Kamsky-Topalov match to be held in Bulgaria – maybe

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DES ECHECS
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www.fide.com

Moscow, 6 November 2008

Announcement of the FIDE President concerning the match Topalov - Kamsky

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Dear chess friends,

As already known, FIDE had initially reached a decision to award the Challenger's Match Topalov-Kamsky to the Bulgarian Chess Federation which offered a prize fund of 150,000 USD.

Afterwards, and following consultations with both sides, FIDE gave the opportunity to Alexander Chernenko, the manager of GM Gata Kamsky, to bring in an improved bid with Lviv suggested by Mr Chernenko as the host city. The prize fund offered by GM Gata Kamsky's manager was 750,000 USD. Since then, FIDE received several letters, by banks supposed to co-operate with Mr Chernenko, stating that the funds were "on their way". But up to this moment, and despite numerous reminders to Alexander Chernenko, no bank guarantees have been provided and of course no transfer of the prize fund has been made to the bank account of FIDE.

At this point I must say that I have deeply regretted the trust which I had shown to Alexander Chernenko, concerning the reliability of his offer. The actions of Mr Chernenko indicate an abuse of right to invoke my guarantee which was declared after his own request and in good faith to help him secure the necessary funds. Furthermore, I understand the complaints of the Bulgarian Chess Federation concerning the procedure followed, although FIDE was only trying to improve the financial conditions for both players.

In order to restore the procedure towards holding this very important match, FIDE announces the following:

a) The Bulgarian Chess Federation will be re-awarded with the event if it accepts in written form, by 14 November 2008 12:00 GMT, to hold the match with a prize fund of 250,000 USD plus 50,000 USD as contribution to FIDE and all organising expenses covered. In this case, the dates of the match Topalov-Kamsky remain as already announced (29 Nov. – 12 Dec. 2008) and I intend to nominate FIDE Vice President Mr William Kelleher of USA as the FIDE Supervisor of the Organising Committee (*duties of the FIDE Supervisor as annex 1 attached to this announcement). The confirmation letter of the Bulgarian Chess Federation should be sent by email at office@fide.com and by registered post to the FIDE Secreteriat, address: 9 Syggrou Ave, 11743 Athens, Greece.

b) By 14 November 2008, 12:00 GMT, both players have to officially confirm, in written form and in a clear and explicit way, that they will play the match. If GM Topalov refuses to confirm his participation, then GM Kamsky qualifies automatically for the 2009 WCC match. If GM Kamsky refuses to confirm his participation, he will be replaced by GM Shirov (the runner-up of the World Cup 2007). The confirmation letters should be sent by email at office@fide.com and by registered post to the FIDE Secreteriat, address: 9 Syggrou Ave, 11743 Athens, Greece.

c) If the Bulgarian Chess Federation will not confirm that it accepts the financial requirements of (a), an open bidding procedure will be launched with a deadline of 31 December 2008. The best bid will be awarded with the event which will then be held in February or March 2009.

The unfortunate handling of the situation by Alexander Chernenko has brought us to a point where the time limits are very tight. With this procedure, FIDE puts the Challengers Match back on track and with a clear timetable. We are all looking forward to a great match which will produce a worthy challenger to World Champion Vishy Anand for the year 2009.

Gens Una Sumus

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
FIDE President

ANNEX 1

Duties of the FIDE Supervisor for the Challengers Match 2008

A FIDE Supervisor will be appointed who will be above the Organising Committee in all issues involving:
a) fairness concerning treatment of both players in respect of organisational issues,
b) equal playing conditions
c) anti-cheating measures
d) fair publicity of both players through the event's press office

The FIDE Supervisor can request from the organizer and at their expense, any additional security arrangement he finds necessary in order to secure a fair match and equal match conditions for the players.

The Organising Committee has to follow the orders of the FIDE Supervisor in all issues involving the above aspects before and during the match. Any decision of the FIDE Supervisor can be appealed by one of the players ONLY to the Appeals Committee.

The position of FIDE Supervisor was first introduced in the WCC match Anand – Kramnik this year with FIDE Deputy President Mr Georgios Makropoulos holding this position. Although it is not included in the regulations yet, FIDE will establish the role of FIDE Supervisor in all important matches of the World Championship cycle.

Released by FIDE, 6 November 2008

Recent history

A few days ago FIDE set a final deadline:

To this the United States Chess Federation reacted with the following letter to the President:

ChessBase reports on this match

The following articles are in descending chronological order, i.e. the latest are at the top, the oldest at the bottom.