22.04.2001

Antwort des World Player's Council auf den offenen Brief von Karpov, Kasparov und Krammnik:

On behalf of the World Players' Council: regarding the open letter of Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik
After having read the letter of the 3 Ks, we would like to accept the kind invitation of the authors and participate in the discussion regarding burning problems of modern chess. However, unfortunately, some passages from the letter force us to initially comment on the letter itself. We have been used to the fact that V. Kramnik calls himself the 14th World Champion, but it was the 12th World Champion who really surprised us. In early 1998, having won over V. Anand in Lausanne, Karpov declared himself World Champion and Mr. Kasparov - Impostor. On 10 January 2001, at the same venue, Lausanne, Mr. Karpov (in front of the Commission for Sports Arbitrage of IOC, for a reward of USD 50, 000) admitted the legitimacy of the titles of the 14th and 15th World Champions, A. Khalifman and V. Anand respectively. And now “ We, 12th, 13th and 14th World Champions, are writing this joint letter”!
Chess is not the only sport where the official International Federation has rights to organise the official World Championship. It is obvious that FIDE clearly has more rights than, for example, BGN (Brain Games Network), which had invited the participant who lost the qualification tournament (Mr. Kramnik) for the match, the source of the financing of which is now being investigated by the British police. It is not the first time one has to be reminded that ALL top active chess players have participated in the last official World Championship in New Delhi-Tehran, except the representatives of the arcane “top level guild”, i.e. authors of the KKK open letter.

We are ready to participate in the search for the ways to modify the World Championship cycle. But to turn the Championship into the selection process to play against Mr. Kasparov, which will in its turn, be the qualification to the match with Mr. Kramnik (or vice versa) we think unacceptable. The World Championship should become an honest sports competition of all the strongest chess players without any privileges for anyone whosoever.
We agree that FIDE Commerce (not FIDE) has come forward with a very shallow play of Grand Prix 2002 - both from the point of view of financial conditions and the Calendar. But if the project is going to be finalised, then Grand Prix tournaments might become a valuable innovation. Here we mean the tournaments for 32 players and not for 6, as in Linares and Dortmund. Of course, besides Linares and Dortmund there are (at least in the 2001 Calendar), Wijk aan Zee, Cannes, Monaco, Astana, Merida, Leon and many other important tournaments. And this is why, were the Grand Prix tournaments introduced, it would not be possible to avoid some dates clashes. And “the millions of fans” might on some occasion wish the top players play and not leave for the trainers’ teams of “the super stars”.
A few words on the time control. Every Organiser should have a chance to choose it for his own tournament. For instance, if the tournament in honour of the unfading chess classic of the 20th century V. Korchnoi, where, by the way, two from the undersigned will participate, is a rapid chess tournament, this only shows that there is an objective trend to accelerate the tempo of the game. And nobody is going to forbid the classic time control, though the quality of the game with such time control is likely to be a little inferior to the "advanced chess" game. In conclusion – one more quotation from the letter of 3K: “The game of chess belongs to the world chess community”. This looks like a fresh idea: nobody has ever thought that chess can belong to anyone. But the interests of professional chess players are still there. And they should be subject neither to FIDE, nor the Messrs. Authors of the open letter.

22 April 2001, St. Petersburg.
GM Alexei Shirov, Vice World Champion
GM Alexander Khalifman, 14th World Champion
GM Viswanathan Anand, 15th World Champion
GM Vladimir Akopian, Vice World Champion of 1999
Mr. Boris Khropov, Vice President of the St. Petersburg Chess Federation
Mr. Boris Kurkhinen, Chess School Manager,
St. Petersburg Participants of the St. Petersburg Championship 2001: GM Valery Popov, Champion of St. Petersburg 2001 GM Sergei Ivanov GM Vasily Emelin GM Sergei Ionov GM Valery Loginov IM Vladimir Karasev IM Evgeny Alexeev IM Sergei Sivokho FM Ruslan Kashtanov Mr. Alexei Polyaninov Mr. Alexei Utkin; GM Konstantin Sakaev GM Evgeny Solozhenkin GM Konstantin Aseev FM Genrikh Chepukaitis
GM Valery Salov, President, World Players’ Council

20.04.2001

Antwort der Fide auf den offenen Brief von Karpov, Kasparov und Krammnik:

Lausanne, 20 April 2001
FIDE's attention has been drawn to the open letter signed by Grandmasters A. Karpov, G. Kasparov and V. Kramnik to the World chess community and published on the Clubkasparov site of 20 April 2001. FIDE has always welcomed dialogue with members of the world chess fraternity in respect of all its decisions, which are often made with the interest of the game and its legions of players, after consultations with a cross-section of administrators, players and sponsors of our noble sport. It was in this same spirit that the Presidential Board of FIDE at its recent meeting in Cannes 24-25 March 2001 unanimously resolved to accept the compromise proffered by the FIDE President on the implementation of the new time control after noting the concerns of some European Chess Federations' Presidents on the issue. A further meeting is scheduled for the next FIDE Congress in Halkidiki, Greece, in September and all views will still be considered.
At the Cannes meeting, FIDE reiterated that it would always encourage independent sponsors of traditional tournaments by trying to ensure that the dates of its tournaments are not in conflict with these events. At the same time, the Board mandated both FIDE Commerce and Octagon Marketing to build bridges of cooperation with traditional Organisers with respect to their joint cooperation in the development of the Grand Prix. Finally, on the issue of the World Chess Championship title, FIDE maintains that the facts of the Tehran Declaration represent well-documented historical facts as to how FIDE began the steady implementation of the qualification systems to the World Chess Championship titles as custodian of these titles since 1946. This process has seen the emergence of World Champions, namely, Botvinnik, Smysslov, Tal, Petrossian, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov and Khalifman until the recent World Championship title won by GM Viswanathan Anand of India in Tehran in December 2000.
A copy of the Tehran Declaration is attached.

Emmanuel Omuku, Executive Director

TEHRAN DECLARATION ON THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES
Considering the special history of the game of Chess and bearing in mind the need to safeguard the interest of millions of chess players and the will of its 159 national affiliates, and having noted further the historical fact that FIDE has consistently organised and supervised the chess activities around the world since it was founded in 1924, and the fact that it has consistently organised the World Chess Championships since 1947, carrying out the decisions of its General Assembly in strict accordance with the FIDE Statutes, and bearing in mind that the qualification process for the World Chess Championships had prior to 1947 been subject to abuse by some individual holders of the World Chess Championship title; The Presidential Board of FIDE at its meeting in Tehran, 26 December 2000, hereby declares:
1.As the sole authority recognised by the International Olympic Committee responsible for the game of Chess and its Championships, and buttressed with historical facts, FIDE hereby announces its clearly established role as the only custodian of the World Chess Championship titles.
2.The World Chess Championship title shall be bestowed on any individual, who has participated and won an event solely organised by FIDE for this purpose and this shall include a qualification process, which is fair and democratic and not subject to abuse by any individual or group, but as approved by the will of the member Federations of FIDE, including the participation where necessary, in National Championships, Zonal tournaments or Continental Championships, through the FIDE rating system and such other events as approved by FIDE for this purpose.
3.Any winner of the World Chess Championship title is under obligation to defend the title in the World Chess Championship event organised by FIDE and she/he is precluded from participating in any other event, which seeks to declare itself as a World Championship event. In addition, any reigning World Chess Champion, who for any reason including the grounds of health, fails, refuses or declines to defend the title in any designated World Championship event, organised by FIDE, or participates in any other event purporting to regard itself as a World Chess Championship event, not authorised by FIDE, shall be stripped of the title and be referred to as ex or former World Chess Champion.
4.Members of the Press and the General Public are hereby advised and are to be guided accordingly. You are welcome to express your views on the question of concern.

Offener Brief der drei großen K - Karpov, Kasparov und Krammnik - an die weltweite Gemeinschaft der Schachspieler:

As the 12th, 13th, and 14th World Chess Champions, we are writing jointly to voice our disagreement with recent statements and unilateral decisions made by FIDE, the international chess federation. In particular, we are very concerned about FIDE's policy changes regarding the official time controls, their treatment of the history of the World Championship, and their open hostility toward the organizers of traditional events.
The world's chessplayers have been denied a voice in these matters, and we who represent these conventions at the highest level see the need to set aside our differences and speak out publicly in defense of the game that has brought us so much joy. Many players and European chess federations are critical of FIDE's recent actions and we hope to lend a powerful and unequivocal voice to this protest. The time honored traditions and rules of classical chess are not to be toyed with and any changes should be made only after such plans are studied and debated in an open forum. Drastically shortening the amount of time available during a game is an attack on both the players and on the artistic and scientific elements of the game of chess itself. To implement these rules without an adequate period for reflection, discussion, and review is foolhardy and cavalier.
Of greater concern is the behavior of FIDE in regard to the prestige and tradition of the World Chess Championship. FIDE's declaration in Tehran laid claim to a title that existed long before FIDE was created and, we might say, will exist long after it is gone. A century of tradition cannot be wiped away simply by saying that it is so. The true tradition lives on in us and in the minds and memories of millions of chess enthusiasts around the globe. It is unacceptable for FIDE to claim rights to the World Chess Championship while at the same time working to destroy the structures upon which the tradition was built. Nor are the traditional tournaments that have given so much to chess safe from FIDE. Their threat to schedule FIDE events in competition with traditional ones is nothing less than a direct attack on the organizers, players, and fans of events such as Linares, Dortmund, and Wijk aan Zee.
Chess is not FIDE's property to toss around like a bauble. The game belongs to the global chess community. Based on FIDE's accompanying statements, these ill-advised measures have been taken in an attempt to popularize the sport of chess. This is an admirable goal, but it is impossible to achieve it by assaulting the very things that elevate the game most of all: beautiful games of chess, traditional top tournaments, and the quest for the World Championship. The chess world is depending on its leaders to provide a suitable and democratic solution to this unsatisfactory state of affairs.
We propose an open dialogue on these matters between FIDE, the national federations of which it is composed, and the players - professional and amateur alike - it was created to represent. In this dialogue we will depend on the participation of the fans, organizers, and sponsors to whom chess owes a great deal. We, who have both given to and received so much from chess, look forward to being on the front lines in this battle to protect the status and legacy of the game we love.

Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik