World Chess 2013: Is it Chennai 100%?

by Zainab Raza Undulusi

As a chess fan, I am totally confused. Is the World Chess Championship 2013 Match between reigning champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen really going to be held in Chennai this November? Should I book tickets and hotel room?

In the popular 1988 Movie 'Young Guns', actor Emilio Estevez playing 'Billy the Kid' tells his band of outlaws in response to their concern of potential hanging, that if they are caught that they will most certainly get hanged, and then utters the phrase but "There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip".

In 2012, Fide told All India Chess Federation (AICF), after the latter lost to Moscow as host for World Chess Championship 2012 (between reigning World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand) that AICF would get the first chance to host the World Chess Championship Match 2013, supposedly without any regular bidding procedure...! But... "There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip".

April 19, 2013: Fide site reads: Today, FIDE Vice President, Israel Gelfer signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the All India Chess Federation in Chennai regarding the World Championship Match 2013. Next are photos:

Photo: (From left) AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, Fide vice-presidents Israel Gelfer and DV Sundar.

The document states that the organiser is responsible for the conduct of world championship match in Chennai from 6 to 26 November 2013. The AICF will send a working version of the contract and will sign the contract within seven days of its receipt; organiser shall provide the sum of $3,367,250 - 50% percent of which must be transferred to the Fide account by May 20 and the remaining amount by 31 August 2013.

Magnus Carlsen has already called for a "neutral venue" and he has not confirmed the venue yet!

But, what does all this mean? Is Chennai the venue, or is it not yet decided? Is the Indian media and chess fanbase going euphoric for something that might not be? 

Frankly, no one seems to know the answer. Detailed reports are posted at chess news sites like Chessbase, ChessVibes, Chessblog, Chess-News.ru and the AICF and, of course, Fide websites. But, really, what does it all mean? Is Chennai really 100% the venue? We have to wait, at least until May 20.

• What happens if some other bids come in for the World Chess Championship 2013? Will Fide not accept them? 
• What exactly does this MoU mean? Is it a final declaration?
• If Fide does not intend to accept any other bids, then why not immediately announce that there would be no bidding procedure and indeed Chennai is the venue of the World Chess Championship 2013?
• Is it legal to have no bidding procedure for an event like the World Chess Championship?
• Chennai is in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the Tamil Nadu Government that is offering the bid amount. So, the match cannot be shifted to any other city in India. Except Chennai, parts of Delhi and Kolkatta, the rest of India is at present watching cricket - the IPL T-20. They might not find other sponsors in India.
• There is no direct word via Fide about Challenger Magnus Carlsen's acceptance of the venue and match conditions.

The most detailed analysis is at Chessvibes which goes: "It could also mean that FIDE is keeping its options open. In general a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expresses a convergence of will between two parties, indicating an intended common line of action. A MoU is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in situations where the parties cannot create a legally enforceable agreement.It's well possible that the match will eventually be held somewhere else. At the moment all parties involved have reasons to be not too happy about Chennai: Anand because there might be too much home crowd pressure, Carlsen because the different climate might involve risks, AGON because a different city might be more interesting for sponsors and FIDE because a higher bid also means a higher income for them."

Legendary 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov has reacted strongly: It is a scandal. I've never heard of anything like this. I really hope that this is not the final decision, because it would be illegal.

To Chennai, or not to Chennai is the Big Question.

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MC on 'TIME 100' Influential Icons List

US based news magazine -TIME's annual survey of the 100 most influential people in the world for the year 2013 is out and guess who has made it to the list: World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Indian star Aamir Khan! TIME selects 100 most influential people in the world and gets them profiled by equally influential celebrities for their worldwide list. The full list with features will appear in the April 29 / May 6 issue of TIME that would go on the newsstands on April 19. 

None other than 13th World Chess Champion 

Garry Kasparov has written the feature on Magnus Carlsen for the 'Time 100' list 2013 of the world's most influential people.

The TIME 100 features often-surprising pairings of the influentials and the guest contributors TIME selects to write about them. The tenth-annual list includes, among others, President Barack Obama on Tom Coburn, Justin Timberlake on Jimmy Fallon, Oprah Winfrey on Shonda Rhimes, Michael Bloombergon Jay Z, Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama, Chelsea Clinton on Malala Yousafzai and more. 

Magnus Carlsen
Chess wunderkind, 22
By Garry Kasparov April 18, 2013

Chess history is best viewed through the game’s evolution: the Romantic Era of the 19th century, the Hypermodernism of the early 20th, the post–World War II dominance of the Soviet School. The elite chess players of today are of no school. They hail from all over the world, as illustrated by current world champion Viswanathan Anand of India and young Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who is due to challenge Anand for the championship this year. I had the opportunity to train Carlsen in 2009, and his intuitive style conserves the mystique of chess at a time when every CPU-enhanced fan thinks the game is easy. Carlsen is as charismatic and independent as he is talented. If he can rekindle the world’s fascination with the royal game, we will soon be living in the Carlsen Era.

Indian movie star Aamir Khan is on the list as well. Billed as a film star and activist by the magazine, the Bollywood actor and host of the television show 'Satyamev Jayate' has been profiled by world celebrated music composer A.R Rahman.

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Zug Chess GP: Watch Live 5.30 pm

The opening ceremony of the 3rd stage of FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 the Renova Group Grand Prix took place at the SwissEver Hotel Zug 6 p.m. on 17th of April. The ceremony was attended by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer from Renova Group Rolf Schatzmann, Director of the Sport Office of the Canton of Zug Cordula Ventura, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Arkam Zeynalli, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramin Mirzayev, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation Konstantin Ushakov.

 

Watch India Time Live: 5.30 pm at official website.

 

At the start of the ceremony Director of the Sport Office of the Canton of Zug Cordula Ventura welcomed all the players and guests on behalf of the government of the Canton of Zug. On behalf of Renova Group and its chairman of the Board Directors Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, Rolf Schatzmann welcomed all officials, participants and wished the players to use the opportunity to learn more about the history of Switzerland, visit Zug and its suburbs.

Rolf Schatzmann also explained why Zug was chosen to host the 3rd stage of Grand Prix: “Mr. “Viktor Vekselberg lives here and he thought it would be nice idea to organize such an interesting chess event in the canton of Zug”.

 

Before officially opening the event, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov greeted all the participants, guests and expressed his gratitude to Renova Group and its chairman of the Board Directors Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, sponsors, mass media representatives for their support and dedication to chess. “I’m confident that we will all savor the hospitality of the people of Switzerland and will fully appreciate the high organizational level of this sport celebration!” said FIDE President.

The Chief-arbiter of the tournament IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each participant was proposed to choose one of 12 boxes with famous Swiss chocolates and the numbers inside.

The first round will be played on Thursday, April 18th at 14:00 local time with the games Morozevich-Kasimdzhanov, Mamedyarov-Ponomariov, Caruana-Radjabov, Karjakin-Nakamura, Giri-Topalov, Leko-Kamsky.

Over eleven rounds, twelve of the strongest players in the world will take part in uncompromising chess battles. Among 12 participants there are three former world champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Rustam Kasimdzhanov, World Rapid Chess Champion Sergey Karjakin, the top players of the USA, Italy, Azerbajan, Russia. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), the rating favorite of the 3rd stage, will take part in GP tournaments for the first time. 2007 World Cup Winner Gata Kamsky (USA) replaced Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan) for the rest of the cycle.

Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). 18 top players participate in 4 of these 6 tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014. (Report and pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich)

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Happy 50th Birthday Garry Kasparov!

Chess Magazine Black & White staff, readers and fans wish 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov a fantastic 50th birthday on April 13. Birthday wishes are pouring in on his FB page and flooding the Internet. We hope to bring you a summary soon. Meanwhile, you can take part in this Garry Kasparov trivia quiz featured on his official Facebook page!

Kasparov Facebook Page contest reads as follows: Quick Kasparov birthday question #1: What game position do you think will be on his chess birthday cake? Try to guess the game and move number! The answer will be revealed with a photo of his cake at his New York City birthday party on April 19. We'll give a shout-out to anyone who gets it right! (And don't worry, his cake has the white square on the right.) -editor

This very nice chess graphic on Garry Kasparov is up at www.chessbase.com with a beautiful article. Also read 'Kasparov as an open project' by Russian journalist Igor Yakovenko.

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Asian-Jr Chess: Srinath Retains Title

International Master Narayanan Srinath has won the Asian Junior Chess title for the second time. The event was held in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Srinath had won last year in Tashkent in June 2012 along with a GM norm. He is also a former World Under-12 champion having won it at Belfort in France in 2005. Sahaj Grover was second and top seed GM Salem Saleh of UAE was third. Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam won the girls' section. India's WFM J Saranya was second. Defending champion Ivana Furtado of Goa ended the tournament in sixth place.

In the Asian Junior blitz chess, Anurag Mhamal and Sahaj Grover tied for first. Mhamal was declared champion on better tie-break score. Vo Thi Kim Phung (Vie) won the Asian Junior girls blitz championship also.

Final placings:
Boys: 1 N Srinath (Ind) 8/9; 2 Sahaj Grover (Ind) 7; 3-6. Salem A.R. Saleh (UAE), Anurag Mhamal (Ind), Mehdi Hosseinpour (Iri), Tran Tuan Minh (Vie) 6 each; 7 Debashis Das (Ind) 5.5…34 players.
Girls: 1 Vo Thi Kim Phung (Vie) 7/9; 2-4. J Saranya (Ind), Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (Vie), Diana Assaubayeva (Kaz) 6.5 each; 5-6. Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzb), Ivana Furtado (Ind) 6 each; 7-10. Rucha Pujari, Riya Savant (both Ind), Dorsa Derakhshani (Iri), Farida Khursanova (Uzb) 5.5 each….36 players.

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RIP: Chess Legend Robert Byrne

RIP: American chess legend Robert Byrne. We have this sad news. World Chess Championship Candidate-1974 and US Chess Champion-1972 Robert Byrne is no more. His wife Ursula (Maria) Byrne announced late Friday that Robert Byrne passed away after a long illness, eight days short of his 85th birthday. The memorial service will be on Saturday, April 20, at 1 PM at Dorsey Funeral Home, 15 M Wilton Place, Ossining, NY 10562. Attendees are welcome. RSVP to ursula1732@aol.com. ( Also welcome are verbal messages that can be read out.)

Byrne's dear friend Anthony Saidy says, "Robert Byrne was a pillar of American chess. I would add that uniquely, in mid-career, Robert Byrne switched from the Queen Pawn to the King Pawn, tantamount to a Ford driver taking on a race car, or an internist learning brain surgery. It took him close to the summit of world chess. R.I.P. a great American player and a friend whose example taught me much."

Byrne represented the United States nine times in Chess Olympiads from 1952 to 1976 and won seven medals. He was the chess columnist from 1972 to 2006 for the New York Times, which ran his final column (a recounting of his 1952 victory over David Bronstein) on November 12, 2006. Byrne worked as a university professor for many years, before becoming a chess professional in the early 1970s. Read the complete Wikipedia entry on this great American chess player here. (Report via US #1 www.chessblog.com)

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Bangkok Chess Open Begins April 14

The 13th Bangkok Chess Club Open Tournament will be played from April 14th to 21st in Pattaya, Thailand. The tournament is organized by the Bangkok Chess Club and the playing venue is 5-star Dusit Thani Pattaya Resort. (Left: Koneru Humpy leads India challenge). Top rated Grandmasters are Nigel Short ENG 2690 (last year winner), Levente Vajda ROM 2632, Jan Gustafsson GER 2621 (winner in 2011), Humpy Koneru IND 2597, Sune Berg Hansen DEN 2566, Jozsef Horvath HUN 2538, Zong-Yuan Zhao AUS 2537, Adam Horvath HUN 2509, M.R. Venkatesh IND 2501 and Attila Czebe HUN 2488. There are two groups of play: Open category for all players, and Challenger category for players rated below 2100 or unrated (ratings based on FIDE or Thai ELO ratings – other national ratings will be validated by the organizer). When registering, players must indicate in which group they wish to play. Both groups will be played using the Swiss System, with 9 rounds for Open, and 7 rounds for Challenger. For the pairings, a Swiss Manager program will be used.

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