Gata Kamsky: 'The time for the negotiation is over'
08.11.2008
– "The only way to fight FIDE is to expose their mistakes," writes the World Championship candidate, "and fight them in a court of law. I would respectfully request all USCF Board members to unite and find ways to make sure that justice and fairness will prevail." Kamsky accuses FIDE of providing Topalov a backdoor into the final steps of the qualification proceedings. Open letter.
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Background
In our previous
report on the special Candidates' Final between Gata Kamsky and Veselin
Topalov we published a letter by Gata's father Roustam, whose wife is Gata Kamsky's
manager (Bella Kamskaya works in the Law Offices of Sheldon Martin Krupnick).
Roustam protested the
recent decision by FIDE to reopen the bidding for the match, after the $750,000
bid by Alexander Chernenko fell through. FIDE decided to award the match to
the Bulgarian Chess Federation if they were able, by November 14th, to guarantee
a prize fund of US $250,000 (plus $50,000 as contribution to FIDE), or to reopen
bidding if they were not able to guarantee the sum. Roustam Kamsky accused FIDE
of putting pressure on the players to confirm by November 14th their participation
in a match for which no specific conditions are known.
Shortly after Roustam's letter we received one from Bill Goichberg, President
of the US Chess Federation, supporting this stand and reminding FIDE President
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov that he had personally and publicly guaranteed the $750,000
prize fund for a match in Lvov, a guarantee that could not be revoked at the
whim of the guarantor. USCF board member Susan Polgar weighed in with a letter
to Goichberg urging all parties to engage in "diplomatic and respectful
negotiation sessions to come up with a sensible solution instead of adding more
fuel to the fire with this type of open letters."
Today it is Gata Kamsky himself who provides us with his position on the match
and on the negotiations with FIDE. For your information: the negotiations between
the two teams and FIDE, as discussed in Greece by FIDE Deputy President Georgios
Makropoulos and the principals, would take place on Tuesday, November 18 in
Dresden. In case momentous decisions need to be made there will be a FIDE Congress
being held from 16 to 26 November 2008 at the venue of the 38th Chess Olympiad
in Dresden, with over 200 delegates and representatives expected to be present
at the General Assembly. The schedule of the FIDE Congress is as follows:
16 November 2008 |
Arrival |
17 November 2008 |
FIDE Committees & Commissions |
18 November 2008 |
FIDE Committees & Commissions |
19 November 2008 |
FIDE Committees & Commissions |
20 November 2008 |
Executive Board Meeting |
21 November 2008 |
Executive Board Meeting |
22 November 2008 |
Continental Meetings |
23 November 2008 |
FIDE General Assembly |
24 November 2008 |
FIDE General Assembly |
25 November 2008 |
FIDE General Assembly |
26 November 2008 |
Departure |
Perhaps the matter can be finally decided in this period...
Open letter by Gata Kamsky
Dear President, gentelmen, Susan,
When I first saw Bill's letter I was happy, because finally USCF has
been showing strong support for their representative. Whether there
could be a better solution or a more diplomatic one is a good question,
but the reality is that there is no time to negotiate and given FIDE's
strong-arm history of negotiating, it is not likely to succeed.
When I spoke with FIDE Vice President Mr. Makropoulos in Greece, it
was decided that both my team and Mr. Topalov's team would meet during
the rest day at the Olympiad in Dresden to negotiate and discuss everything,
including technical details. With their last public statement, Mr. Illumjinov
not only attempted to revoke his personal guarantee of the match, but
he also imposed the time limit of one week for the players to acceed
to his demands and at the same time re-awarded the bid to the Bulgarian
Federation, which was the original FIDE's intention in the first place.
You all are aware of the clause in the FIDE regulation for this "special"
match that gave the Bulgarian Chess Federation a privilege of matching
any bid that is coming from my side, which effectively ruined any attempt
to find and submit a bid from the United States.
Throughout the negotiations with my managers, FIDE did nothing to find
a sponsor on their own, despite the fact that it was solely FIDE's decision
to create this match, and thus to allow Mr. Topalov a backdoor into
the final steps of the qualification proceedings for the world championship
title, quite unfairly, I might add.
FIDE's entire purpose, for chess players, for fairness, has been changed
into a special interest group organization and I personally believe
that any negotiations with FIDE rulers or tsars, or whatever you like
to call them, will be unsuccessful.
The time for the negotiation is over and the only way to fight FIDE
is to expose their mistakes, and perhaps fight them in a court of law
if and when FIDE broke the law. Therefore, I would respectfully request
all USCF Board members to unite and find ways to make sure that justice
and fairness will prevail.
Sincerely,
Gata Kamsky
Saturday, November 8, 2008
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ChessBase reports
The following articles are in descending chronological order, i.e. the
latest are at the top, the oldest at the bottom.
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Roustam Kamsky: 'Gatas life could be in danger'
07.11.2008 Yesterday we published a press
release by FIDE which re-opened the bidding for the Kamsky-Topalov World
Championship qualification match. Today we received a letter from Gata
Kamsky's father protesting this decision and the pressure it put on
the players to confirm their participation in a match for which no specific
conditions are known. Open
letters by Roustam Kamsky and the USCF. |
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Kamsky-Topalov match to be held in Bulgaria maybe
06.11.2008 The Bulgarian Chess Federation
had made a $150,000 bid for this special qualifier match for the world
championship, but then Gata Kamsky's manager Alexander Chernenko offered
a $750,000 prize fund for it in Lvov, Ukraine. Unfortunately the bank
garantees were not forthcoming, and after a final deadline FIDE has
reopened the bidding procedure. Press
release. |
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Bulgaria to Ilyumzhinov: we are worried
27.09.2008 During the Bilbao Masters tournament
Veselin Topalov's manager IM Silvio Danailov told journalists that there
were no news regarding the Topalov vs Kamsky match. Now Stefan Sergiev,
President of the Bulgarian Chess Federation has appealed to FIDE President:
"Mr. Ilyumzhinov, please inform me where and when the match will take
place!" Full story, now with official
corrections. |
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Topalov: 'Next Year I Will Challenge the World Champion'
24.08.2008 A few days ago former FIDE world
champion Veselin Topalov visited the International Alcubeirre Tournament
in Spain, where he gave a simultaneous exhibition and spoke to a local
newspaper about Kasparov, the Zaragoza Expo, Scarlett Johansson ("I like
her more in some ways, but my thing is chess"), his chess career and chess
playing computers. Heraldo
interview. |
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'Topalov has not signed' Challenger Match in doubt?
25.07.2008 Just when we thought everything
was settled for a World Championship Challengers' Match between Gata Kamsky
and Veselin Topalov in Lvov, Ukraine November 26 to December 14 Topalov's
manager Silvio Danialov says his his client has not yet signed anything.
Turns out neither has Kamsky, since according to FIDE "the contract has
not been finalized with the organisers". Details. |
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Alexei Shirov replies to Gata Kamsky
02.06.2008 Last week Alexei
Shirov published a press release asking FIDE to resolve the crisis surrounding
the special Challengers' Match between Gata Kamsky and Veselin Topalov.
Kamsky's representative replied, and then FIDE came up with a decision
on the venue in Lvov, Ukraine. "This is exactly what I wanted with my
press release five days ago," says Shirov in his new
press release. |
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Ilyumzhinov guarantees Topalov-Kamsky match in Lvov
01.06.2008 After a great deal of international
bickering the matter is now settled: the special Challengers Match between
Gata Kamsky and Veselin Topalov will take place between November 26th
and December 14th 2008 in Lvov, Ukraine. This has just been announced
by FIDE, with President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov guaranteeing the organisers
offer of US $750,000 with his personal finances. Press
release. |
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Shirov's press release
29.05.2008 After numerous
extensions of the deadline for bids to stage the special Challengers Match
between Gata Kamsky and Veselin Topalov FIDE is now faced with a demand
by the next-in-line player to have a chance. Alexei Shirov is willing
to play in Bulgaria, something Kamsky balked at. "According to the match
regulations he should be replaced by me in this case," Shirov says. Press
release. |
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Breaking news: Kamsky-Topalov in Lviv, Ukraine?
11.04.2008 We reported yesterday on FIDE's
decision to extend the deadline for bids for the Kamsky-Topalov match.
The Bulgarian Chess Federation protested vigorously, but today the reason
for FIDE's decision is becoming clear: there is a US $750,000 bid to stage
the match in Lviv, western Ukraine. This stop press story comes from Yury
Vasiliev of Sport Express. First
details and doubts. |
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FIDE extends deadline for Topalov-Kamsky, Bulgarians
protest
10.04.2008 The match between Gata Kamsky
and Veselin Topalov for the right to challenge the World Champion is scheduled
for the second half of 2008. The Bulgarian side offered to finance and
stage the match, but Kamsky balked at playing on the territory of his
opponent. Now FIDE has extended the deadline for rival bids by twelve
days. The Bulgarian Chess Federation has protested
sharply. |
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Challengers Match Kamsky-Topalov to be held in Bulgaria...
14.02.2008 ...unless a country comes up with
a US $250,000 bid by April 11th. FIDE has announced its decision to tentatively
accept the US $150,000 bid made by the Bulgarian Chess Federation. The
match is scheduled for Nov.-Dec. 2008, after the Anand-Kramnik match.
Spanish Playwright Fernando Arrabal has published the entire correspondence
between FIDE and Kamsky. Press
release and links. |
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Khanty-Mansiysk Final: Kamsky wins, to challenge Topalov
16.12.2007 American GM Gata Kamsky has won
the FIDE World Cup. In the fourth game he was able to force a perpetual
check and hold Alexei Shirov to a draw, which meant that he had won the
Final with a score of 2.5:1.5 (three draws, one win). Kamsky won, did
not lose a single game and performed 102 points higher than his nominal
2714 rating. Congratulations
Gata! |
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Veselin Topalov and the new FIDE world championship
cycle
24.06.2007 At the Presidential Board meeting,
which is currently being held in Tallinn, Estonia, FIDE has introduced
a new Grand Prix series and a new world championship cycle. With a high-ranking
Bulgarian delegation presenting a case for Veselin Topalov to enter the
world championship FIDE made some special rules to govern the 2007-2009
stage. We have tried to decipher
the new system. |
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