Kasparov’s letter to FIDE
29.10.2004 The reunification match between Garry Kasparov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov is scheduled for January 7 – 24 in Dubai. However at the FIDE Congress in Calvià nothing concrete was announced. The funding of the match and many other details appear to be in doubt. In an open letter to the FIDE General Assembly Garry Kasparov delivers firm ultimatums.
The following letter was delivered by fax to the FIDE General Assembly by Garry Kasparov. It addresses the question of the reunification match between Kasparov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov that was announced for January next year. Kasparov is getting very nervous about the final confirmation and financial guarantees, which are still outstanding. He addresses these concerns in his letter, which was only read briefly and in excerpts at the General Assembly.
Open Letter by Garry Kasparov
To the FIDE General Assembly
RE: 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship
Ladies & Gentlemen,
I believe that everybody in attendance is aware of the press announcement of the FIDE World Championship in Dubai January 7th – 24th, 2005. The fact that this match appears to be following the same disastrous sequence of last year’s two failed FIDE World Championship events is of considerable concern to me and to most of the chess world.
The feeling of déjà vu is overwhelming as once again I see the same trend looming. Deadlines coming and going. Grand media announcements totally devoid of real detail or substance. This time, the FIDE Congress must act and put people in charge who know how to negotiate and agree contracts before issuing grandiose statements.
The harsh facts are that nobody can go into serious TRAINING and PREPARATION for a World Title with this uncertainty. It’s just not possible!
Unless we have an agreement that I can sign – with acceptable payment terms by October 31st, I would like to suggest the following.
That FIDE appoints a three-man committee to immediately negotiate with the Turkish Chess Federation, backed up by the Turkish Republic.
If they can move quickly the match can still be played in January, but unless I have a fully executed Escrow Account in place by Nov. 10th, the match must be moved to a date mutually acceptable to the two players, the organizer and FIDE.
From the time of the Prague Agreement on May 6th, 2002 to the present, I have stuck to my word to FIDE to work hard toward the reunification process.
True chess aficionados know that chess must see an undisputed World Chess Champion and then and only then will normal sponsorship flow into our noble game. In this way the game will grow and the sport will flourish.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has contacted me on several occasions about this match and my reply to him has been consistent.
Given the two failed attempts in 2003, I told Kirsan personally that while I was ready and willing to play the match, I would not sign any document until he had irrefutable proof of funding and could set up an escrow account or satisfactory instrument of payment. Kirsan agreed to this and many times during the past days and weeks told me “The agreement and proof of payment will be with you soon.”
On Friday 22nd October, I called Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and informed him that representatives of the Turkish Chess Federation, backed by the Turkish Republic, are highly interested in organizing and funding this tournament. They will only need 10 days, once FIDE gives them the sole option to present the Championships in Turkey.
I understand that Kirsan is now on his way back from Dubai. He has had a month or more to get it done in Dubai. Unless he has the money, we should give somebody else the authority to act.
I do not enjoy giving deadlines so instead you can view this as a REALITY.
Unless the $1M prize money is in escrow by Oct. 31ST, 2004 (for Dubai) or Nov. 10th, 2004 (for Turkey) I will no longer be available to play in January of 2005.
It must be of concern to everybody present that FIDE is in danger of losing control of the World Chess Championship cycle and a delay could mean that the impetus is lost. There are those at large who would love to see FIDE fail and reunification die – FIDE must not let it happen!
The first step toward reunification must be taken now. Then FIDE will only be one step away from its stated goal.
Give people like Georgios Makropoulos, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, and Israel Gelfer only 10 days to negotiate with Turkey and we will know one way or the other. At least it will not float in the air
Awaiting a response.
Garry Kasparov
Few days later Ali , the president of the Turkish chess federation replied publically:
During the FIDE Congress I have participated in a World Chess Championship Committee meeting (it may be seen in the minutes of the meeting). I expressed our interest to Chairman George Makropulos, and to members Israel Gelfer and Zurab Azmaiparashvili. They agreed that there must be a deadline for Dubai, and then Turkey shall be given an option to seek government guarantees for the match. This was Mr. Gelfer’s idea to get a concrete decision in General Assembly for a deadline and then a ten days option for Turkey, since he considered this match very important for reunification process of chess.
Before the General Assembly on 27th October, Mr. Garry Kasparov sent me the letter which has been published. I delivered to letter to Mr. Israel Gelfer for distribution in General Assembly.
However, on 29 October, the Chairman of GA, Mr. Makropulos refused to distribute this letter in the GA, since it would be “insulting to the FIDE President”.
The letter included a proposal to give Dubai a deadline, and in case the fulfilment of conditions of the match failed, then an option to Turkey for ten days. Personally I do not believe that the letter is insulting to the President. I believe in that the world champions are not ordinary people and we should not disregard what they are saying.
In the General Assembly, the Chairman mentioned that to give a deadline to Dubai would be a very big risk of losing the match. I have made a motion, as delegate, and insisted that a deadline must be given and as the highest authority of FIDE a concrete decision must be taken by the GA. The Chairman refused my proposal, since the President was not in the GA. He claimed that if they took a decision it would be very risky that FIDE would lose the organiser of match.
As everybody may appreciate we now have only 70 days to fulfil the FIDE announcement dates for the match. I think it will be very late for a responsible organiser to arrange sponsors and conditions for this match if we wait any more. For the players I cannot believe how they can be ready in such as short time. Therefore as the Turkish Chess Federation we think that without the decision of the GA it would be a repetition of the same old stories again. We know the Ponomariov-Kasparov match failed twice, while at the time there were other candidates to organise the match.
I hope that the match will be organised in Dubai. I want it very much to happen, for the sake of chess, and I would be very happy if it did. But I want to ask everyone: who will take the risk if the match is not in Dubai? Of course we are assuming that the guarantee or the money for organising this match will be minimum US $1.2 Million, excluding organisation costs.
For Turkey this match would be very important, due to our economical and historical relations with Uzbekistan and Russia. Now without a GA decision we may not be sure what kind of problems we will face if Dubai fails. For the Turkish part it is very difficult to organise the match without a GA decision, because the FIDE executive management on this issue is floating in the air.
On behalf of my federation, I officially demand that in case the match does not take place, the responsible people in FIDE should resign their positions. If the match is organised as planned, I will be very happy and appreciate the work done by FIDE.
Gens Una Sumus
Ali Nihat YAZICI
President of Turkish Chess Federation
In December 2004, FIDE announced that the World Championship is cancelled. The match was to have been held 7-24 January 2005 in Dubai or later in Turkey…On 7 December, FIDE issued a press release titled, ‘FIDE terminates negotiations with candidate Dubai organiser of the Kasimdzhanov – Kasparov match’, which explained, ‘The organiser from Dubai did not supply FIDE with the required financial guarantees within the deadline set by the FIDE President.’
The Kasimdzhanov-Kasparov match is now scheduled to be organised in spring 2005 and FIDE has already entered discussions with other candidate organisers and sponsors. Further information on the progress of these discussions will be officially announced until the end of this year.
Only a few days after the President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov told Interfax on Monday. “Initially the match was expected to be held in the United Arab Emirates at the beginning of January, but the organizers have failed to get everything ready by that time,” he said. “Now a new contest has been announced for the match and Turkey has said it wants to host it. I am flying to Turkey to meet senior government officials and discuss the matter,” Ilyumzhinov said.’
On January 18th after over two and a half frustrating years and four postponed or cancelled matches, Garry Kasparov announces his exit from the 2005 FIDE world championship. “It is time to reclaim my life,” Kasparov said, as he halted negotiations with FIDE over his match with Rustam Kasimdzhanov – after more deadlines had passed. Here is Kasparov’s statement.
Garry Kasparov has informed FIDE and the Turkish Chess Federation today that he is no longer available for the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship which was tentatively scheduled for April 25th to May 14th in Istanbul, Turkey. We received Kasparov’s statement from his home in Moscow.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Moscow – January 18, 2005
In 2002 I joined with FIDE in Prague to try and unify the world championship. Over the past two and a half years, unification matches have been scheduled four times and each time the deadlines have come and gone while the financial guarantees were ignored.
Four times I have put my life on hold to schedule three months for preparation, play, and recuperation. The loss of earnings is easy to understand, but the hidden damage is psychological. These postponed and cancelled events have been deeply unsettling to me both professionally and personally. Our global chess federation has rarely thought enough to even keep me informed, let alone compensate me financially or even apologize for these repeated frustrations.
I called a halt to negotiations last night, but resentment at my treatment by FIDE has been building for the past three months. My life has been totally disrupted for two and a half years thanks to this on-again, off-again match and I must go on without this constant interference.
Perhaps the last straw was watching the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee currently underway in the Netherlands. I was forced to give up my invitation to play in this event when FIDE insisted that the match would take place in Dubai on conflicting dates. It breaks my heart to watch such a great event from the sidelines. It hurts me, and I believe chess is poorly served as well.
Some details might help clarify how I reached this state of exhaustion and disillusionment. In September 2004, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov publicly announced that he had the funds for my match with Rustam Kasimdzhanov to take place in Dubai in January 2005. It turned out that this was completely untrue.
At a press conference at the Russian Championship in Moscow two months later I told the media that there were no contracts, no financial guarantees, and that FIDE was giving disinformation. A FIDE official present loudly “whispered” that I was lying, a remark that made its way to ChessBase.com and the chess world. Needless to say, it turned out that the lies were solely on the FIDE side of the story and it speaks volumes about the organization that no apology to me was forthcoming and that this official is still working for FIDE.
I was concerned enough about the lack of tangible progress in organizing the match to write an open letter to the FIDE Congress in October 2004. The FIDE Presidential Board refused to read or circulate this letter at the Congress, apparently believing that no news was good news.
At that time the Turkish Chess Federation was ready to take over the championship organization. President Ali Nihat Yazici had considerable momentum and was ready to proceed with procuring sponsorship guarantees. But FIDE insisted on giving Dubai even more time, even though it had been independently verified that supposed sponsor, HH Sh. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was not going to fund the event and had never intended to.
Far too late, FIDE appointed the Turkish Chess Federation and work began in early December with deadlines looming. The first deadline passed on December 29th and more have passed since. As of today I have no contract with FIDE signed by either player, I have no financial guarantee, and I know from experience that drafting these documents can take considerable time.
I feel great sympathy for Mr. Nihat Yazici, an honorable man who has worked very hard on behalf of chess and on behalf of this match. I believe he may well have eventually come up with an acceptable form of guarantee, but I cannot wait any longer to reclaim control of my life. I will apologize to Ali and those in the Turkish government and business community assisting him and will do my best to lend a hand to Turkish chess in the future.
It’s not about money or winning the title; it’s about my disillusionment with the process and the others on which it depends. In 2002 I dreamed of a legitimate chance to revive – and reclaim – the real world championship title. That no longer seems to be possible. Even if by some miracle the match is held and I win, I would bear a great deal of responsibility and still have no opportunity to unify the title. FIDE has proven itself incapable of the task while others are unwilling.
As for unification, I cannot see an avenue to contribute further. For those who saw me as an obstacle, I will be one no longer. I am not giving up on chess. I will compete as well and as long as I am able to play my brand of chess. I will continue to serve chess and those who love our game. I have now held the #1 ranking for 20 years and I will defend my position against any opponent. My only retreat is from the battlefield of chess championship politics.
Garry Kasparov
Moscow – January 18, 2005
No time for Turkey, on January 20th, the TurkishPress.com released the news: ‘Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov has announced he is withdrawing from a world championship due to be held this year in Turkey because frustration with the World Chess Federation FIDE had led to financial loss and psychological hardship.’
A FIDE Press Release (January 20th) made no attempt to hide its opinion that the World Federation considered Kasparov to be at fault. ‘Garry Kasparov had made it clear several times that he would not sign anything before he receives “acceptable” financial guarantees. […] It has to be clear to everyone that it is impossible to secure such high prize funds from legitimate sponsors, acceptable to FIDE and the IOC, without providing the candidate organizers with the necessary time to complete their efforts, especially when the government of a country is the guarantor for the organization of the match. It is even more difficult to secure these prize funds when the participants demand excessive financial guarantees before commiting themselves in writing.’
It really doesn’t matter any more who is to blame. Any hope of reunifying the FIDE championship title with the Vladimir Kramnik title is now gone. Once again, life goes on, but chess is the big loser.
Ilyumzhinov: reunification with or without Kasparov
But on February 16th, Ilymzhinov made it clear at a Moscow press conference: Reunification is still on track, the match in Turkey will go ahead, for an increased prize sum of $1.65 million. I have given Garry Kasparov a deadline until February 26 to agree to the conditions, otherwise another player will replace him.
Now FIDE president is waiting for an answer from the rated world No.1, who withdrew in January from playing the World Chess Championship match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov at the scheduled dates of April 25th to May 14th 2005.”
On February 17, in Sport-Express, Yuri Vassiliev interview the FIDE President
We have not spoken to Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of Kalmykia and FIDE for more than half a year. This period of time has seen many chess events and shocking news, the latest being the sad letter from the permanent leader of the world rating, 13th World Champion G. Kasparov. He informed the chess world that he is not going to wait any more when his match with the FIDE World Champion R. Kasimdzhanov will be organized. Many people considered this action of Kasparov as his good bye to the unification process. Then, the Prague process had no real meaning…
What are FIDE and its President going to do in this situation? This is of interest for all of us now.
– Mr. Ilyumzhinov, why did the match fail to take place in Dubai? It is hard to believe that such a rich country, as UAE could not find money for this prestigious event.
– Initially, everything was going ok; there has been a letter from Sheikh Mohammed – to take the match under his patronage. Then some force majeur things happened. As you remember, the press conference, where we announced the match, took place last autumn. In a few days time after this, the UAE President passed away. The country, which was going to organize the match, had a mourning of 2 months.
Only the Interior Ministry worked in a normal regime, all other ministries and bodies stopped working, all events were cancelled. The people who we were negotiating with were telling us, come back to us in December.
Meanwhile, the announced dates (January 2005) were approaching, and it was clear that we will not make it. Then the Arab organizers suggested that we postponed the match to the second half of 2005, but it was not what we wished.
– During the superfinal of the Russian Championship, in the middle November 2004, the UAE Organisers representative came to Moscow. He offered to both Kasparov and Kasimdzhanov to come to Dubai for the preliminary press-conference, which was supposed to take place in the famous 7 star hotel. As far as I know, Kasparov refused. Could the match be saved at that stage?
– As I have repeated several times, FIDE is the organizing structure, it looks for the sponsors. This is not so simple to do. We have requested all participants of the process to abstain from their comments. The declarations like “anyway there is no money there”, of course did not add to the success. In the then situation, it was advisable to have made at least a small step towards the organizers. They wanted to see not only the FIDE President, but the great Grandmasters. But, there were complications regarding such a simple thing..
One of the match sponsors was in fact the famous hotel Burj Aal Arab. Its owners did want to organize a press conference of Kasimdzhanov and Kasparov, to cover their airfare, hotel accommodation. Kasimdzhanov was ready to come to Dubai. But the American manager of Kasparov, Mr. O. Willams, suggested that first, a certain financial guarantee was transferred to the account of the 13th World Champion. The Arabs refused to do so.
– The manager of Kasparov was acting as one of the personages of your favorite book. Of course, he has a great experience, he is a professional, this is his business. By the way, one famous chess professional during the Wijk aan Zee tournament expressed such an assumption: the match Kasparov-Kasimdzhanov is easily predictable regarding its result, that is why it was difficult to find money for this match. If the match was worth less than a million, let’s say, 300, 000 USD, then it had been much easier to organize it. Do you agree with this?
– If we had lowered the level for the World Championship match, then it would affect eventually all the chess players. It was out of the question. Then, I would not insist on saying that the match was so easily predictable. Nobody argues, Kasparov is a favourite, but in Tripoli Kasimdzhanov had not been one, but as a result, won over all the super elite players – Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Topalov, Adams. Kasimdzhanov is a good fighter, he was preparing very well to the match against Kasparov, so the result of the match is not 100% predictable. So the match evaluation by your professional does not stand any criticism. Also, because the Turkish government was ready to organize this match and was ready to give one and a half million USD for it.
– Were the Turks really ready to give this money?
– Yes, we have a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Turkey, where he declares that his country is ready to organize the match and gives the amount, afore-mentioned by me.
– Why did this fail?
– The Manager of Kasparov and in this case demanded a certain guarantee amount. The top officials of Turkey replied to me about this: they organize a lot of sport events of the high level and never pay to the sportsmen before the start of the event. They do not want to make an exception to the chess players.
– Please tell, Mr. Ilyumzhinov, have you managed to maintain good relations with Kasparov even after his open letter?
– I have not quarreled with Garry, and have not even had an argument with him. It is his position, what to do.
– V. Kramnik told me in Wijk aan Zee that Kasparov personally withdrew himself from the unification process. He also expressed the opinion that Kasparov might change his attitude.
– We sent an official letter to Kasparov, where we requested him to reply in writing to one question: what doesn’t he want – to play with Kasimdzhanov in this April or to participate in the World Championship at all. So far Garry has not replied to this letter.
– As far as I know, you usually communicated with Kasparov by mobile phones. You could have asked this directly on the phone.
– Yes, we did talk a lot, sometimes, several times a day on the phone. But this is a special case. It was Kasparov who wrote an open letter to FIDE. Let him reply in writing.
– In other words, FIDE has decided to leave for all of us some hope, that Garry might change his mind and agree to play the match during other dates?
– Please be careful: neither Turkish organizers, nor FIDE is in a hurry to make definite declarations. We want Garry to play.
– That is maybe why Kasimdzhanov refused to make any comments when I called his house in January. – Of course. Kasimdzhanov knows that we have sent a letter to Kasparov. He is ready to play in any case, as it seems to me.
– I confess I was under the impression that the Turkish Organisers gave money just in case Kasparov will participate.
– Kasparov of course is a cult figure in chess, but the Government of Turkey was giving money for the World Championship.
– Is it true that there is a plan according to which Kasparov can be replaced in the match with Kasimdzhanov by somebody else, e.g. V. Anand?
– This will be decided at the FIDE Presidential Board in Tbilisi, 26-27 February 2005. Please call me during these dates and you will know the latest news from the meeting room.
– Thanks. I will be glad to be the first to inform my audience. But let’s move further. During the Wijk aan Zee tournament many chess players were expressing their opinion that the Prague Agreement had seen its end. From our discussion it is clear to me that it is too early to bury it.
– Maybe it would be to somebody’s advantage to bury the Prague Agreement. However, we do not deny our signature under it. Chess world needs one World Champion. It is for all chess players, and then it will be easier to speak with sponsors, easier to find money for the matches and tournaments. I am looking into the future optimistically. And I see a united World Champion in this future.
Kommersant, a Moscow newspaper, contacted Kasparov and received the answer that he still has no intentions to participate in the reunification cycle. He had seen his match against the previous champion Ruslan Ponomariov cancelled twice, then moved to Lebanon. Finally Ilyumzhinov officially announced Dubai as the venue for the event, naming a prize fund of $1.25. However, remembering the failure of matches with Ponomarev, Kasparov insisted on financial guarantees this time. As this was not forthcoming he sent an open letter to the FIDE General Assembly in October proposing an alternate solution to the problem. The Turkish Chess Federation was willing to provide the identical conditions for the Kasparov-Kasimdzhanov match. However the plan was not even considered at the time. FIDE returned to it only when it became obvious that the Dubai match would not happen.
However, this time Kasparov did not want to take any more chances. He cites the enormous “financial and psychological damage,” which he has suffered because of the continuous rescheduling of his matches, forcing him to withdraw from a number of super tournaments and practically depriving him of playing practice. He specified that it was “not about money or winning the title”; it was about his “disillusionment with the process and the others on which it depended.”
Kommersant suggests that Ilyumzhinov’s announcement yesterday that FIDE was raising the prize fund may be interpreted as the last attempt to bring Kasparov back to the FIDE cycle. Ilyumzhinov said the 13th World Champion was sent a letter requesting his final decision regarding the match against Kasimdzhanov. FIDE president asked that the answer be given before February 26 – the Federation’s Presidential Council in Tbilisi.
Kasparov has refused to comment on these new proposals by FIDE, but his mother Klara Kasparova told Kommersant that they had been humiliated for three years, and would tolerate it no longer. If Ilyumzhinov had been really interested in returning Kasparov to FIDE cycle, he would have spoken to him directly, and with the Turkish representatives. There had been no such contact.
Kommersant: “So, it appears that the process of chess unification will go on without the World No. 1 player. However, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov seems to be prepared for that. Yesterday, he said that in case of Kasparov’s refusal other candidates will play against Kasimdzhanov – in particular, Viswanathan Anand (India) or Peter Leko (Hungary). And three countries have already offered to host the match – Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.”
