Proposal for Challenge Matches with the World Champion
August 3, 2016
The Agenda and Annexes for the FIDE General Assembly meeting at Baku Sept. 11 to 13, 2016 are out.
http://www.fide.com/component/conten...d-annexes.html
The annexes make interesting reading, for example, the President's travel expenses for 2015 were 183, 204 euro, which I make to be $267,195 CAN.
In the bottom half of the list is this:
44. Proposal of the Russian Chess Federation for a challenge of World Champions, men and women.
Which reads:
To: Chairman of FIDE Commission for World Championships & Olympiads Mr. Georgios Makropoulos
July 4, 2016
Dear Mr. Makropoulos,
Russian Chess Federation asks the Commission to consider and (if needed) improve and approve the below mentioned amendments to the current system of determining the World Chess Champion at the 87th FIDE Congress (04-14.2016, Baku, Azerbaijan). RCF suggests adding an article to the rules governing World Chess Championship matches stating that the World Chess Champion can accept the challenge of any player who can contribute to the prize fund and the costs of holding of the match.
Herewith a number of basic conditions should be fulfilled:
- The FIDE President would have the power to veto any proposed match. Any proposed World Championship match would be carried out under the auspices of FIDE and according to FIDE rules.
- 50% of the prize fund will go to FIDE
- The match must be held before the end of the current FIDE qualifying round, that is, before a challenger has been determined by the Candidates Tournament.
FIDE Vice President
President of the Russian Chess Federation
Andrey Filatov
_________
This has brought forth a petition from the Association of Chess Professionals:
Petition against proposed World Championship Cycle change
Author: ACP, Board Date: 3 August 2016
The Russian Chess Federation submitted an official proposal to the FIDE Congress for an addition to the current World Championship Cycle rules: anyone guaranteeing a required prize-fund can challenge the reigning World Champion.
We as ACP believe that this idea is completely detrimental to chess for a number of reasons, among which:
- The World Champion Title must be achieved only through a proper sport cycle, especially at a time when chess is increasingly recognized as a sport. The RCF proposal goes against the chess tradition and against the very spirit of modern chess. Although purchasing the right for the match was common practice 100 years ago, it was more of a sad necessity than a good system.
- Staging a "commercial" match would seriously undermine the appeal of the regular cycle match. As things stand, the Title Match is a unique event which is held every two years and which acts as a catalyst for all the chess world. Even so, it is very difficult to raise proper funds for the World Championship Match - we do remember several examples from the recent past and we are witnessing the same problems right now. Who would be interested in paying for the ‘regular match' if it is no longer a unique event? Who would organize the Candidates under these circumstances? Who would regard chess as a proper sport a company can invest in?
- The World Champion Title would be devalued and, more importantly, the image of chess would suffer greatly at all levels and worldwide. It would also put the players on grossly unequal terms: some would have to battle their chances out against the best players of the world in the regular cycle, others would buy their shot at the title by securing the money. This is outright unacceptable. It could also bring to disrepute our noble game, opening the door to problems we can't even foresee now.
- The RCF proposal would inevitably mess up the World Championship Cycle. It would also limit the World Champion’s participation in other events, as he would need to spend most of his time preparing/recovering after the matches. Again, this is certainly not desirable.
The ACP strongly opposes changes to the World Championship Cycle that undermine the very sporting sense and the unique value of the World Chess Champion Title. Our opinion is supported by the results of the ACP Poll - 2016, where over 80% of the chess professionals clearly disapproved the idea of purchasing the rights for the Title Match. If you share our vision, please help fighting this proposal and join the ACP stand by signing and endorsing this statement. The RCF proposal could be approved already in September, and we feel the chess world has to take a clear stand on the matter before then.
ACP Board
Sign the petition here.
http://www.chessprofessionals.org/co...p-cycle-change
________
I agree that this is a retrogressive step, taking the World Championship Matches back to the bad old days of a hundred years ago.
August 3, 2016
The Agenda and Annexes for the FIDE General Assembly meeting at Baku Sept. 11 to 13, 2016 are out.
http://www.fide.com/component/conten...d-annexes.html
The annexes make interesting reading, for example, the President's travel expenses for 2015 were 183, 204 euro, which I make to be $267,195 CAN.
In the bottom half of the list is this:
44. Proposal of the Russian Chess Federation for a challenge of World Champions, men and women.
Which reads:
To: Chairman of FIDE Commission for World Championships & Olympiads Mr. Georgios Makropoulos
July 4, 2016
Dear Mr. Makropoulos,
Russian Chess Federation asks the Commission to consider and (if needed) improve and approve the below mentioned amendments to the current system of determining the World Chess Champion at the 87th FIDE Congress (04-14.2016, Baku, Azerbaijan). RCF suggests adding an article to the rules governing World Chess Championship matches stating that the World Chess Champion can accept the challenge of any player who can contribute to the prize fund and the costs of holding of the match.
Herewith a number of basic conditions should be fulfilled:
- The FIDE President would have the power to veto any proposed match. Any proposed World Championship match would be carried out under the auspices of FIDE and according to FIDE rules.
- 50% of the prize fund will go to FIDE
- The match must be held before the end of the current FIDE qualifying round, that is, before a challenger has been determined by the Candidates Tournament.
FIDE Vice President
President of the Russian Chess Federation
Andrey Filatov
_________
This has brought forth a petition from the Association of Chess Professionals:
Petition against proposed World Championship Cycle change
Author: ACP, Board Date: 3 August 2016
The Russian Chess Federation submitted an official proposal to the FIDE Congress for an addition to the current World Championship Cycle rules: anyone guaranteeing a required prize-fund can challenge the reigning World Champion.
We as ACP believe that this idea is completely detrimental to chess for a number of reasons, among which:
- The World Champion Title must be achieved only through a proper sport cycle, especially at a time when chess is increasingly recognized as a sport. The RCF proposal goes against the chess tradition and against the very spirit of modern chess. Although purchasing the right for the match was common practice 100 years ago, it was more of a sad necessity than a good system.
- Staging a "commercial" match would seriously undermine the appeal of the regular cycle match. As things stand, the Title Match is a unique event which is held every two years and which acts as a catalyst for all the chess world. Even so, it is very difficult to raise proper funds for the World Championship Match - we do remember several examples from the recent past and we are witnessing the same problems right now. Who would be interested in paying for the ‘regular match' if it is no longer a unique event? Who would organize the Candidates under these circumstances? Who would regard chess as a proper sport a company can invest in?
- The World Champion Title would be devalued and, more importantly, the image of chess would suffer greatly at all levels and worldwide. It would also put the players on grossly unequal terms: some would have to battle their chances out against the best players of the world in the regular cycle, others would buy their shot at the title by securing the money. This is outright unacceptable. It could also bring to disrepute our noble game, opening the door to problems we can't even foresee now.
- The RCF proposal would inevitably mess up the World Championship Cycle. It would also limit the World Champion’s participation in other events, as he would need to spend most of his time preparing/recovering after the matches. Again, this is certainly not desirable.
The ACP strongly opposes changes to the World Championship Cycle that undermine the very sporting sense and the unique value of the World Chess Champion Title. Our opinion is supported by the results of the ACP Poll - 2016, where over 80% of the chess professionals clearly disapproved the idea of purchasing the rights for the Title Match. If you share our vision, please help fighting this proposal and join the ACP stand by signing and endorsing this statement. The RCF proposal could be approved already in September, and we feel the chess world has to take a clear stand on the matter before then.
ACP Board
Sign the petition here.
http://www.chessprofessionals.org/co...p-cycle-change
________
I agree that this is a retrogressive step, taking the World Championship Matches back to the bad old days of a hundred years ago.
Comment