[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Chess, Like Love, Like Music, Has the Power to Drag Men Into Court

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Chess, Like Love, Like Music, Has the Power to Drag Men Into Court
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1160515146.shtml


   In an [1]open letter to the FIDE President and the head of the "2006
   Executive Committee", Kramnik's manager Carsten Hensel
   threatens/promises a lawsuit on his client's behalf. That my
   sympathies are with Kramnik should be obvious to anyone reading this
   blog the past couple of weeks, but I think this letter is a mistake
   for several reasons.
   First, it's not going to change anything. Iljumzhinov isn't going to
   order them to replay game 5, and barring a religious conversion
   neither Danailov nor Topalov is going to turn it over.
   Second, Hensel's letter strikes me as pre-emptive sour grapes in case
   of a Kramnik loss.
   Third, the parties involved already knew/expected Kramnik to file suit
   afterwards, so why mention it again now? It's not going to distract
   Topalov; if team Topalov is as bad as the suit implicitly suggests,
   then this won't bother them at all. (And if it is designed to disturb
   them, then it's a step in an unsportsmanlike direction.)
   Fourth, it's absurd to claim that "toiletgate" has harmed Kramnik's
   reputation; if anything, it has enhanced it! He has shown himself
   willing to stand on principle, to behave with dignity and competitive
   courage. It is Topalov's reputation that has been badly harmed, not
   Kramnik's. (At least within the chess community; I'm not aware of how
   the "civilian" world has seen the controversy, if at all.)
   Fifth, it's the vain pursuit of an empty hope. As long as Kramnik
   keeps hope alive that he may yet get the lost point back, it may keep
   him from being fully focused on the match situation as it really is.
   So my advice to Kramnik is to drop all the extracurricular activity
   until the match is over. Yes, the situation is unfair, but nothing has
   changed since you decided to keep playing with game 6. Just play. If
   you win, the lawsuits are unnecessary; if you lose, even winning the
   lawsuit will be empty.

References

   1. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3416