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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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FIDE DRESS CODE POLICY: HELP CHESS BY WEARING PROPER ATTIRE
Regulations
3a The following is acceptable for men players, captains, head of delegation.
Suits, ties, dressy pants, trousers, jeans, long-sleeve or shirt-sleeve dress shirt, dress shirt, alternatively T-shirts or polo, dress shoes, loafers or dressy slip-ons, socks, shoes or sneakers, sport coat, blazer, Bermuda shorts, turtleneck, jacket, vest or sweater. Team uniforms and national costumes clothing.
There's nothing wrong with being a gipsy. A gipsy is a lawless travelling artist who wants to do things his own way. Basically our definition of a modern GM. Nothing wrong with that.
You want to play an 18 moves draw with your shorts on? Fine. Just don't expect any money to be pouring on you...
Last edited by Mathieu Cloutier; Monday, 11th September, 2017, 12:13 AM.
And that's why there's not much money into chess...
Roger Federer shows up for a tournament with a mustard stain on his perfect white shirt and it's THE story for the whole week.
Dress up or go home.
That's not why ... believe me I know.
No matter how a golfer is presented, if you had to sit in front of a screen for four hours watching a golfer walk between shots ... there would be not much money in golf either.
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is on the right track. Just show the moves, some tension, little bit of this and a little bit of that, overlay awesome commentary ... $$$! They had 1 million viewers online for the final round. That's a lot of exposure for product & brand placement.
And perhaps in a few years when the viewer data has been proven consistent ... pay per view $5.00 per viewer for the whole event ... and we're now in the millions of $$$!
Last edited by Neil Frarey; Monday, 11th September, 2017, 12:18 AM.
No matter how a golfer is presented, if you had to sit in front of a screen for four hours watching a golfer walk between shots ... there would be not much money in golf either.
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is on the right track. Just show the moves, some tension, little bit of this and a little bit of that, overlay awesome commentary ... $$$! They had 1 million viewers online for the final round. That's a lot of exposure for product & brand placement.
And perhaps in a few years when the viewer data has been proven consistent ... pay per view $5.00 per viewer for the whole event ... and we're now in the millions of $$$!
One guy managed to bring some money into chess, and he dressed up, all the time.
Seriously. Dress up or go home. The sponsors won't pay for a guy wearing shorts. It's so elementary I can't believe I have to explain it. Forget about the rest of the show. If The show is a guy wearing shorts.... nothing to sell here...
Last edited by Mathieu Cloutier; Monday, 11th September, 2017, 12:27 AM.
If The show is a guy wearing shorts.... nothing to sell here...
The best paid sports are played in shorts, and they are much shorter than Anton's. If you wanna enforce a dress-code, write properly what that means. Otherwise it becomes shorts versus jeans.
One guy managed to bring some money into chess, and he dressed up, all the time.
Seriously. Dress up or go home. The sponsors won't pay for a guy wearing shorts. It's so elementary I can't believe I have to explain it. Forget about the rest of the show. If The show is a guy wearing shorts.... nothing to sell here...
Fischer was a product of heightened tension. Tension between his country The Free World and the entire USSR world of communism! Before that he was the youngest GM of his time! Crushing the US Nationals! And too that a attitude problem!
That was the setting. Of course he demanded money ... you would too (I hope). He was the brilliant chess prodigy who could deliver a Floyd Mayweather KO to communism ... and he did!
Who wouldn't throw money at that???
As for Anton dressing within FIDE's own dress code ... wearing sneakers, Bermuda shorts and t-shirt ... brand the T-shirt, brand the shorts too!!! This guy just took out Anand!
Last edited by Neil Frarey; Monday, 11th September, 2017, 12:43 AM.
The best paid sports are played in shorts, and they are much shorter than Anton's. If you wanna enforce a dress-code, write properly what that means. Otherwise it becomes shorts versus jeans.
Again... the very fact that we have to explain... it means you don't understand in the first place. Who said FIDE should decide what you wear?
You qualify for a tournament where you're gonna earn more than 10k. You are one of the 128 best in the world at what you do (chess). You then beat a former world champion at what you do (chess). Some journalists might show up tomorrow to see what you do (chess) and take some pictures.... What do you wear? Yeah, sure, let's rock that pair of shorts just like it's another Sunday...
Last edited by Mathieu Cloutier; Monday, 11th September, 2017, 12:47 AM.
I believe that the issue with the shorts would have been resolved easily enough and Anton would still be there if it wasn't for ZA. I respect Anton's integrity for walking away after being treated/abused the way he was.
Anton wrote the second letter on his Facebook. Full text
A few clarifications, hopefully my last ones since I don't like to repeat myself.
1. The actual timing:
Everyday I would come about 15 minutes before the game. I was one of the very few players to do so, sometimes it was just me and maybe one or two players more. I wouldn't just sit, I would go in circles around the playing hall before and during the game. I was seen by several arbiters and even had a few eye contacts with some of them. Really, if you are an arbiter that is doing their job you must be blind not to see me. That day I made an exception and came about 10 minutes before the game. Mr. Deluga happened to be standing close to my board. He immediately asked me to change my shorts, his tone wasn't the nicest but he choose the right words to do so. Zurab later on approached me about 5 minutes before the game.
2. The color confusion:
I did NOT MAKE ANY CLAIM! I thought I'm playing with white and asked Mr. Deluga to check. While he went to check I talked to other arbiters who confirmed to me that I'm playing with black. I said it's OK and proceeded to explain why I confused the color. I didn't find the actual color pairing anywhere and I didn't receive an email from the organization as it happened before my game with Anand. So as reference I used the pairing tree where my name is above Rodshtein's and due to the pattern of this meaning that the player above plays with white, I assumed so. Anyways I told the arbiters that this is not a problem. And it really wasn't, since I already knew what Rodshtein plays with white, and although I didn't seriously prepare for this, those that know me, know that I have experience and really like playing against the Catalan opening. So again, for those that don't understand, playing with black that day was not an issue for me! I talked a little with the arbiters, one of them mentioned an anecdote that this has happened to Kamsky once, and that many players make the same confusion. Then I was approached by Mr. Deluga, he showed me the official pairing and I told him it's OK and we didn't speak again.
3. The threats from Zurab:
When Zurab approached me he didn't give me any warning. He assured me that I will be punished by FIDE. At that point I was shocked since I was not given any warning before. This was a huge shock for me before the game, since I don't know what "punished by FIDE" means. Will I be banned from playing chess? Will I get kicked out from the tournament? Will I be stripped away from my monetary prize? All of this questions crossed my mind. I knew that Zurab is the organizer of the tournament and an influential figure in FIDE, and in a prepotent way he yelled that he could do whatever he wants. So even after this threat I wasn't sure if there was point in playing my game. It was clear to me that I wasn't wanted there and Zurab wanted to destabilize me before my game.
4. The use of the racial slur:
Zurab used the word "gypsy" when referring to me multiple times. First he said that I look like one. Later on, when I inquired why he was so rude to me he did indeed respond "BECAUSE YOU'RE A GYPSY" and I believe he repeated this again when I was standing there in shock thinking what action to take. This was all done in a very condescending tone. If you don't know what somebody means when they call you a "gypsy" in a condescending tone and yet you claim it's not a big deal, then I recommend you informing yourself better.
5. The tone of the "conversation":
Zurab was yelling at me at all times during our "conversation", if you can call it that way. He "talked" to me in a very prepotent and condescending tone. I remained respectful till I couldn't take it anymore, and before doing anything impulsive I thought about the consequences and decided to leave. It was clear that Zurab was provoking me, it was obvious that I was upset and he kept repeating the same threats and insults. There were some people in the playing hall at that time, if you heard something, please speak up.
6. My shorts:
I don't know what category my shorts enter. They were a gift from my mother who does her best in buying good quality clothes. I felt very comfortable using this shorts, and to my standards this are some really nice shorts, but I'm not the type of person that follows fashion and is concerned about it. In no way I pretended to offend anybody using this shorts. As I already mentioned I even asked in the previous world cup if what I was wearing was OK (I was wearing other shorts, but they were certainly not better) and I was said that it's fine. In the previous world cup I also made it till round 3, beating former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Continental Champion Sandro Mareco, and eventually losing to the famous super GM Fabiano Caruana.
If my shorts were actually a problem I should have been warned and I would have taken a cab to the mall and bought pants during the free day. It was really not a problem. And what happened in the previous world cup proves that I was willing to cooperate. To my understanding I was dressed decently, but I do come from a humble family, where moral values are put way above superficial things, and that's something I'm proud of and will not tolerate being shamed of. I was later on told that the rules about the dress code are vague and the way I was dressed was not specifically prohibited. Even in this case I WAS WILLING TO COOPERATE.
7. My hygiene:
Anybody that knows me, and/or has lived with me knows that I'm a clean person that showers everyday, and more than once. Claiming that because I wear shorts I'm probably a dirty person is a fallacy and if you don't know how I am, I recommend keeping such assumptions to yourself. Otherwise, what you're doing is wrong and I'm sure you will be outraged the same way as I am when hearing such nonsense about yourself.
8. My decision:
It seems that some people don't understand that I took the hard way out of this situation. To keep my dignity I declined winning several thousands dollars that would of helped my family's economical situation significantly, and instead I put them and myself in a hard situation since we lost about 3000 dollars in this affair, and this is a lot of money for us. Zurab might be used to treat with people that swallow their pride in order to make some dollars. I'm not one of that people. Dignity is way above any money and fame, if you don't see this I recommend you to do some soul searching.
I hope this is my last input about this situation and I can carry on with my daily life without getting distracted. So before you post anything please think twice and inform yourself well.
Anish Giri has had a monumental struggle to stay in the contest. This from chess.com yesterday, which quoted Homer’s Odyssey:
“Then he raised a cry throughout the city, and as they heard it the mighty Laestrygonians came thronging from all sides, a host past counting, not like men but like the Giants. They hurled at us from the cliffs with rocks huge as a man could lift, and at once there rose throughout the ships a dreadful din, alike from men that were dying and from ships that were being crushed. And spearing them like fishes they bore them home, a loathly meal. Now while they were slaying those within the deep harbor, I meanwhile drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, and cut therewith the cables of my dark-prowed ship; and quickly calling to my comrades bade them fall to their oars, that we might escape from out our evil plight. And they all tossed the sea with their oar-blades in fear of death, and joyfully seaward, away from the beetling cliffs, my ship sped on; but all those other ships were lost together there." (Homer, Odyssey, 10.120-10.134)
Anish Giri died a thousand deaths today. Several times he was about to resign his game with S.P. Sethuraman, and say goodbye to the World Cup. He had already worked out the first thing he would do: go to the room of his second GM Erwin l'Ami—not his own, where wife and son were waiting—and kick Erwin out.
"I wanted to be alone," said Giri.
But the Dutchman did not resign. He sailed his ship through all the dangers, missed a forced draw along the way, sailed further, and a bit further than necessary with his safe haven already in sight, but made it in the end.
I believe that the issue with the shorts would have been resolved easily enough and Anton would still be there if it wasn't for ZA. I respect Anton's integrity for walking away after being treated/abused the way he was.
Anton could also give a big F U to Zurab and come to the venue with a pair of pants. That's what Bobby Fischer did and he brought more money into chess than anyone before or after...
One guy managed to bring some money into chess, and he dressed up, all the time.
Seriously. Dress up or go home. The sponsors won't pay for a guy wearing shorts. It's so elementary I can't believe I have to explain it. Forget about the rest of the show. If The show is a guy wearing shorts.... nothing to sell here...
Sponsors are not what make any professional sport economically viable. Sponsorship money is icing on the cake. Sponsors and TV contracts are not based on how players dress, but rather based on ability to captivate an audience. The problem isn't the players, they are young and relatable to the internet generation. Grandmasters have never been more accessible to amateur players. I streamed the first match between GM Varuzhan Akobian and GM Anton Kovalyov, not because Akobian wore a suit and Kovalyov wore shorts, but because it was a GM I knew from St Louis Chess Club videos and he was playing a Canadian. Turned out I made a great choice and I never saw what they were wearing until a week later.
The Chess.com sponsored Chessbrah stream was great. I have no clue who is the World Cup sponsor, so that's the reason there is no money in professional chess sponsorship, Agon and broadcasters have very little captive audience to sell to sponsors. FIDE is on par with FIFA and the Olympic committee for being a terribly run organization. Chess is well positioned to become one of the pre-eminent e-sports if FIDE gets out of its own way. FIDE only has annual revenues of 1.8 to 2.8 million euros. I'd be surprised Chess.com doesn't have better revenues and they are doing a much better job of building a chess community. Chess.com will probably be the leader in growing chess interest over the next few years, more so than FIDE, and they don't enforce a dress code.
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