More ridiculous news from Elista

World Championship Chess Dead?

Game 5 was not played today.

The start of the game was delayed to settle the controversy between the two sides. The game was started at 15:22. Topalov is sitting at the board, Kramnik's clock is running. Kramnik is in his restroom and is waiting for his toilet to be opened. It seems the game is not going to start unless the toilet is opened. Kramnik lost game five on time after 1 hour. Chief Arbiter Geurt Gijssen confirmed that Kramnik has forfeited the 5th game.

Here's the sequence of events that led up to this ridiculous scene...

Appeal of the Head of the Bulgarian Delegation (Danailov)

Apparently Danailov feels that Kramnik (get ready for this) has been going to the bathroom too many times during games. He claims 50 times a day, which is an exaggeration, but nonetheless it probably is "too many" times. But so what? My guess is that it's related to Kramnik's recent illness, and Kramnik feels under no obligation to explain. But Topalov implies cheating.

The bathroom is the only place without video surveillance. [...] We would like to once again remind you that the bathroom is the only place without video or audio surveillance.

Danailov's proposed solution?

To stop the use of the rest rooms and the adjacent bathrooms for both players. If a player needs to go to the bathroom, he can use the public bathroom, but only with permission from the Arbiter and accompanied by an assistant arbiter.

Decision of the Appeals Committee to the appeal of Danailov

The Appeals Committee decided: (a) To close both the toilets in the players’ rest rooms and to open another toilet that will be available only to the two players and (b) Not to accept the request of Danailov, to stop the use of the rest rooms by the players.

Apparently this turned out to be unacceptable to both Topalov's camp and Kramnik.

Open Letter of Kramnik to FIDE President Ilyumzhinov

The WCC Committee is clearly violating both the rules and regulations of the WCC match and the rights of Kramnik. [...] Therefore Kramnik requests to exchange the mentioned persons [Makropolous, Azmaiparashivili] immediately. [...] Our team does not trust the objectivity of the Appeals Committee anymore. [...] Kramnik will stop playing this match as long as FIDE is not ready to respect Kramnik’s rights.

Answer of the Head of the Bulgarian Delegation on the Decision of the Appeal Committee

The ruling in its present form is not satisfactory to us. [...] Topalov is outraged by the suspicious behavior of his opponent. [...] Topalov is willing to continue his participation in the match provided that measures to guarantee fair play are taken. If the match were to continue, the World Champion would refrain from shaking hands with Kramnik before the games.

Topalov will play "provided that blah blah blah" = Topalov will not play.

Not shaking hands? Wow! Time travel back to Karpov-Korchnoi 1981 ... except that back then Korchnoi's family was being held in Karpov's USSR. Hell, even Fischer and Spassky shook hands.

Open Letter of Ilyumzhinov to Kramnik

Open Letter #2 of Kramnik

FIDE President decision to postpone Game of 30 September

There will be no game tomorrow. The next game is rescheduled for October 1. No word on whether that would be game 5 or game 6.

Ilyumzhinov Interview

Now of course, the players and organizer have an actual match-related problem on their hands, Kramnik's technical loss. So before the two sides can negotiate toilets or anything else, they have to work out whether the score of the match is 3-1 or 3-2. I don't see them getting them over this stumbling block. I think the match is dead.

I continue to be appalled at the state of professional chess. Not even Fischer about his most petulant never behaved like this. This match has been 4 years in the planning, and it's going to be cancelled ... over Kramnik's use of the toilet!? Add to this the fiasco over the 2007 candidates cycle, and I don't think world championship will ever recover.

Once again chess has shot itself in the foot; who will want to sponsor a top-level chess match if the whole thing can grind to a halt over a dispute about a toilet? - GM Nunn

What a freakin' joke

I am of course speaking about FIDE. It was announced back in January that the 16 candidates were to meet in two rounds of matches. I was skeptical even back then. Sure enough. Less than a month before these matches were supposed to have started, FIDE tells us that "there were difficulties in organising the Candidate matches" and that the challenger will instead be determined by a round robin tournament including all the candidates. One more punch line: in April 2007.

How can there be professional chess players if they can't plan for even the most basic components of world championship competition?

(In related news, the Masters Golf Tournament will take place in Seattle in December and Wimbledon will be played in France this year.)

Game 4 Drawn

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 {9.0-0 is considered to be the main line, 9.e4 is also popular} b4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 bxa3 12. O-O Bd6 13. b3 Nf6 14. Nd2 {New. Pogorelov-Vera, Spain 2006, went 14.Bd3} Qc7 15. Bf3!? Bxh2+ 16. Kh1 Bd6 17. Nc4 Be7 18. Bxa3 O-O 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Ra5 Rfd8 21. Kg1 c5 22. Rxc5 Ne4 23. Bxe4 Bxe4 24. Qg4 Bd3 25. Ra1 {It's unclear why Veselin declines the natural 25.Rc1} Rac8 26. Raa5 Rb8 27. Qd1 {27.Ne5 gives nothing) Be4 28. Qa1 Rb7 29. Nd2 Bg6 30. Qc3 h6 {White has very picturesque position, but Kramnik has no weakness} 31. Ra6 Kh7 32. Nc4 Be4 33. f3 Bd5 34. Nd2 Rdb8 35. Qd3+ f5 36. Rc3 Qh4 37. Ra1 Qg3 38. Qc2 Rf7 39. Rf1 Qg6 40. Qd3 Qg3 41. Rfc1 Rfb7 42. Qc2 Qg5 43. Ra1 Qf6 44. Qd3 Rd7 45. Ra4 Rbd8 46. Rc5 Kg8 47. Nc4 Bxc4 48. Raxc4 f4 49. Rc6 fxe3 50. Qxe3 Rxd4 51. Rxe6 Qh4 52. Rxd4 Qxd4 53. Re8+ Kh7 54. Qxd4 1/2-1/2

Analysis by GM Marin
Analysis by GM Inarkiev

Game 3 Drawn

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bd7 7. Qxc4 Na5 8. Qd3 c5 9. O-O Bc6 10. Nc3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bc5 12. Rd1 Bxg2 {Risky move} 13.Qb5+ Nd7 14. Kxg2 a6 15. Qd3 Rc8 {New. Seems to be invented at the board. Tkachev-Solezhenkin, France 2000, continued 15....Qd3. 15...Nf6!? is worth mentioning.} 16. Bg5 Be7 {16…Qg5? 17.Ne6! Qe7 18.Ng7 Kd8 19.Nd5 Qd6 20.b4} 17. Bxe7 {17.Ne4!? Bg5? 18.Nd6 Kf8 (18…Ke7? 19.Nc8 Qc8 20.Qa3! Qc5 21.Qc5 Nc5 22.b4) 19.Nc8 Qc8 20.Nf3 or 17....0-0? 18.Ne6 fe 19.Be7 Qe7 20.Qd7} Qxe7 18. Rac1 Nc4 {18…0-0? 19.Ne6!} 19. Na4 b5 20. b3 O-O 21. bxc4 bxa4 22. Nc6 Rxc6 23. Qxd7 Qc5 24.Rc3 g6 25. Rb1 h5 26. Rb7 e5 27. e4 Rf6 28. Rc2 Qa3 29. Qd1 Rd6 30.Rd2 Rfd8 31. Rd5 Rxd5 32. cxd5 Qxa2 33. Qf3 Rf8 34. Qd3 a3 {35.Rb3? f5!} 35. Rb3 f5 36. Qxa6 Qxb3 37. Qxg6+ Kh8 38. Qh6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Analysis by GM Mihail Marin
Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev

Kramnik 2, Topalov 0

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. e4 O-O 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Qe3 Bg6 15. Ng5 {Petrosian - Smyslov, Bar 1980, continued 15.Bg6} Re8 16. f4 Bxd3 {Pelletier-Deviatkin, Moscow 2003, continued 16...Rc8} 17. Qxd3 f5 18. Be3 Nf8 19. Kh1 Rc8 20. g4 Qd7 21. Rg1 Be7 22. Nf3 Rc4 23. Rg2 fxg4 24. Rxg4 Rxa4 25. Rag1 g6 26. h4 Rb4 27. h5 Qb5 28. Qc2 Rxb2 29. hxg6 h5 30. g7 hxg4 31. gxf8Q+ Bxf8 32. Qg6+ {What a mistake! White misses 33.Rg4! Bg7 34.Qc7!, cause on 34...Qf1 there is 35.Ng1.} Bg7 33. f5 Re7 34. f6 Qe2 35. Qxg4 Rf7 36. Rc1 Rc2 37. Rxc2 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 Qxc2+ 39. Kg3 Qe4 40. Bf4 Qf5 41. Qxf5 exf5 42. Bg5 a5 43. Kf4 a4 44. Kxf5 a3 45. Bc1 Bf8 46. e6 Rc7 47. Bxa3 Bxa3 48. Ke5 Rc1 49. Ng5 Rf1 50. e7 Re1+ 51. Kxd5 Bxe7 52. fxe7 Rxe7 53. Kd6

53....Re1? {53...Re3! wins because after 54.d5 Kf8 55.Kd7 b5 56.Ne6+ Kg8 57.d6 b4 58.Nc5 the rook controls b3 and is therefore ready to support the b-pawn without wasting a tempo. Then the continuation 58...Kf7 59.Kc6 Rc3 60.Kb5 b3 61.Na4 Rc2 62.d7 Ke7 leads to a clear win. - Nunn} 54. d5 Kf8 55. Ne6+ Ke8? {55....Kd7! still draws} 56. Nc7+ Kd8 57. Ne6+ Kc8 58. Ke7 Rh1 59. Ng5 b5 60. d6 Rd1 61. Ne6 b4 62. Nc5 Re1+ 63. Kf6 Re3 0-1

Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev
Analysis by GM Mihail Marin

Kramnik 1, Topalov 0

I am not surprised.

Kramnik (2743) - Topalov (2813) [E04]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2!? c6 9.a4 b5 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Qg5 0-0 12.Qxb5 Ba6 13.Qa4 Qb6 14.0-0 Qxb2 15.Nbd2 Bb5 16.Nxc4 Bxa4 17.Nxb2 Bb5 18.Ne5 Ra7 19.Bf3 Nbd7 20.Nec4 Rb8 21.Rfb1 g5 22.e3 g4 23.Bd1 Bc6 24.Rc1 Be4 25.Na4 Rb4 26.Nd6 Bf3!? 27.Bxf3 gxf3 28.Nc8 Ra8 29.Ne7+ Kg7 30.Nc6 Rb3 31.Nc5 Rb5 32.h3 Nxc5 33.Rxc5 Rb2 34.Rg5+ Kh6 35.Rgxa5 Rxa5 36.Nxa5 Ne4 37.Rf1 Nd2 38.Rc1 Ne4 39.Rf1 f6 40.Nc6 Nd2 41.Rd1 Ne4 42.Rf1 Kg6 [With such a perfect coordination of pieces (R + N + P), Topalov correctly assumes that he can play for a win without too much risk. He might have also thought that even if White would hold a draw, it would useful to take the psychological initiative from the very first game of the match. However, he might have underestimated the strength of the enemy knight, which, in spite of being cut off his colleagues, is able to restrict Black's activity by attacking the enemy pawns from behind.]

43.Nd8 Rb6 44.Rc1 h5 45.Ra1 h4 46.gxh4 Kh5 47.Ra2 Kxh4 48.Kh2 Kh5 49.Rc2 Kh6 50.Ra2 Kg6 51.Rc2 Kf5 52.Ra2 Rb5 53.Nc6 Rb7 54.Ra5+ Kg6 55.Ra2 Kh5.

56.d5! e5 57.Ra4 f5? [Probably surprised by the unexpected course of events, Topalov fails to find his last saving possibility, consisting of 57...Nxf2 58.Kg3 e4 and if 59.Kxf2 then 59...Rb2+ with perpetual.] 58.Nxe5 Rb2 59.Nd3 The rest is easy. 59...Rb7 60.Rd4 Rb6 61.d6 Nxd6 62.Kg3 Ne4+ 63.Kxf3 Kg5 64.h4+ Kf6 65.Rd5 Nc3 66.Rd8 Rb1 67.Rf8+ Ke6 68.Nf4+ Ke5 69.Re8+ Kf6 70.Nh5+ Kg6 71.Ng3 Rb2 72.h5+ Kf7 73.Re5 Nd1 74.Ne2 Kf6 75.Rd5 1-0

Analysis by GM Ernesto Inarkiev
Analysis by GM Mihail Marin

ChessTheatre

ChessTheatre is a free program to view and publish PGN chess databases. You can use it to view your chess games on your own PC, but also share them with others on the internet by using the integrated publishing function. (I have not used it so cannot provide a review.)

http://www.dgtprojects.com/chesstheatre.htm