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London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:55 am
by Matthew Turner
Steve Giddins has written the following blog entry

http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... andidates/

Could there really be a candidates tournament coming to London?

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:05 am
by Roger de Coverly
Matthew Turner wrote: Could there really be a candidates tournament coming to London?
I'm sure it's just random gossip in the bar, but it was observed during the Hinckley 4NCL that dates for the 2012 London Classic hadn't yet been announced. If you add that to the observation that those candidates who had played in the Classic would, presumably, welcome a candidates tournament with a similar format you may get a plausible story. The Tweeting VP googles as Kirsan's bag carrier. As we now know, or perhaps don't officially, the ECF was taking legal action against FIDE in the CAS. Whether that makes the award of an event to London more or less likely, I'm not sure.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:38 am
by Tristan Clayton
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Matthew Turner wrote: Could there really be a candidates tournament coming to London?
If you add that to the observation that those candidates who had played in the Classic would, presumably, welcome a candidates tournament with a similar format you may get a plausible story.
Kramnik suggested the idea of holding a Candidates Tournament in London in the commentary room at the 2011 LCC. Whether he intended it as an addition to, or in place of, the 2012 Classic, I don't know.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:45 am
by Jonathan Rogers
If it's true then we, the great English chess playing public, know nothing of it. Oh, hang on, in that case ...

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:34 pm
by Jonathan Bryant
Kramnik suggested in the LCC commentary room that they should have the candidates' tournament *instead* of the Classic since the dates were similar.

In the Telegraph today Malc says something like, I was approached about running the Candidates' in London but the idea didn't appeal.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:41 pm
by Paul Cooksey
It felt a bit 2+2=5 to suggest the candidates would be in London, even before Malcolm's comments

However there does seem to be a scheduling issue. It is unfortunate the Tal memorial is directly in front of the LCC, some top players have spoken of tiredness. The likelihood of a candidates tournament at a similar time this year does mean something is likely to change.

The Tal Mem moving to August would be great news, particularly in the hope it then stays there. Having our premier tournament slightly in competition with Russia's premier tournament does seem a nuisance. At best it must be making it a bit more difficult to make the tournament attractive to the top guys.

I really like the format of the LCC - worlds top + England's top. But if the candidates does interfere with it, picking some famous players not in the candidates instead of the worlds top would not be a disaster (Judit, Jan, Yasser, Victor, even Anatoly - lots of names come to mind!) (It might also give Dr Short a year off from his annual kicking :-D )

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:25 pm
by Roger de Coverly
FIDE's latest meeting is reported at
http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... l-ain.html

from which
The bids for the Candidates Matches were discussed, with a final decision to be made before 29th February, 2012.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:28 pm
by Matt Mackenzie
What's the betting that they pig-headedly insist on Baku?? :roll:

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:14 pm
by David Sedgwick
I spent some time yesterday investigating the reports of the Candidates Tournament coming to London.

As a result of what I and others have discovered, I can say the following with reasonable confidence:

1. There is something in the story - it's not a complete fabrication - but it's by no means a done deal.

2. Neither Malcolm Pein nor Ray Keene is behind the bid, nor is any other London based organiser. That of course explains why we hadn't heard about it.

3. The person actually behind it is Andrew Paulson, an American entrepreneur living in Russia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Paulson.

The best source is an article by FIDE Vice-President Igor Levitov on the Russian Chess Federation website at http://www.russiachess.org/news/report/ ... nsky_cikl/. I know only three or four words of Russian, but Google Translate works well. Levitov was not impressed.

A few days ago an article confirming the Bulgarian bid was published at http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136248. This mentions both London and New York as other possible locations.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:28 pm
by Christopher Kreuzer
David Sedgwick wrote:I spent some time yesterday investigating the reports of the Candidates Tournament coming to London.
Thanks, David. All very interesting. If Bulgaria win it, that would be good news for Topalov.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:14 pm
by Roger de Coverly
David Sedgwick wrote:3. The person actually behind it is Andrew Paulson, an American entrepreneur living in Russia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Paulson.

The best source is an article by FIDE Vice-President Igor Levitov on the Russian Chess Federation website at http://www.russiachess.org/news/report/ ... nsky_cikl/. I know only three or four words of Russian, but Google Translate works well. Levitov was not impressed.
The Levitov article indicates that the sponsor wished to take on the whole cycle including World Cup and Championship match. From the biographic info on wiki, his company is a Russian and international media empire. Whether it's personal or corporate sponsorship isn't yet clear.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:17 pm
by Matthew Turner
"3. The person actually behind it is Andrew Paulson, an American entrepreneur living in Russia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Paulson"

I don't know what it is, but something leads me to suspect that Andrew Paulsen might be quite a colourful charcter :D

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:41 pm
by David Sedgwick
Paul Cooksey wrote:However there does seem to be a scheduling issue. It is unfortunate the Tal memorial is directly in front of the LCC, some top players have spoken of tiredness. The likelihood of a candidates tournament at a similar time this year does mean something is likely to change.

The Tal Mem moving to August would be great news, particularly in the hope it then stays there. Having our premier tournament slightly in competition with Russia's premier tournament does seem a nuisance. At best it must be making it a bit more difficult to make the tournament attractive to the top guys.
It's just been announced that the Tal Memorial Tournament 2012 will actually be in June. See http://www.chessdom.com/mikhail-tal-memorial-2012.

That solution may not work in 2013, as there is to be a new super tournament in Norway. See http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/norwa ... nt-in-2013.

However, the rescheduling of the Tal Memorial undoubtedly eases the potential calendar congestion in the last quarter of 2012. Moreover, a surfeit of super tournaments is certainly a good problem to have.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:15 am
by Roger de Coverly
Matthew Turner wrote: I don't know what it is, but something leads me to suspect that Andrew Paulsen might be quite a colourful charcter :D
It appears he has impressed Kirsan. Further evidence is the tweeting by Kirsan's assistant (not a Vice-President). Other observers and commentators, notably the Russian, point to the lack of substance in the organisational skills of this new body.

I suspect that given enough of other people's money, the British/English chess establishment could assemble a team who are more than capable of running Candidates matches or tournaments.

Re: London Candidates?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:24 am
by John Upham