[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: A Funny Interview with ECU President Boris Kutin

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
A Funny Interview with ECU President Boris Kutin
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1206729780.shtml


   The full interview, conducted by Bulgarian GM Inkiov, can be read
   [1]here. Here, meanwhile, are two hilarious excerpts:

     Question:It is well known that Veselin Topalov was the first World
     Champion who did not receive the right for a return-match...

   Either this is a poor translation or it's an example of the worst sort
   of hyper-partisan propaganda. Topalov is the first world champ not to
   receive the right to a rematch only if one ignores the following brief
   list:

   Wilhelm Steinitz, the first official world champion Emanuel Lasker,
   the second official world champion Jose Capablanca (3rd WC) Alexander
   Alekhine (4th) Max Euwe (5th) Mikhail Botvinnik (6th) [He got two
   rematches, but he didn't get one when he lost to Petrosian.] Vasily
   Smyslov (7th) Mikhail Tal (8th) Tigran Petrosian (9th) Boris Spassky
   (10th) Bobby Fischer (11th) Garry Kasparov (13th)

   We can add to this that none of the FIDE k.o. champions (Alexander
   Khalifman, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam
   Kasimdzhanov) had any sort of special privilege for the subsequent
   cycle. In short, Inkiov is right only if the only two world champions
   in history are Karpov and Kramnik, and it's not even true about
   Kramnik. While he is getting a sweetheart deal compensating him for
   not winning in Mexico City, I don't think he had a rematch clause vs.
   Leko, and he wouldn't have received any privileges had he lost to
   Topalov.

   Further, while Topalov didn't get an automatic rematch after losing to
   Kramnik, what he wound up with was pretty close: an automatic rematch
   if Kramnik had won in Mexico City, and even now he needs to win only
   one match to get a new title shot next year. And that leads to the
   second bit of (unintended) hilarity:

     [From part of Kutin's answer to the question that began with the
     previous excerpt:]Still, I think that comparatively good solution
     was found. Topalov received the chance to participate in the new
     cycle and will play against the World Cupâs winner Gata Kamsky in
     September or October. My personal opinion is that the match should
     be in Bulgaria. FIDE tried to find another country to organize the
     event and raised the requirements about the price fund, but I am
     not optimistic that candidates will be found. Kamsky should sign
     the match contract within a few days. If he does not, he will be
     replaced by Alexei Shirov. [DM: Emphasis added.] Everything will be
     clear until 11 April. [DM: The translator presumably meant by April
     11, but with FIDE you never know!]

   Those of you new to the chess world may not see the rich irony here,
   so here's a brief explanation. In 1998, Kasparov was looking for an
   opponent to challenge him for his non-FIDE world championship title,
   and to that end a Candidates' Match was arranged between Vladimir
   Kramnik and Alexei Shirov. Shirov won that match, but the subsequent
   match with Kasparov never took place, as Kasparov was unable to find a
   sponsor who would raise a sufficiently hefty prize fund. In due
   course, Kasparov simply moved on, discarded Shirov's rights, and
   invited Kramnik to play for the title, which the latter duly won in
   2000. Needless to say, neither Kasparov nor Kramnik has been on
   Shirov's Christmas card list since that time. And now it's at least
   possible that Shirov will "become" the new Kramnik. Better still, we
   could have a Shirov-Kramnik rematch in 2009! All that would be left at
   that point is for Shirov to win and offer Kasparov a match, and the
   chess world will have come full circle.

References

   1. http://dejanbojkov.blogspot.com/2008/03/interview-with-ecu-president-boris.html