In a recent interview
with the Spanish newspaper ABC former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov raised
some very serious charges against Vladimir Kramnik, who had beaten him in the
World
Championship match in Elista in October this year. Topalov said there were
"clear indications of cheating" in Kramnik's behaviour, that "there
were threats" to him and his team in Elista, who worried about how they
could get out of the country. Topalv said he would not go back to Kalmykia again.
The original
interview was conducted for ABC by Federico Marin Bellon in Bilbao, after
the end of the blindfold match Topalov-Judit Polgar.
Today the Russian news service Gazeta.ru published
an interview with Kramnik's manager Carsten Hensel, a rough
translation of which appeared on the unofficial Veselin Topalov web site.
“Topalov can be disqualified for three years”
Under this title the report says Carsten Hensel has submitted a complaint to
the FIDE, specifying that with the ABC interview Veselin Topalov had broken
the ethical code of FIDE. For this offence the Ethics Committee could disqualify
Topalov for three years. "We have already submitted our protest,"
said Hensel. "If it's correctness is recognised Topalov can be banned from
tournament play. I think it is impossible to forgive such behaviour –
Topalov needs to be punished." Berik Balgabaev, the personal advisor to
the FIDE President, did not rule out the possibility of such a ban. “We
will talk with Carsten Hensel about the current situation," Balgabaev said.
"If he upholds his protest we will take a decision on it. The consequences
could be disqualification for three years.”

Carsten Hensel with Vladimir Kramnik
Balgabaev said that he was almost sure that "personally Topalov did not
give such an interview.” He said that the words could only have come from
Silvio Danailov, "who can heat up situations. Topalov is a different man.
At the end of October he even mentioned his desire to spend New Year’s
Eve in Elista. I would prefer in Kramnik and Topalov’s managers reach
a compromise.”
The veselintopalov.net site claims that the ABC interview with Topalov was
not authentic and that the words just paraphrase something Mr. Danailov had
said. "Veselin himself never said directly a word against Mr. Hensel or
Mr. Kramnik in Bilbao. He made many comments on the match, he mentioned that
there were strange things in Elista, but nothing more. The only sharp sentence
that Topalov used was that he is not friends with Kramnik. Veselin Topalov was
in Bilbao to play chess and Judith Polgar and thousands of chess fans may confirm
this, since he was with them all the time."
Hensel said that he had been told that the interview in ABC was not in the
print version of the newspaper, just in the online edition. Moreover it was
possible that the journalists did not clear the text with Topalov, which would
"certainly changes things.” Hensel said that he used to respect Topalov.
"But now I am disappointed. If we met on the street today we would not
greet each other at all.”

Silvio Danialov with his client Veselin Topalov
Meanwhile Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov replied to Hensel’s statements
just hours after they had been published. “It is obvious that this is
an attempt to decline Veselin’s
challenge in April,” he said. "I want to ask FIDE why the photos
from the cables in Kramnik’s bathroom were never published, as well as
the document for them signed by Valerii Bovaev. Moreover, I want to ask why
the resignation of the second Appeals committee, whose members wanted to leave
Elista after the cables were found, was hidden?”
The saga continues...