Kasparov-Ponomariov match postponed to November? (NOT!?)

by ChessBase
4/25/2003 – FIDE has denied a report in the Argentine newspaper La Nación saying that the FIDE world championship match between Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov, scheduled to begin June 19, has been postponed to November, 2003. The organizers don't seem to agree with FIDE... Updated report here.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

Argentines say GK-RP postponed, FIDE denies

The below report appeared here in the sports section of the April 21 La Nación newspaper in Buenos Aires. Various Spanish-language papers and chess sites have quoted it. Update: After reading this report here at ChessBase on April 25, FIDE sent out an e-mail saying that the match is not being postponed.

Meanwhile, Argentine organizer Miguel Quinteros is still insisting that it is postponed and that the postponement was agreed between Argentine President Duhalde and FIDE president Ilyumzhinov weeks ago. Argentine money rumors are flying, could the match be moved? It sounds to us like Ilyumzhinov may have a Plan B up his sleeve. Watch this space for more news.

"The semifinal [sic] match for the world championship, scheduled to be played in Buenos Aires from June 19 to July 7 between the current monarch Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov has been postponed to November. The dates will be confirmed by the players. This according to the announcement of Miguel Angel Quinteros, member of the organizing committee, and the head of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov."

The bad news is obvious, the good news is that we won't have this match at the same time as the Kramnik-Leko match and that the weather in Buenos Aires is much nicer in November than June... To further complicate matters, Argentina is in the midst of presidential elections and the next President may have a different agenda regarding chess, for better for for worse.

Speaking of Kramnik-Leko, sources with contacts in the organization say that we can expect an announcement for the match to take place in Budapest in June. We've heard this consistently for several weeks now from several sources, so anything else would be a surprise at this stage.


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register