[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: World Chess Championship Odds & Ends

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
World Chess Championship Odds & Ends
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1167619944.shtml


   Vladimir Kramnik won the unified title back in October; what has
   happened in world championship news since then? Here's a quick
   summary:
   1. Topalov & Danailov (T & D) [1]have continued making allegations, to
   which I respond as follows, until and unless something resembling real
   evidence arises: YAWN.
   2. T & D have offered a rematch to be held in their home country of
   Bulgaria. (I had already reported on this back in October, all that
   has happened since is that the steps to make it official, or as
   official as it's going to be, have been followed.) According to the
   rules for the Mexico City world championship event, any other world
   championship event would have to finish 6 months earlier. In addition
   to the obvious and understandable disinclination Kramnik must have to
   facing T & D (especially in Bulgaria!), doing so would require him to
   break contracts for other events he's scheduled to play in. I think
   hell is likely to freeze over before Kramnik agrees to such a match.
   3. [2]Kramnik has agreed to play in Mexico City. T & D didn't seem to
   think that would happen, and Kasparov (in New in Chess magazine
   2006/8, page 104) agrees, continuing in his tiresome-post 2000 way to
   critique Kramnik at every opportunity.
   4. FIDE has proposed a world championship cycle that combines
   traditional and more recent elements. The champ gets to wait for a
   final match every two years, meeting a challenger who survives a
   gauntlet of qualifying tournaments and candidates matches. (More
   details [3]here.) As a chess fan, I like it: the title becomes more
   regal (better for publicity, I think) and it's more enjoyable to see
   the title determined in a match. If I were a challenger, however, I'd
   be a little less thrilled - clearly it's a lot harder to become
   champion now than it is when the champion has to fight with the
   commoners in a k.o. or San Luis-style event.
   5. FIDE has gone off the deep end, proposing to incorporate chess
   engines in the world championship. (From [4]Chess Today-2244
   (12/30/2006), citing [5]this article. It's not all settled, but the
   thought is that computers will have their own Candidates event in
   Elista in May of 2007, and will eventually play the human champ for
   the absolute championship. (Will the manager of Hydra, Rybka or Fritz
   accuse its opponent of going to the bathroom to consult Topalov (who
   won't be in the next cycle)?)

References

   1. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3553
   2. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3556
   3. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3530
   4. http://www.chesstoday.net/
   5. http://www.vazhno.ru/important/article/4640/