Chess masters Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand will get an artistic surrounding for their duel as one of Moscow finest art museums, the Tretyakov Gallery was chosen to host their world championship mind clash. The Gallery’s Director, Irina Lebedeva, and Chairman of the Supervisory Council of the Russian Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich, have signed all the required documents on Monday.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and businessman Andrey Filatov (above), who will sponsor the event, were also present at the signing.
“I want to thank the organizers of the tournament for contacting us,” Irina Lebedeva told Gazeta.ru. “Chess is a sport, but there's a lot from art in it. We are happy to host the match here. The grand opening will be held May 10 in the Vrubel Hall and the games itself will be played in the Engineering Building, in the conference hall with seats for 400 people. A press-center will be organized nearby. This zone will be cut off from the rest of the premises, so that the match won’t interfere with the Tretyakov Gallery’s usual operation.”
The State Tretyakov Gallery can boast to be the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrey Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich, who
is also chairman
of the Russian Chess Federation, with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and RCF director Ilya
Levitov at the signing...
... which took place in front of Mikhail Vrubel's gigantic "Princess
of Dreams" panel
Source: Russia & India Report – images Chess Moscow
A fledgling site for the World Chess Championship 2012 is now online. The match between the current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the Candidates tournament will be held in May 2012 to determine the World Chess Champion. It will be held under the auspices of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. Here some of the tournament details:
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FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov spoke about plans for a new Men’s Grand Prix and the sale of the rights to the World Championship and other major events. The World Chess Federation is granting the company Agon the rights to hold the World Championship matches, Candidates Tournaments and World Cups for the next few years, chessintranslation.com reports. They will also be responsible for the Men’s Grand Prix, which Ilyumzhinov claims is about to make a comeback.
Agon is run by Andrew Paulson, an American businessman who has worked in Russia since 1993. Ilyumzhinov said that Paulson first wrote to FIDE eight months ago offering to invest millions of dollars into chess. After long negotiations a contract was finally approved by FIDE at the recent Presidential Council in the United Arab Emirates.
“For the running of the coming cycles FIDE should receive around 10-12 million Euros. As well as that, FIDE will, as before, get the 20% cut of the prize fund and a percentage of the profits that the head of Agon is counting on making in the next four years,” he said.
“In the next one or two weeks chess fans and professionals will get a clear schedule for the major events – with a list of the cities, dates and size of the prize fund. By the way, the prize fund will be increased, the tournaments will become more appealing and we hope that all the best players will take part. This year we’ll start with Chelyabinsk and Tashkent, and next year Agon is planning to hold these prestigious events in major world capitals: Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Lisbon,” FIDE President stated.
Source: PanArmenian News
Vasiliev: Who is Andrew Paulson, and how you come into contact with him?
Ilyumzhinov: Andrew Paulson is an American businessman who has been working in Russia since 1993. He started as a publisher of magazines and is one of the founders and owners of the popular online platform Livejournal. About eight months ago he wrote to us, offering to invest millions of dollars into chess. We are interested and prepared a contract, drafted by Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Treasurer Nigel Freeman and the Director of Global Chess Jeffrey Borg. Talks were held in Greece, London, Moscow and Tirana, during the last six months. All members of the FIDE Presidential Board, including World Champion Vishy Anand and World Champion Hou Yifan, received a copy of the contract to read and make suggestions. At the Presidential Council on February 5th in the UAE Andrew Paulson laid out his program, saying that he intends to raise chess to new heights. The Presidential Council approved the contract and instructed me to sign it.
What are the benefits of the new contract?
The main advantage is that we now have a manager for the world championship cycle, including the Candidates and the six Grand Prix tournaments. At the same time FIDE receives a monetary guarantee. For example, the Candidates Tournament will start in London on October 23rd, and half a million dollars is already being transferred to FIDE’s account this week. For the coming cycles FIDE should receive around ten to twelve million Euros. In addition FIDE will, as in the past, receive a 20% cut of the prize fund and a percentage of the profits that Agon expects to make in the next four years.
That looks like a "rain of gold" for FIDE. But what did the American businessman mean when he said he intends to raise chess to new heights?
Within the next one or two weeks chess fans and professionals will get a clear timetable of the major events of the Grand Prix – a list of the cities, dates and prize funds. By the way, the prize fund will be increased, the tournaments will become more attractive, and we hope that all the best players in the world will take part. This year it will start in Chelyabinsk and Tashkent, and in the next year Agon is planning to hold these prestigious events in major world capitals: Paris, Madrid, Vienna and Lisbon.
A question about London: you told Sport Express that the Candidates Tournament will be held in the capital of England from October 23 to November 13. Will it not be staged with money from Azerbaijan?
Yes, the sponsor of the London Candidates is Azerbaijan. By the way, before the end of this event the representatives will announce that they’re planning to bid to hold the World Championship match in 2013.
Can the dates of the London Candidates be corrected? After all, they coincide very closely with a number of large traditional tournaments. Magnus Carlsen recently said he wanted to play in the finals of Grand Slam in Sao Paulo and Bilbao, but between these competitions and tournaments in London there will be an interval of just ten days, making it a problem. The world's top ranked player has said that the Candidates should not be held in the high season of chess, but rather in the spring of 2013. What do you say to this?
FIDE has chosen the dates for compelling reasons. You will remember that because of various circumstances we had to move the Anand-Topalov World Championship match and the Candidates Tournament, causing the cycle to drag on for years. We were heavily criticised for that, and GM Carlsen was one of the critics. This year there will be two stages of the Grand Prix, and next year there will be four. We need to hold on to the schedule. With London there was an additional motivation: this remarkable chess event will take place immediately after the Summer Olympic games. That will work to increase the prestige of chess.
Are Andrew Paulson and his Agon only interested in men’s chess?
At first Paulson and his team will only deal with men’s chess, but for the future they are planning a women’s Grand Prix and the Women’s World Championship.
Does FIDE still have any leverage in the decisions taken by Agon? Something like a veto of the UN Security Council?
There is a sort of “interface” between FIDE and Agon, with two representatives from each side. If something does not suit our plans we can block any decision. You can call that right a “veto” if you want.
Source: Sport Express
One of the last men to speak to Moammar Gadhafi before his death, president of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov warned Monday that a third world war could unfold in Syria. Ilyumzhinov played a game of chess with the former Libyan leader last June as NATO bombs rained down on the civil war-ravaged country. "What I saw in Libya is now repeating itself in Syria," the former president of the Kalmykia republic told The Moscow Times. More than 5,000 people are estimated to have been killed in an 11-month uprising against the regime in Damascus.
If NATO began military action in Syria, "it would be the start of a third world war," Ilyumzhinov said on the sidelines of an announcement about the upcoming World Chess Championship. "Next would be Iran and other countries with oil and gas — Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan."
Russia and China vetoed a motion on Syria at the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 3 that called for the resignation of President Bashar Assad, democratic reforms and a cessation of violence. "The position of the Russian Federation was absolutely correct," Ilyumzhinov said. "Assad has already gone the way of dialogue."
The flamboyant politician has close ties to Middle Eastern dictators. As well as Libya, Ilyumzhinov visited Iraq on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion and met with Saddam Hussein's son. Gadhafi reportedly phoned Ilyumzhinov as rebels overran Tripoli less than two months before his death. NATO is mounting a personal attack on Assad just as it did on Gadhafi, the Buddhist and chess fanatic said. "At the very beginning, there was a decision taken to kill one person – just like now."
Source: Moscow Times
