An Open Letter to the Chess World
For the past few years, I have covered chess for the Associated Press. I (and
the chess world) have been fortunate in that the AP has seen fit to give chess
extensive coverage, sending me not only to both world championships (i.e.,
the Kasparov-Kramnik match and the FIDE version), but to the top tournaments
like Linares and Wijk aan Zee, the FIDE Grand Prix, the Olympiad, among others.
Unfortunately, in late September, immediately after the cancellation of the
Kasparov-Ponomariov match, AP informed me that they would no longer be covering
most chess events. While they cited economic reasons, the timing of the decision
leaves little doubt that FIDE's chronic inability to hold an event as scheduled
was the catalyst. They had, after all, twice had to change or cancel plane
tickets for me and been put through considerable inconvenience as the Buenos
Aires match was moved to Yalta and then cancelled. Regrettable as AP's decision
is, one can hardly blame them.
Coal miners used to carry a caged canary into the mine to warn them of invisible
gas. If the canary suddenly died, they knew they had to get out quickly or
they would perish themselves. Like the dead canary, the decision of the world's
largest news organization to stop covering chess regularly should be taken
as a warning to act and act now. My friend and colleague Mig Greengard thinks
my analogy to the canary in the coal mine is misplaced. For him, the canary
has been dead for years and the miners are already dying. He's probably right,
but I'm writing this letter in the hope that he's wrong and that there is still
time
This letter should not be necessary. In many ways and in many areas, chess
is doing very well indeed and is as popular as ever, especially among the youth.
More people play chess on the internet than any other game. The current chess
boom in India and China, the world's two most populous countries, is remarkable.
A year and a half ago, things were looking even better. The Prague Agreement
promised to heal the rift that had so damaged chess's reputation among the
wider public (people who don't know how a knight moves can recognize petty
politics and turf wars). A new, rational world championship format was promised
and meaningful reform seemed possible.
That, of course, was an illusion. President Ilyumzhinov has returned to his
former ways with a vengeance. Once the Olympiad and the threat of reform had
passed, the Kasparov-Deep Junior match was tossed around from December to January
and from Jerusalem to New York; the Kasparov-Ponomariov match was announced
for Buenos Aires in June, then for Yalta in September, then cancelled at the
last minute. At that time, we were told there would be a world championship
tournament in December. Now we are promised two events next spring. Meanwhile,
organizers in Prague, who had planned an event in September, cancelled it in
order to avoid a conflict with the Yalta match. And so it goes on and on. Just
when you think FIDE has accomplished all it possibly can to make itself and
chess look ridiculous, it surpasses itself. Ilyumzhinov is said to have spent
some $30 million promoting chess. If he had given the money to the Fédération
avec l'Intention de Detruire les Échecs (Federation Intent on Destroying
Chess), the result would not be worse.
I am not placing the entire blame on FIDE or on Ilyumzhinov. No doubt, Ponomariov
was extravagant in his demands and contributed to the cancellation of the Yalta
match. The inability of Kramnik and Leko to schedule their match is a grave
disappointment. At least, they have not announced phantom matches. Kasparov's
original breakaway and the formation of the PCA, which drove FIDE into Ilyumzhinov's
arms, was a failed revolution. Had he either succeeded or not tried, things
would surely not be this bad today. In real life, revolutionaries who fail
are properly hanged. In chess, Kasparov shook Ilyumzhinov's hand in Prague
only to become just another one of his victims.
These, however, are petty failings compared with FIDE's and Ilyumzhinov's.
At a press conference in Bled, I asked President Ilyumzhinov about the sudden
transfer of the Grand Prix from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, the postponement of the
Moscow Grand Prix, the cancellation of the remaining Grand Prix events and
the postponement of the Kasparov-Deep Junior match in Jerusalem (originally
scheduled to conflict with Kramnik's computer match in Bahrain). His response
was to blame the local organizers and sundry others for these snafus. President
Truman of the United States used to have a sign on his desk which read, "The
buck stops here." If President Ilyumzhinov is unwilling to take responsibility
for what happens on his watch, he should step aside for someone who is so willing.
The biggest harm that Ilyumzhinov does is to scare off the legitimate commercial
sponsors upon whom all sports depend today. Chess should do well here. While
the numbers are small, the demographics are good (well-educated and concentrated
in the high tech field). And chess has a cost advantage over other sports.
Corus Steel sponsors a huge event at Wijk aan Zee each year, including a tournament
with virtually all the top players, strong grandmaster B and C tournaments,
along with amateur events. All this cost about $1 million, barely enough for
the appearance fee of one major player in a major sport. But when would-be
corporate sponsors look at Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, they don't see his incompetent
scheduling and rescheduling of major events, his misguided attempts to get
chess into the Olympics, or any of the purely chess sins I have been accusing
him of. Instead, they see the stories of corruption coming out of Kalmykia,
the endless investigations by the authorities in Moscow concerning vanished
millions, his ties to Saddam Hussein, the murder of Larisa Yudina, and they
look for something more reputable to sponsor. All sports, including boxing,
are now more reputable than chess.
It is obvious what must be done in the first place: get rid of Ilyumzhinov
even if it means bankrupting FIDE. It is also obvious that, while necessary,
this is insufficient. What remains to be done in addition may well be debated,
and should be. I can do little beyond advising all in the chess world to regard
FIDE as anathema until Ilyumzhinov is gone and reforms are instituted.
While I have few suggestions beyond the obvious one, my diagnosis of the problems
I is the product of the unique position I have had in trying to explain chess
to non-chessplayers, not merely the wide audience that AP reaches through its
member newspapers and other outlets around the world but to the editors and
managers of AP. I do hope, without the slightest expectation, that with major
reform chess can improve its position among the wider public so that AP will
once again consider chess events worthy of coverage.* Without such reform,
I have no doubt that chess's reputation will slip yet further and it will have
ever more difficulty in reaching a wider public.
I would like to end this letter on a positive note by expressing my sincere
thanks to those with whom it has been a pleasure for me to work with over the
past few years, not only the various editors and bureau chiefs at AP, but especially
those organizers who, even though they are the most professional and upstanding
imaginable, stand to lose valuable coverage from AP's decision. I refer in
particular to the wonderful people behind the Linares and the Corus tournaments.
I also want to thank the players I have had the privilege of covering and watching
up close. They are almost all class acts, especially Vishy Anand, and they
deserve neither the reputation they sometimes receive from the more notorious
players nor the fate to which the politicians who run the game have condemned
them. Finally, I want to thank my fellow members of the fourth estate, especially
Arvind Aaron, Aviv Friedman, Leontxo Garcia, Mig Greengard, John Henderson
and Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam. They have made every press room I have ever been
in, even those run by the most incompetent and difficult organizers, an enjoyable
place to be.
Sincerely,
Robert Huntington
* In the meantime, we should expect not only the quantity but the quality
of AP coverage to decline since, on those few occasions where AP might still
find covering chess worthwhile (e.g., the recent Kasparov-X3D Fritz match),
they are likely to send a non-chessplaying staff reporter and we can look forward
to, not only such factual errors as the consistent mischaracterization of Kasparov
as "world champion," but such verbiage as this (from the AP report
of the first match game):
"The two opponents played conservatively at first with Kasparov using
his white pieces to keep X3D Fritz's black knights and bishops, which are moderately
powerful, at bay.
But during the middle of the game, both players aggressively attempted to
position their queens, the most powerful pieces on the board, to check each
other's king, which would force an immediate defense of that piece to avoid
losing.
Neither Kasparov nor X3D Fritz could maneuver their pieces to checkmate the
other's king, and split the match for half a point each."
Robert Huntington, born Sept. 4,
1958 in Lewiston, Maine, grew up outside of Boston, a product of the
Fischer boom (peak rating 2084 in the mid-80s), hiked Appalachian Trail
1975; graduated Wayland High School 1976; two years spent playing chess
more than studying at George Washington University. Dropped out for a
few years, then went to Boston College; BA linguistics and German 1984.
Managing editor of Chess Horizons in late 80s. Got tired of starving
and went to Boston University Law School (not to be confused with Boston
College); graduated 1991 in middle of recession and wound up in Yugoslavia
covering Fischer-Spassky for AP. Next few years doing various legal work
with some stuff for AP. AP work took off in 2000 and fairly steady from
then until Dortmund this year. Skills and interests: extensive experience
and knowledge of the Internet, desktop publishing, word processing and
a variety of computer applications. Languages: working knowledge of French,
German and Latin.
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Rob on a non-chess expedition