised to work with Kramnik to support a
unity effort. Because Steve didnt know too much about the chess world, I
urged him to hire Malcolm Pein as an advisor in the negotiations ahead. He
accepted my advice, and Malcolm proved to be an invaluable helper for Steve in
the ensuing process.
Completely reinvigorated by Steves support, I
redoubled my efforts and felt the time was ripe to contact Garry Kasparov.
Would he prove right the armchair defeatists and block a unity effort?
The Boss: Garry Kasparov
There is no question that for the past 20 years Garry
Kasparov has been the most dominant chess player in the world. His achievements
over the board have been simply staggering. He has earned the moniker The
Boss for his extraordinary achievements. He has also been the lightning
rod for controversy. Garry has a volatile personality combined with very
strongly held beliefs in doing what he perceives as in the best interests of
chess. Once he is certain that he has charted the right course, wild horses
cant stop him from his commitment. As Mig explained in a recent article
on Kasparov Chess Online, Garry has a binary view: youre a supporter or
youre not. Negative or positive, Garry doesnt tolerate
fence-sitters. He doesnt easily agree to compromises.
My history with Garry is a long one. We first met in the
1980 Olympiad in Malta. Our personalities mesh well, and we have shared a lot
of good times together. Weve experienced a deep friendship, and at times
Ive felt a kinship with Garry, to the depths of brotherhood. On the other
hand, weve had our share of conflicts, and they have been especially hard
ones. I too am quite headstrong and when Im sure Im right, well, I
dont compromise easily either.
Garry took the first step, and it was a courageous one. He
made a public statement on his website that supported A Fresh
Start, inviting discussions for achieving chess unity. I felt very proud
of him.
We were soon having telephone conversations and e-mail
messages with one another. Garry was very open and honest in our exchanges, and
we quickly established strong common ground. Garry was happy with the
Fresh Start format for the first, second and third cycles. He
wasnt particularly pleased about the draw-odds that he would have to
concede in the semi-final match for the first cycle but in the greater
interests of chess unity he was prepared to compromise.
Garry and I found ourselves in deep discussions about the
time controls (he had a very intriguing idea for handling time trouble in the
third time controls), staging the cycles, the responsibilities of the
Commissioners, Grandmaster input, commercialization and so on. Garry felt that
any decisions such as time controls, length of matches, schedules of play, a
world qualification format and the utilization of the rating lists to seed
players needed proper vetting by a Grandmaster Steering Committee. Garrys
primary interest was in creating the proper structure post agreement
for the commercialization of chess. We agreed that for chess to have a
future it must stand on its own feet and not rely solely upon patrons of
the game. On the key issue of the first cycle, we had reached agreement: the
winner of the Dortmund tournament would enjoy a seeded place into the
quarter-final matches, joining three seeded players (Kramnik, Ponomariov and
Kasparov). A world qualifier would determine the other four places for the
quarter-final matches. Kasparov wasnt certain that a Swiss tournament was
the right format for this qualifier, but he didnt have an alternative
suggestion. This decision would be left to the Grandmaster Steering Committee.
By the time of my birthday party, on March 24th, Garry was fully on
board with the Fresh Start. We had exhausted his concerns and
things were moving swimmingly.
Einstein TV & Vladimir Kramnik
What was extremely helpful to me in winning Garrys
trust was that I was having regular communications with Kramniks
representative, Carsten Hensel, and the Einstein TV CEO Steve Timmins. Steve
had accepted Malcolm Pein as a chess advisor and our exchanges were also open
and honest ones. Folks were prepared to make compromises. Our next step was to
arrange a meeting between Carsten, Steve, Malcolm and me. Strangely enough, the
calendar was rather crowded, Easter was upon us and we all had family
obligations. April 5th would feature a press conference launching
the Dortmund Candidates tournament. We needed to meet soon. It turned out
that the only available date that suited everyones schedule was April
10th and we prepared a meeting at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
Negotiations with Kramniks side werent so easy;
his agent Carsten Hensel represented him, while Einstein TV held a contract to
stage his matches. Thus, it would be necessary to confirm with both Steve and
Carsten that we were on common ground and forge ahead. The problem was that
both Steve and Carsten are incredibly busy persons. At any moment it seemed
that Steve might be jetting around the world. Furthermore, Steve had come to
rely upon Malcolm for his input, and Malcolm in a single month would be in Rio
de Janeiro, London and South Africa! Coordinating communications could best be
done through e-mails and here Carsten was at a decided disadvantage, as he is a
native German speaker and e-mails were conducted in English only. Points would
have to be clarified, and the need for a joint meeting was obviously vital.
But, by the time of my birthday Steve had indicated his
willingness, subject to legal review of the existing contracts, to accept that
the Dortmund winner would be seeded into the Candidates matches, and to
run a new all-encompassing cycle as prescribed by the Fresh Start
proposals.
With such headway made, it was now time to contact FIDE and
gauge its position.
FIDE
Up to this point I had sent the FIDE Secretariat (Emmanuel
Omuku) my Fresh Start proposals, as well as a number of e-mails to
keep him informed of events. In Prague, Emmanuel would reveal that he had been
holding his breath. He was understandably skeptical that the players could
reach an agreement, but hoped for a positive outcome with FIDE receiving a firm
proposal from the players. FIDE had been disheartened by the news that the
Prague meeting had been called off, but they were also pleased when I confirmed
to him that I was still continuing my efforts.
Back to my birthday party, in Amsterdam. GM Jan Timman
joined the festivities, and I informed him that Garry had agreed to A
Fresh Start, that Steve had shown a willingness to include the Dortmund
winner as part of a greater cycle and that all the proposed Commissioners were
fully on board with such a compromise. I needed Jans help in two
directions. First, we had to convince Bessel that a peace conference in Prague
was in everyones best interests, and secondly, as a member of FIDEs
Player Council, Jan had to open a line of communication with Emmanuel to
ascertain FIDEs position. Jan was extremely helpful in performing these
tasks, and I would like to thank him most warmly for his positive, upbeat
attitude. At times when I felt low, he was always good for a quick pick-me-up.
Still, the issue of how to approach FIDE vexed me greatly. I
had communicated with USCF President John McCrary, and he and the USCF Policy
Board had taken a very strong supportive stand behind A Fresh
Start. Intuitively I felt that it wouldnt have been appropriate to
use his offices to approach FIDE; the lines of communication needed to be
shorter. It would be necessary to bite the bullet and approach Kirsan
Iljumzhinov directly. How to do it? I needed an ally and someone who could
speak Russian. Too, would my words have the desired impact? Would the
FIDE President believe that so much support for unity had been garnered? The
more I thought about it, the clearer the answer became: Garry would have to
meet with Kirsan and tell him directly using his own words that he was serious
about chess unity. I called Garry.
Youre Kidding, Right?
My first call to Garry asking him to meet with Kirsan went
exactly as expected. Youre kidding, right? Garry asked.
Yasser, lets get this very clear: I am not going to
meet with Kirsan. But Garry, I protested, Kirsan is
angry with me. I wrote an open letter called Enough is Enough and I
slammed the guy. He doesnt want to talk to me. He needs to hear it
from you! But Yasser, whatever you said in English, trust me, I
said ten times worse in Russian! And so the conversation went. For
a very long time. In the end, Garry softened but didnt budge. He would
need to speak with his people as this was a very big step for him, and I was
asking a lot.
Amongst the people that Garry respects a great deal is Dr.
William Wirth of Switzerland. I know Dr. Wirth well, having first met him in
1982 during the Lucerne Olympiad. I have a great respect for Dr. Wirth and
implored Garry to seek his advice. I was sure that Dr. Wirth would support
Garry making an effort to reach out to FIDE. Garry worried that a meeting would
be seen as a sign of weakness and thought long and hard. After a few more phone
calls, Garry had reached a decision. His people had backed him and told him to
go to the meeting.
On March 27th Garry phoned to inform me that he
would meet with Kirsan. It was a very funny call. Garry was traveling on a
train, and whenever the train went through a tunnel we would get disconnected.
Somehow we managed to run through a number of outstanding issues. He sternly
informed me that this would be the shortest meeting of his life! That he would
present the Fresh Start proposals, with the concession that the
Dortmund winner be seeded into the first cycle, tell Kirsan that he supported
it and leave. Again, Garry was very strong with me. He insisted that I had to
write down a very clear set of guidelines for him and tell him directly what
should be discussed and avoided. Garry and I also discussed the setting for the
meeting. We cant just meet in a restaurant! If people see us
together, rumors will run wild! Garry explained to me that he would think
of something. We both understood that this was a crucial meeting for the unity
effort. If the meeting went wrong, the whole plan for unity would collapse.
Neither of us wanted to leave anything to chance.
Garry soon called me back. He had spoken with his mother,
Clara and she had suggested Garrys friend, Andrei Makarov, as a
go-between. They could meet in his law offices on neutral territory
as Makarov has good relations with Kirsan. Makarov was a big help in the
process and readily agreed to host a meeting in his offices. The meeting took
place in Moscow on Saturday, March 30th with just a few security
guards patrolling an empty building. Garry wondered how the group must have
appeared and steeled himself for a tense meeting. Garry presented the
Fresh Start proposals to Kirsan and explained them to him. He
elaborated the critical point that with this proposal FIDE would be
licensing the championships to a new professional management group. That
instead of having to pay for everything, FIDE would receive money for a
change. Kirsan was on his way to Dubai to make the ceremonial opening move in
the FIDE Rapid Chess Grand Prix and promised to consider the proposals. Garry
told me that Andrei had been a good choice to help with this tough meeting and
that we would have to wait.
On April 3rd, a second meeting was held between
Garry and Kirsan, again at Andrei Makarovs offices. Garry was stunned
with the outcome of the meeting. I paraphrase his reflections. This time
the meeting went very well. The atmosphere was very calm, business-like. Kirsan
said he was very glad to have a discussion and to talk about chess unity. He
liked the Fresh Start proposals and he said that he would support
them and ask the General Assembly to sanction a new Classical Chess world
championship. He wanted more information about Mr. Bessel Kok. He had several
conditions: That the new cycle be as inclusive as possible; that the title be
sanctioned by FIDE, that in return the players would agree to work with FIDE on
its initiatives and participate in FIDE events such as the Rapid Chess Grand
Prix, Olympiads, Knockout championships, etc. Kirsans last condition -
and it elicited a round of laughter - was that he wouldnt get stuck with
the bill for a new cycle! Garry quickly reassured him that FIDE would receive a
sanctioning fee and money would flow into FIDEs coffers.
I was elated by the news. It was perfect! The best response
that I could possibly have hoped for had come to pass.
Garry too was very happy. For nearly 15 years he has been
fighting to bring a professional management group to the chess world and to
involve commercial sponsors. He had done extraordinary things with the
PCA, but now with FIDE willing to accept a new partner, it would be possible
not only to put a new Classical World Championship cycle on firm financial
footing but it would also be possible to work on reinvigorating the FIDE Rapid
Chess Grand Prix and a new Blitz Championship. It was a triumphant moment.
Neither of us understood why such a tough first meeting,
before Dubai, should be so shortly followed by a great meeting after Dubai. We
would find out why in the coming days and weeks.
In the meantime, Garry delighted me with a new FIDE
initiative: Kirsan wanted to know if Garry would support a FIDE Chess
Oscar Night. Kirsans idea was to have a special night once a year
in Lausanne, Switzerland, site of FIDEs headquarters. Modeled on the
lines of the Oscar awards, such a night would be a chance to award
the chess world with such accolades as best player, organizer, newspaper
writer, magazine columnist, book author and of course all the various FIDE
Champions. A fantastic idea! Wow! I shouted to Garry. This
has to be the best FIDE idea for the last twenty years! Its great! Call
Kirsan immediately and tell him we absolutely have to encourage this idea. It
really is nice.
But Yasser, its two oclock in the morning
in Moscow.
For both of us this conversation was very much a
breakthrough. Not only was FIDE taking an entirely new and welcome position it
was now considering an initiative that would work to uplift the whole
chess world. It seemed to me that my very great fears about FIDEs
reactions had gone out the window. I was ecstatic.
New Worries
On April 2nd I received a draft of the press
release for the Dortmund tournament. I was worried, as the press release
contained no mention of the fact that Dortmund might be part of a larger cycle.
Steve told me not to worry, that our planned meeting at Schiphol Airport would
sort things out and that another press conference could be arranged if
agreement was reached. I went back to work on resurrecting the Prague Peace
Conference.
Meanwhile, Hanon Russell of the Chess Café website
was asking me for an article provided an update on how things stood with
A Fresh Start. I had written several drafts, but things seemed to
be happening on a daily basis and it was never the right time to finalize such
a follow-up article.
On April 5th, the Dortmund organizers held a
press conference, releasing the names of all the participants, the regulations
of play, etc. There was no mention of the possibility that Dortmund could be
part of a larger cycle. I fretted but was reassured that agreement could be
reached.
By April 9th, the
lobbying effort had paid off, as Bessel had agreed again to host a peace
conference. He asked that as far as possible we should all try to be as
supportive to the Eurotel sponsor and express our gratitude in interviews.
Bessel had one new demand and it was a very serious one: a
complete news blackout. He was now confident that a Prague meeting would
garner a tangible result and he wanted to avoid any upset of the fragile
balance through leaks to the press. When I informed Hanon that I couldnt
update my article, I got a polite growl.
I also started contacting Xie Jun and Zsuzsa Polgar, as it
was high time to get the womens cycle confirmed. My optimism that the
Fresh Start proposals would come to fruition was now considerable.
Wednesday, April 10th would be the big day, when I would meet with
the parties on the Kramnik side: Steve Timmins, Carsten Hensel and Malcolm
Pein. My confidence was understandable; FIDE, Kasparov and the proposed
Commissioners were all fully on board and had agreed to make the Dortmund
tournament part of a larger cycle, while Steve had also indicated his
willingness to support this unity plan. In fact, though, the Fresh
Start proposals were just about to run into huge difficulties, with the
grave risk that unity in the chess world would slip through our fingers.
END OF PART ONE
Yasser Seirawan writes for the site
http://www.chesscafe.com
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of
TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center. |