No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

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  • No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

    No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

    Press Release

    World Championship Match 2014

    Wednesday, 30 April 2014 13:05

    FIDE has not received any bid by the deadline of 13.00 GMT of April 30th, 2014.

    A further announcement will be made by FIDE in due course.

    FIDE Secretariat
    ____________

    Viewers’ Comments

    - Strange that Norway is not expressed desire to hold the match: the likelihood of another triumph for Magnus, the rise of patriotism and national pride in the country, evident popularize chess among the population, including children.

    - So where will Anand – Carlsen end up now? Khanty Mansiysk? Elista? Moscow? Or will Kirsan phone his alien friends?

    (Kasparov) - It says everything when Ilyumzhinov's FIDE cannot find sponsorship for a WCh match with charismatic young world champion

    - Nobody wants to pay a 20% FIDE tax, and finance a junket for FIDE officials? I'm shocked. (That was sarcasm by the way.)

  • #2
    Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

    Magnus Carlsen versus Viswanathan Anand, the sequel, gets no bids for hosting rights

    By Raakesh Natraj in The Indian Express, New Delhi, May 2, 2014

    Despite having the sport’s most marketable face as the world champion, chess’s world body FIDE on Thursday announced that they had received no bids to host the title bout between Norway’s incumbent Magnus Carlsen and challenger Viswanathan Anand.

    “FIDE has not received any bid by the deadline… A further announcement will be made by FIDE in due course,” read a terse statement on the official website.

    It is understood that the Indian Chess Federation, who hosted the final last year in Chennai, may have passed up on the opportunity this time around due to the political commitments of the current president, JCD Prabhakar, who is an MLA of Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK party. Last year, the Tamil Nadu government had sanctioned Rs 29 crores for the championship match.

    The Norwegian Federation, which had shown interest last year in hosting the event, cited the lack of funds to organise it this time around. “A chess tournament has little exposure for sponsors. It is difficult to bring customers and arrange special events in conjunction with a chess tournament,” said Joran Aulin-Jansson, president of Norway’s Chess Federation, to Aftenposten.no. However, with no bids emerging, there may be enough time for Norway to organise an application.

    “Subject to what FIDE decides, this may give us an opportunity still to bring about a bid for the event,” said Aulin-Jansson. “We’ll see what the contents of the next message from FIDE is. We will not give up hope of a championship at home.”

    With the FIDE presidential elections coming around in August this year, the news that the world championship match has drawn no sponsor interest has been expectedly taken up.

    Former world champion Garry Kasparov, running for the top post against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president since 1995, said the lack of takers for the championship match points to the absence of professionalism within FIDE which makes it difficult for new sponsors to engage with it.

    “Many western sponsors do not want to deal with Kirsan’s FIDE & some of his usual backers are facing sanctions,” he tweeted. “Have firm schedule, invite potential sponsors into the process early etc. The way professionals do it in other sports,” he offered on Twitter.

    The French Chess Federation had expressed an interest to hold last year’s match, submitting a proposal that nominated Paris as the venue, but FIDE had turned them down, saying the match was not subject to a bid as they had unilaterally offered India the rights to host. There maybe further interest from the Federation this year, considering the April 30 deadline looks likely to be extended. Other venues that are being touted are Khanty-Mansiysk, Moscow and Elista, all three of which have held high profile chess events recently.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

      Without getting into details, from my personal experience I can't say I'm surprised. When FIDE looks for sponsors for the WC match, they are looking for someone to write a cheque and go away; not for a real sponsor who is a partner in the event. Any western sponsor needs about one meeting with FIDE to realize this and walk away.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

        Kasparov risks to leave a very negative legacy, despite being if not the greatest player of all time, at least the player with the most energetic style of all time. There were FIDE presidents and candidates all the time, but Garry is the noisiest of all. His record as an organizer is non-existent. The lack of sponsorship of the World Championship match should be a matter of concern and not a campaign action.
        The lack of sponsorship is not a surprise. Who has the burden to get financial support for the match/ I might be wrong but I think is the Challenger, in this case Anand. As Magnus already won in India, he might be OK to play there again.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

          I don't know if this is a massive factor, but it can't help that the last two WC matches have been fairly awful from a competitive standpoint. Anand v. Gelfand had few interesting, competitive games, and the last match was very one sided.

          This match could be more competitive, but frankly, Anand didn't exactly destroy the field in the Candidates so much as benefit from largely out of form competitors. From a competitive standpoint Carlsen versus Kramnik or Aronian seem much more enticing. Although not in the candidates I really think that Grischuk or Caruana would both do better against Carlsen than Anand would at this point, although probably Grischuk would be hell bent on drawing all games in the match to get to a playoff, which would not be interesting if he is successful.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

            Personally I would like to see the world championship go back to the old three year cycle with candidates matches and interzonals. How many multi-million dollar world championship matches can sponsors support in a short period of time? I am probably in somewhat of a minority position on this as I am sure the top players appreciate the occasional million dollar payday even if there is some occasional difficulty in locating sponsors willing to hand over such large sums of money several times a year.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

              Originally posted by Laurentiu Grigorescu View Post
              Kasparov risks (leaving) a very negative legacy ... His record as an organizer is non-existent. The lack of sponsorship of the World Championship match should be a matter of concern and not a campaign action.
              Exactly. The Kasparov campaign seems to be about "what's good for Garry Kimovich" and not "what's good for chess". I couldn't help but wonder if the sudden infusion of cash into Jamaican chess had something to do with buying support for his campaign. I don't think trading one group of corrupt chess politicians for another is much progress at all.

              The lack of sponsorship is not a surprise. Who has the burden to get financial support for the match/ I might be wrong but I think is the Challenger, in this case Anand. As Magnus already won in India, he might be OK to play there again.
              I may be way off here, but it seems to me there are two contrasting views of chess internationally; one, characterized by overly optimistic assessments of the imminent professionalization of the sport, and the other, characterized by an obstinate determination to retain the apparent amateur quality of the sport.

              I'm beginning to think both sides are wrong.
              Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                We had a very strong committee in Toronto with excellent connections looking at the Anand - Gelfand match. The problem was not FIDE- it was chess! Corporate leaders rejected the price tag of the match, relative to other sport sponsorship opportunities. In fact they complained that there was an extra zero in our request. At 10% of the asking price they might have been persuaded.

                Another difficulty this time round is event fatigue. The reunification of the WCC title has finally come home to roost and an extra match has been squeezed into the calendar. Hereafter the next match will be in 2016, in keeping with the 2 year cycle.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                  Originally posted by Nigel Hanrahan View Post
                  Exactly. The Kasparov campaign seems to be about "what's good for Garry Kimovich" and not "what's good for chess". I couldn't help but wonder if the sudden infusion of cash into Jamaican chess had something to do with buying support for his campaign. I don't think trading one group of corrupt chess politicians for another is much progress at all.
                  The money for Jamaican chess came from a Jamaican businessman who apparently has a son interested in chess. It had nothing to do with the FIDE campaign.

                  I may be way off here, but it seems to me there are two contrasting views of chess internationally; one, characterized by overly optimistic assessments of the imminent professionalization of the sport, and the other, characterized by an obstinate determination to retain the apparent amateur quality of the sport.

                  I'm beginning to think both sides are wrong.
                  I think we have to stop subscribing to a naive view that we need a hero to save us. We need to do what we can and turn our attention what we should do just in case that hero never shows up.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                    Originally posted by Nicolas Haynes View Post
                    This match could be more competitive, but frankly, Anand didn't exactly destroy the field in the Candidates so much as benefit from largely out of form competitors. From a competitive standpoint Carlsen versus Kramnik or Aronian seem much more enticing.
                    Anand easily won the event. Considering the importance of the event, suggesting his opponents were "out of form" is simply making excuses for their performance.

                    Kramnik finished a full point and a half behind Anand and Aronian was a shocking two points behind Anand and below 50%. They did not show themselves to be competitive enough.

                    If you remove Anand and his score from the event there would be a 2 way tie for first place at 6 1/2 points. (Unless my math is wrong.) Karjakin and Mamedyarov. I'm not sure who would have the better S/B score. Three players would be at 6 points. The event would look competitive. For me that says the players were not "out of form" but very competitive with each other. The simply were not competitive against Anand.
                    Gary Ruben
                    CC - IA and SIM

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                      Kirsan’s Dilemma

                      Two bidding deadlines for the Carlsen-Anand rematch have come and gone, with no bids received.

                      The most likely reason is that potential sponsors thought a new challenger would emerge, their own man, and one did not.

                      A rematch is a harder sell.

                      Norway, who would be expected to step up and take a role, is holding the Olympiad, which at the moment has a 1.82 million EUR shortfall. It is still looking for sponsors.

                      India held the last World Championship. One remembers the portrait of The Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa dominating the playing area.
                      The Indian General Election is still on with another week or so before the results are proclaimed. A huge amount of money has been spent on it and it may be that no one wants to commit to a WCC Match right now.

                      FIDE is in an election year with the presidential election in August 2014. Ilyumzhinov and Kasparov are expending pots of money and energy in an effort to beat their opponent into the ground.

                      Where does that put us now?

                      We have a champion and a challenger and a match scheduled for November 5 to November 25 with no host. The FIDE President isn’t sure how much longer he will be President. What assurances can he give?

                      It is inconceivable that the match be cancelled or put off until next year. That means then that the President must come up with a backer, and quickly.

                      Ruling out Norway and India, what other countries could step in? Russia? It looks like the Alekhine Memorial and Tal Memorial may not take place this year and the Russian economy is none too robust with the events in Ukraine. Danailov and Bulgaria have been insulted so many times that it is unlikely that he would step forward as a saviour.

                      Billionaire Filatov sponsored his friend Gelfand’s match but he is said to want to focus on supporting junior chess. Rex Sinquefield is a possibility but he is on the ticket with Garry Kasparov. The match could go to the USA if Garry wins the presidentship, not otherwise and not in 2014.

                      The clock is ticking and Kirsan has to make his move.
                      ____________
                      Much of what I have written is in an article that appeared today at:

                      https://chess24.com/en/read/news/no-...match-what-now

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                        Event fatigue seems to be the real cause of the problem. I do agree with Vlad's suggestion of 3 year cycle - I would go even further with the old Interzonals, where the Canadian representative would have a guaranteed 11 games tourney against strong opposition, and not like in WC where just Round 1 is a sure bet. WC is a useless format within World Championship cycle in my opinion. Not a single other contest copied its format.
                        But the FIDE leadership struggle overshadows the business as usual. In the Ukraine context, the vote for FIDE president may follow the political lines taken by countries in that bigger game.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                          Originally posted by Laurentiu Grigorescu View Post
                          Event fatigue seems to be the real cause of the problem. I do agree with Vlad's suggestion of 3 year cycle - I would go even further with the old Interzonals, where the Canadian representative would have a guaranteed 11 games tourney against strong opposition, and not like in WC where just Round 1 is a sure bet. WC is a useless format within World Championship cycle in my opinion. Not a single other contest copied its format.
                          But the FIDE leadership struggle overshadows the business as usual. In the Ukraine context, the vote for FIDE president may follow the political lines taken by countries in that bigger game.
                          Agree, the old 3 years' system with Zonal, Interzonal and Candidates' Tournaments or Candidates' matches was fair, predictable, so the rules were there equal for all players. And very important to stay away from active chess, blitz and armageddon games - for that one could organize separate tournaments.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                            There are two more recent articles on the no-bid situation of the World Championship.

                            http://en.chessbase.com/post/no-bids...mpionship-2014

                            http://www.chessvibes.com/?q=no-bids...arlsen-rematch

                            and some viewers' comments:

                            - I don't always agree with Kasparov, but his last sentence (on Facebook) seems to perfectly summarize the problem: 
"The common denominator of the problem is today's FIDE, which has none of the transparency and long-term planning required to deal with serious commercial sponsorship.”

                            - The real killer is the FIDE 25% tax- they don't deserve that much- for what they actually provide 5% would make it more affordable

                            - there is a timing problem :

                            Two major events the same year (Olympiad and WC match)

                            There have been a WC match or tournament almost every year since 2004. Imagine having olympic games every years, or soccer world cup.

                            - Carlsen isn't marketable, full stop. When Vishy/Vlad were WCs people used to come running to host the title matches. But this Norwegian guy is boring, lacks grace, charisma and his self promotion moments with Gates and Zuckerberg won't help in the long run. Sure it may give him his 2 minutes fame, which he craves for so much but that’s it.

                            - This is irony, I presume?
 You have only to look at the comment section of any chess new site to see that articles involving Carlsen and articles involving WC matches are twice as commented on as others. This can only mean that they raise more interest.

                            - Magnus Carlsen is at least a class better then Anand; the match will be very one-sided again and Magnus Carlsen would simply win with a big margin from Anand. That most probably is the real reason there is no interest.

                            Magnus Carlsen simply is too good.
                            _____________

                            And in a strange parallel, professional bowling is not finding backers for its premier tournament either:

                            Just how bad have things gotten for professional bowling? So bad that the sport's governing body just canceled one of its biggest tournaments for the second year in a row because they couldn't find anyone willing to sponsor it. The 2014 US Open had already been canceled, but now the Bowling Proprietors Association of America says it's giving up on the 2015 edition as well, CBS News reports. The group says it needs about $500,000 to run the tournament, and no advertisers are stepping up to provide it.

                            The bowling community is "in an uproar" over the decision, according to Daily Advance bowling columnist Lee Owen. "You have to wonder what this means for the sport of competitive bowling as we know it," he writes. (Newser)
                            Last edited by Wayne Komer; Tuesday, 6th May, 2014, 03:17 PM.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: No Bids to Organize World Championship Match

                              I am not sure I agree with your assessment of Carlsen, but it seems clear that India will not pony up to stage the rematch; Norway is already overloaded with the upcoming (Chess) Olympiad and are likely still smarting from the previous slap in the face from FIDE where there was an 'understanding' to offer the WC match sponsorship to India...

                              As long as IllusionOf is FIDE president, the match cannot take place in the U.S. (I'll bet Susan Polgar could arrange sponsorship if they ever asked her opinion of anything -not bloody likely) so that leaves the same old choices like Kantsky-Myansk or whatever. A place you have to Google to know exists. Yes, that would be good for the WC.

                              Why not cut costs [pretty much completely] and run the match over the internet via Skype? FIDE Arbiter at each end... Play wherever you find yourself: time zone issues are your problem...
                              ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

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