Top German player GM Artur Jussupow |
Germany's top player GM Artur Jussupow, who led his team to the spectacular
silver medal at the Olympiad in Istanbul in 2000, has retired from the German
national team. The reason Jussupow gave was the unjustified doping controls
introduced by the world chess federation. "You are at the mercy of the
FIDE," he said. "It reminds me of the Stalin methods during the thirties."
FIDE, he continued, has introduced doping controls without clear difinitions
of what can be interpreted as doping in chess. At the same time the threat is
of disqualification and high fines. "Doping is a complicated subject, which
only medical experts can understand fully. In chess we do not have a team doctor
to advise us." GM Jussupov, who originally hails from Russia, said bitterly:
"I no longer have any confidence in FIDE. It is currently not a democratic
organisation."
Drugs to enhance performance are unknown in chess. Research carried out by
the Dutch Chess Federation has not produced a single substance that could be
considered performance enhancing. "Both mentally stimulating and mentally
calming medication have too many negative side effects," says Dr Helmut
Pfleger, who has been conducting experiments for around twenty years.
In an open
letter Alexander Baburin also criticises FIDE's decision. "Basically,
players in Bled will be asked to sign a contract that they agree with these
anti-doping rules. If one does not sign, he or she might not be allowed to play.
The document is all 'lawyer and doctor talk' – an ordinary person won't
understand it and almost none can read it till the end (I gave up after oneminute!).
So, it is tempting just to sign. But there is a danger – if you eat or
drink too much of something and your test is positive, you could be fined $100,000!"
In another
open letter to FIDE over 50 players have appealed to president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
to "at the very least undertake that ... in the unfortunate event of a
positive test, the potentially ruinous fines will not be levied.
Artur Jussupow says he knows only one illegal method to help a chess player
to improve his play: "The use of a computer during the game." Apart
from Jussupow one of the other top German players, Dr Robert Hübner, has
cancelled his participation at the Olympiad. The German team now consists of
the players Lutz (2655), Graf (2624), Dautow (2617), Hickl (2602), Bischoff
(2554) and Luther (2551).
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