The dramatic effects of Veselin Topalov winning the FIDE World Chess Championship with few excepts has produced congratulations from most quarters. But where Garry Kasparov represents the end of the Soviet chess school and a liberal, Topalov can been seen as a nationalist throw back, but as of yet this writer must wait and see.
GM Topalov has recently diverted some attention in the press to himself stating he was "Proud to be Bulgarian", hoping him the best, we would hope that he would not be proud of all things Bulgarian, in that the headlines of the Bulgarian press have long been filled reported by the Sofia News service, that once only graced the private confines of what now occurs in broad daylight:
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Mafia Kills its Money Launderers - Bulgaria's Ex-Security Chief Sofia News Service 26 October 2005, former Head of the Bulgarian National Security Service
Bulgaria Criticized in Five Areas, May Lag behind Romania - BBC 23 October 2005
Bulgarian President Cancels Trip after Banker's Murder Politics: 26 October 2005
Bulgarian Underworld Figure "Shot in Zurich",
Bulgaria Lags Behind in 16 EU Areas, Romania in 14, 25 Oct 2005, Hollywood Exposes Bulgarian Sex Slavery Lifestyle |
Svetlanas's Journey on forced prostitution | In my Oct. 15th. 2005 article entitled Topalov "The New World Chess Champion" dated October 15th. 2005�, in comment of the San Luis Tournament, I raised issues relating directly to FIDE World Championships in questioning as to whither or not those processes were sufficient to determine who exactly is the "World Chess Champion".
I was later joined in my view by none other than the other World chess Champion GM Vladimir Kramnik who would accept a match with the current FIDE World Chess Champion GM Veselin Topalov.
It must be assumed Topalov knows himself best when he has been reported as saying he was "No Fischer", and should be taken on face value as true, for who knows maybe he is better than Fischer, and that in fact perhaps that is what Topalov meant himself when he spoke.
For years the World Chess Championship has been fragmented in its production of champions in passing without any permanent or long lasting effect in that they achieve some success and then fade back into the murky process that spawned them
Though Immediately after it became clear that [GM Veselin Topalov] had bagged the [FIDE] title, the Russian chess magazine "64" quoted Silvio Danailov as the manager, trainer and coordinator of the new World Champion as stating GM Veselin Topalov 'is interested to play Kramnik or Kasparov' , soon there after GM Topalov was quoted as preposterously saying Nyet to Kramnik for the most petty and contrived of reasons that he was not willing to take up a challenge by someone [Kramnik] 60 points below him fictitiously saying That is a different class altogether," .
Clearly the FIDE title has gone to his head and he makes unreasonable statements in some senseless form of empty rhetorical posturing for if it is merely an issue of 60 rating points the challenger would need to have more rating points to play the champion, and once recognized as champion who need not play ever again and deprive the world of championship play. Perhaps
GM
Topalov
wishes to emulate the wonderful vegetables that
Bulgaria
is well known for but perhaps he and the other in a position such as he think carefully as there is only one
Fischer
in the world with plenty of ego like that.
Bulgaria
Invites Kasparov for Champion Duel
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GM
Veselin
Topalov |
27 October 2005
, Thursday. GM Veselin Topalov ficitiously stated he had a secret weapon during the tournament that crowned him - a lucky necktie
Oct 25, 2005
Sofia
News
Service.
�
Though
Zdenko
Krnic
, the prestigious Editor-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Chess Informant stated humbly some time ago:
�
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is becoming one of the world's leading chess centers, in large part because of Veselin Topalov, who will be the top ranked player on the next rating list, and the Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova. (
Veselin
Topalov
:
Bulgaria
's Newest Sports Star by
Zdenko
Krnic
The Chess Informant).
�
All that does not in itself make for good chess as what most people know made for good chess was in what the future will be look back on as The Golden Age of Chess (quote me on that), was the serious state commitment under communist administration to culture and chess for the masses of people and not the elites currently catered to, that was advanced under the Soviet and Yugoslavian states, as Lenin, Stalin, Tito, Che, and Gorky were all avid and strong chess players.
Though
Zdenko
Krnic
further stated that: New rules were introduced in
Sofia
to increase the fighting spirit of the players and to reduce the number of draws. The reaction of the six top grandmasters was mostly positive. They played under the following conditions:
- Draw offers are not allowed.
- A player can claim the draw only in case of perpetual check, threefold repetition, or if the position is a theoretical draw.
- Only the arbiter can claim a technical draw after first consulting with the GM advisor (Ibid)
It must be noted that this is legalistic approach does not preclude arranged draws, cheating, and corruption (as it is easy to get a draw by repetition with a wink and a nod and a few words unspoken) and that what best addresses the issues is that chess masters be respectfully treated by society as a whole and not treated as commercial commodities to be sold and traded.
Both Kramnikand Topalov, expressed their views in interviews, attributed as originating in the Rodnaya Gazeta those interviews stated views from which I find substance and to which I refer.
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Kramnik was quoted as saying Oct. 10. 2005
"I firmly believe that I am the real World Chess Champion.",
"The reunification tournament has ended in
San Luis
. The winner is Bulgarian Veselin Topalov. Now there are two world champions. He is the FIDE world champion, I am the 14th classical world champion.",
�
I believe that the World Champion should be determined exclusively in a match.
�
With this I must agree! |
I further agree at the time of this writing where
GM
Kramnik
is quoted as saying:
"As for a candidates' qualification scheme it is quite acceptable to have it organized as in
San Luis
. For example, half of the participants according to their ratings, the other half through a qualification cycle. This would be in the interests of both the sponsors and the viewing public. The knockout system proposed, actively agitated for, and imposed by FIDE has long since compromised itself."
"Is the long awaited reunification of the chess world finally going to happen? My position is absolutely clear on this: in accordance with the Prague Agreement of 2002 I am prepared to play in a reunification match. I am looking forward to some clarification from Topalov and I hope everything becomes clear in the coming weeks."
"I've read comments in the press that Veselin does not believe I am a worthy contender for the title, giving my relatively low rating as the basis for his argument. I believe this is just his emotions speaking. World championship and tournament performance are two entirely separate entities. In chess history the World Champion has not always scored brilliantly in tournaments. One could even go as far as to say that this is rather more an exception than a rule. Petrosian, Spassky, and Botvinnik never won too many tournaments, but nobody ever had any doubts as to the legitimacy of their titles."
"I'd like to stress once more: I firmly believe that I am the real World Chess Champion. I won this title in a contest against the thirteenth World Champion Garry Kasparov and later defended my title in a match against
Peter
Leko
. My title is legitimate and this was acknowledged even by FIDE in the Prague Accords. Should anyone, like Topalov, believe that he is stronger, let him beat me in a match. (Ibid.Vladimir Kraminik)"�
As in such a tournament as
San Luis
I too find its short round robin format inconclusive where a short duration may have produced statistically unrepresentative results I think a longer format would improve matters but not cure them. Perhaps
San Luis
should have been a tournament of two or three round robin rounds that pitted each finalist 4 or 6 times against each other to statistically achieve a more representative result.
�
Frankly I was greatly disappointed generally and specifically in the results of
Judit
Polgar
and Anand who I feel circumstances and fate, and whom not Topalov had deprived as I feel it is fate that cheated me from knowing the truth.
Tournaments where others who may run interference, in obstruction of the road to the world championship, rendered less important in its results by the process itself, where those results are simply unrepresentative of the competitors abilities. In a championship so constructed Kramnik can be said as paraphrasing that those results can not determine absolutely as to whom exactly is the real "World Chess Champion", I agree as the results are too close and anti-climatic in result to provide us with a clear decisive result, as to who gets recognized as World Chess Champion not who is a "Champion".
As FIDE president
Kirsan
Illyumzhinov
announced that from now on world championships will happen every two years. The next one is scheduled for fall of 2007, the format will be just like this one, with 8 players, four top finishers of this tournament and 4 qualifiers from the upcoming world cup in Russia and from other qualifying tournaments. But as since 1999 the FIDE found a new World Chess Champion every two years.
Alexander
Khalifman �
1999-2000,��
Russia
Viswanathan Anand, � 2000-2002,��
India
Ruslan Ponomariov, � 2002-2004,� �
Ukraine
,
Rustam Kasimdzhanov, 2004-2005, �
Uzbekistan
,
Veselin Topalov,�� � 2005-present
Bulgaria
In closing I'd bet and wager that if GM Veselin Topalov does not play against the younger Vladimir Kramnik (and not Kasparov ) that by the next competition cycles end there again will be a new improved FIDE approved World Chess Champion chosen determined by a process designed to strengthen the position of the FIDE leadership not necessarily the chess masters.
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 c6 8. e4 d5 9. Qc2 de4 10. Ne4 Bb7 11. Neg5 c5 12. d5 ed5 13. cd5 h6 14. Nf7 Kf7 15. 0-0-0 Bd6 16. Nh4 Bc8 17. Re1 Na6 18. Re6 Nb4 19. Bb4 cb4 20. Bc4 b5 21. Bb5 Be7 22. Ng6 Nd5 23. Re7 Ne7 24. Bc4 Kf6 25. Nh8 Qd4 26. Rd1 Qa1 27. Kd2 Qd4 28. Ke1 Qe5 29. Qe2 Qe2 30. Ke2 Nf5 31. Nf7 a5 32. g4 Nh4 33. h3 Ra7 34. Rd6 Ke7 35. Rb6 Rc7 36. Ne5 Ng2 37. Ng6 Kd8 38. Kf1 Bb7 39. Rb7 Rb7 40. Kg2 Rd7 41. Nf8 Rd2 42. Ne6 Ke7 43. Ng7 Ra2 44. Nf5 Kf6 45. Nh6 Rc2 46. Bf7 Rc3 47. f4 a4 48. ba4 b3 49. g5 Kg7 50. f5 b2 51. f6 Kh7 52. Nf5 1 : 0
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V.
TOPALOV
(2778)
V.
ANAND
(2785) Sofia 2005
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Rc1 c6 9. e4 d5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Bd3 Nc3 12. Rc3 c5 13. dc5 bc5 14. h4 h6 15. Bb1 f5 16. ef6 Bf6 17. Qc2 d4 18. Ng5 hg5 19. hg5 dc3 20. Bf4 Kf7 21. Qg6 Ke7 22. gf6 Rf6 23. Qg7 Rf7 24. Bg5 Kd6 25. Qf7 Qg5 26. Rh7 Qe5 27. Kf1 Kc6 28. Qe8 Kb6 29. Qd8 Kc6 30. Be4 1 : 0 |
V.
Topalov
(2778)-
Ponomariov
(2695) Sofia 2005
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[1] The label of "The Bulgarian Connection" was originally used in reference to "Mehmet Ali Agca" who attempted the assasination of Pope John Paul II in May 13th, 1981 in Saint Peter's Square. Agca's testimony proved to be often
contradictory and occasionally descended into insane ranting, including claims of being Jesus. Author Edward Herman, in his book on the so-called Bulgarian connection, alleged that the CIA employed Michael Ledeento be a vocal proponent of the theory that the Bulgarian Secret Service was behind the assassination attempt.
�
Agca originally claimed to be a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but they denied any ties to him. Many people, most notably Edward Herman and Michael Parenti, felt Agca's story was dubious at best, noting that Agca made no claims of Bulgarian involvement until he had been isolated in solitary confinement and visited by Italian Military Intelligence (SISME) agents, who allegedly had already postulated a theory of Bulgarian involvement.
�
Opinions differ on whether the Grey Wolves were being used by the CIA or the Bulgarian Secret Service to that end. Agca describes himself as a mercenary of no political orientation who was willing to do anything for enough money. In 1979, under orders from the Grey Wolves, he killed the left-wing newspaper editor in Istanbul.He was caught due to an informant and was sentenced to life in prison. He soon escaped, with the help of the Grey Wolves.�
During his visit to Bulgaria in May 2002, Pope John Paul II declared that he had never believed in the so-called Bulgarian connection. |
