An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

[Neil Frarey]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

Reads like a letter from a chiding lover.

Disappointing effort.

[Brent Golem]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

This is plausible: everybody likes Anand, and it's not great for continuing public interest in the world's second biggest country when their 5-time champion gets KO'ed in round 2.

[...]

Here are a couple of possibilities:

1. ZA is just making this up and telling the CB India reporter this to portray himself as defending the Indian chess legend;
2. Anand actually complained about Kovalyov's attire.

I hope somebody asks Anand about #2.

Link to ZA quote about Anand:
https://youtu.be/ukuxx1RHs3g?t=3m53s

This Anand conspiracy theory is not plausible. Why would they take action the round AFTER he played Anand, instead of while he played Anand? Maybe it was because Anton was getting more press as an underdog that ZA realized that he didn't like what Anton was wearing. But, at the end of the day, there doesn't need to be a conspiracy for the man to act like a jerk.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

Good letter, Vlad.

Fred McKim, Ken Craft, John Upper and Vadim Tsypin were helpful in making the final letter what it was. John in particular pointed out a number of places where the language could be more grammatically correct and also stronger. It was great working with a copy editor to make a powerful impression (I hope). It appears that I still managed to insert one typo. The became Th. Oh well blame it on fat fingers.

[John Upper]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

“Vishy Anand is a very respectable player, one of my favorite gentlemen actually”

Having Anand, his friend and former World Champion, in the final would boost the prestige of the tournament and this upstart Canadian ruined it all. He was angry and lashed out!

My view anyway.

This is plausible: everybody likes Anand, and it's not great for continuing public interest in the world's second biggest country when their 5-time champion gets KO'ed in round 2.

But ZA said this to the ChessBase India interviewer, so it might have just been an attempt to make the Indian audience feel more sympathetic to him.

More interesting for me is what he said just after the bit you quote. Speaking about Anand, ZA says:

"I am sure that he really feeled not so comfortable when his opponent break the rules, but he didn't ask the Arbiters because he behave as a gentleman as usually."

Here are a couple of possibilities:

1. ZA is just making this up and telling the CB India reporter this to portray himself as defending the Indian chess legend;
2. Anand actually complained about Kovalyov's attire.

I hope somebody asks Anand about #2.

Link to ZA quote about Anand:
https://youtu.be/ukuxx1RHs3g?t=3m53s

[Mavros Whissell]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

An Open Letter to FIDE, from the Chess Federation of Canada regarding the Kovalyov incident at the World Cup.
September 17, 2017

Great letter Vlad!

You clearly state you are not interested in FIDE's minimizing tactics/b.s. responses, which are common industry practices outside of chess (and apparently inside) when there is a critical situation that no one wants to be accountable for. I think you've addressed it all quite well here.

I think we can all agree that FIDE is highly unlikely to change its opinion or support for Zurab the Enforcer. But knowing this beforehand, you have shown to me very clearly that you can make the right decision and support our Canadian players abroad.

Mavros

[Victor Plotkin]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

September 18, 2017

Why did Zurab single out Anton?

My own view can be seen in the transcript in Post #94 of my Chess World Cup thread:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...Cup-2017/page5

“Vishy Anand is a very respectable player, one of my favorite gentlemen actually”

Having Anand, his friend and former World Champion, in the final would boost the prestige of the tournament and this upstart Canadian ruined it all. He was angry and lashed out!

My view anyway.

A very good explanation. Perhaps, ZA was unhappy to see a lot of upsets in rounds 2-3, where many strong favourites lost their matches (Carlsen, Kramnik, Caruana, Anand, Nakamura, Wei Yi, Mamedyarov, Karjakin).

I can add the fact that one of the first coaches of Anand was a Georgian GM Ubilava.

[Ian Findlay]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

Agreed good letter. I would be interested to hear Phil Haley's opinion on this matter.

[Peter McKillop]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

Good letter, Vlad.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

September 18, 2017

Why did Zurab single out Anton?

My own view can be seen in the transcript in Post #94 of my Chess World Cup thread:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...Cup-2017/page5

“Vishy Anand is a very respectable player, one of my favorite gentlemen actually”

Having Anand, his friend and former World Champion, in the final would boost the prestige of the tournament and this upstart Canadian ruined it all. He was angry and lashed out!

My view anyway.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

This is all fine and good...

But does anyone here is willing to wonder why the hell Anton was singled out? Everyone at the World Cup dresses casually, but only Anton is singled out.

If Zurab is a psycho who goes after anyone not dressed formally, he would have gone after Anton AND a bunch of other players. Strange enough, he only went after Anton...

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: An Open Letter to FIDE from the CFC

PDF version is available on the CFC forum http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/sh...8049#post28049

[Vlad Drkulec]

An Open Letter to FIDE, from the Chess Federation of Canada regarding the Kovalyov incident at the World Cup.
September 17, 2017
Dear Mr. Makropoulos,
I would like to thank you for your September 15, response to Hal Bond’s protest on behalf of Canadian chessplayer Anton Kovalyov on the incident at the World Cup. I would like to preface my remarks by saying that I respect you and all you’ve contributed to FIDE and the world of chess. I would also like to say that I understand that GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili has made huge contributions to chess organization and fundraising and I respect that as well. I am aware of an incident in a previous World Youth Chess Championship where he was a voice of reason and was instrumental in resolving a problematic situation in favour of a very young Canadian who had made an improper claim of threefold repetition. I would certainly not expect nor hope that this current World Cup incident will be that which the Grandmaster and President of the ECU will be remembered for.
The comments made by the president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov certainly gave hope that some measure of justice might be hoped for in this most unfortunate situation and that FIDE recognized the seriousness and implications of trying to minimize what happened to Mr. Kovalyov.
I would ask that we avoid the error of seizing upon some pretext to explain the unexplainable and the unconscionable act which took place. An organizer and member of the Appeals Committee intervened moments before a competition to distract and insult a Grandmaster who only a few moments before became aware that there might be a problem with the way he was dressed.

https://ss.sport-express.ru/userfile...0297/large.jpg
I would like to point out this photograph dated September 7, 2017 where Zurab is himself pictured in shorts/capri pants at the same tournament in the presence of Magnus Carlsen. The photograph came from the Russian sports news site https://www.sport-express.ru/chess/r...tanov-1307659/ The picture appears to be a frame grab from the youtube video at the following location which shows the whole incident in context. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0iBa18sGC0
Any random check of coverage on sites like Chessbase.com shows that jeans and tee shirts are worn by many of the other Grandmasters. One example of this is Grandmaster Aronian’s cat tee shirt, which I will not criticize, but which does seem to me to be no less problematic from a FIDE dress code perspective than Anton’s attire. If it tries to reframe this episode as a question of a dress code which is vaguely formulated and sporadically enforced at this tournament FIDE will make itself look ridiculous and hypocritical to all independent observers. If Anton saw Zurab’s shorts at that September 7th photo opportunity in the presence of both the current World Champion and Georgia's former Women's World Champion, and remembering that there were no warnings or complaints from Arbiters before or after any of the previous four games when he had worn those pants at this World Cup, Anton could be forgiven for not anticipating that there would be a problem if he wore them again for a fifth game.
The future for chess in Canada appeared quite bright based on the performance of Anton up until the moment when Anton was inhospitably abused over his attire. If the Chess Federation of Canada which has been a good citizen of FIDE since the day of its founding can expect this kind of treatment within FIDE for one of its top players, in his shining moment, the brightest moment of his chess career, with the world spotlight upon him, who is then safe? I am certain I don’t need to point out that this has brought a great deal of unfavourable attention to chess and FIDE in the worldwide press coverage. Please do not stoop to explanations which attempt to justify the unjustifiable. We can accept the idea that there can be a dress code for chess competition. Given everything that has gone on before and during this World Cup, we cannot accept that a young Grandmaster deserves to be distracted and insulted moments before a game that is part of the qualification for the World Chess Championship, merely because the organizer doesn't like his pants.
If there is to be a dress policy it needs to be clearly enunciated before the tournament and should be enforced for all participants. If chess is going to make inroads in the demographic groups which advertisers crave we must avoid the appearance of ridiculousness which this situation invokes. It is a pity that instead of focusing on the chess that was played we are focusing on a pair of shorts.
I think that a sincere apology to grandmaster Kovalyov from grandmaster Azmaiparashvili for this incident without qualification or blaming the victim of this outburst would be the first step required to move forward from this unfortunate situation. As Hal Bond said in his letter about this incident “Mr Azmaiparashvili's behaviour in this case clearly violated the rules and norms of FIDE.” Please do not send the message to the world at large that this is not the case and this behaviour is within the rules and norms of FIDE.
Respectfully,

Vladimir Drkulec
President, Chess Federation of Canada