America want the World Title Match

[Chris Goodall]

So any time we have an English-speaking challenger, FIDE are stuffed. An English-speaking sponsor will come along and blow them out of the water.

It would still be the FIDE World Championship.

Last time there was an English-speaking challenger, it wasn't. And the time before that, FIDE failed to convince him to defend his title under their auspices.

If we aren't afraid of the players using the nuclear option and organising the match themselves, why even entertain the idea of moving the match from London?

[NickFaulks]

why even entertain the idea of moving the match from London?

I'm not saying I want it to happen, but if it turned out that a different solution would leave everyone happier, why would you not entertain it?

[Chris Goodall]

why even entertain the idea of moving the match from London?

I'm not saying I want it to happen, but if it turned out that a different solution would leave everyone happier, why would you not entertain it?

Because once you set an expectation that the right to organise the match will be up for re-negotiation after the challenger is determined, no-one will commit themselves until the challenger is determined. So you could be left with, say, a Carlsen-Grischuk matchup that doesn't get played because no-one* wants to organise it.

*Gosforth Empire Club has a nice stage with disco lights, but the prize fund of £37.50 and a digital clock might not be quite what the players are used to

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Chris W has a point. Have a look at this potted history of the collapse of the attempt to find a sponsor for a match against Kasparov from 1998 onwards, with Shirov infamously missing out on playing for the world title:

https://sites.google.com/site/carolusch ... nger-match

[Chris Goodall]

Chris W has a point.

(I'm Chris G, but I can't change my forum name.)

[Stewart Reuben]

Roger asked 'When did Kamsky become US? Was it before or after his largely forgotten match against Karpov in Elista?'

He played in the Lloyds Bank Masters when he was 14. The following year he, and his father, defected to the US. They got visas in order for him to play in the New York Open - where they defected. The Organiser felt used and the event was not held again.

It makes better sense for the World Championship venue to be decided after the two contestants are finalised.
London 1986 was twinned with Leningrad.
London 1993 was held solely in London. There was a great deal of bitterness about it not being held in Manchester.
London 2000 was held solely in London and had little effect on British chess.
There is an argument that London has had more than its fair share of these important events, it should be spread out more in order to popularise chess wherever it is held.

[JustinHorton]

Roger asked 'When did Kamsky become US? Was it before or after his largely forgotten match against Karpov in Elista?'

He played in the Lloyds Bank Masters when he was 14. The following year he, and his father, defected to the US. They got visas in order for him to play in the New York Open - where they defected. The Organiser felt used and the event was not held again.

It reckons here that the event continued until 2000.

[Chris Goodall]

It makes better sense for the World Championship venue to be decided after the two contestants are finalised.

Why?

Perhaps it makes sense in a world where no-one questions FIDE's decisions and where title matches aren't in danger of falling through for lack of sponsors. But post-Fischer, that's not the world we live in.

[Stewart Reuben]

Chris: If both players were Russians, or both US, then it would make sense for the host country to be of their federation.
For the Women's World Championship, Susan Polgar was not happy at the idea of playing the match in China. So she defaulted. That was appalling on the part of FIDE.
What if a bid had been agreed with the UAE and an Israeli had qualified?

[NickFaulks]

For the Women's World Championship, Susan Polgar was not happy at the idea of playing the match in China. So she defaulted. That was appalling on the part of FIDE.

According to her lawsuit ( which failed ) she had three separate complaints.

1. The match was scheduled too soon after the birth of her child.
2. The prize fund was insufficient.
3. The match was to be in China.

The third was of course unfortunate, but it was claimed that only the Chinese had offered to hold the match with even an unsatisfactory prize fund.

What if a bid had been agreed with the UAE and an Israeli had qualified?

As it happens, it seems that would now not be a problem. It would have been in the past.

[Leonard Barden]

The Guardian's take on the match possibly moving to St Louis:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... lsen-match


I belatedly realised that while my editor was putting my article online, its paras 6 and 7 disappeared into cyberspace. Here is the corrected full version with these two paras added:


https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... lsen-match

Later: Oops! I stated that Carlsen Anand in India was 2014, now being corrected to 2013.

[Chris Goodall]

Chris: If both players were Russians, or both US, then it would make sense for the host country to be of their federation.

That's debatable - they didn't move the Champions League final from Moscow to London when Chelsea and Manchester United qualified for it. What makes sense geographically is very different from what makes sense financially. Plus, we know two years in advance that one of the players is Norwegian! So I don't see how that would ever be a factor.

The Guardian's take on the match possibly moving to St. Louis:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... lsen-match

The London match "may be" in doubt? Did the Russian sponsors tell you they would take their ball home if their man didn't qualify, or is that a guess?

[Chris Goodall]

What if a bid had been agreed with the UAE and an Israeli had qualified?

Then the chess world would receive a salutary lesson in why elite chess events need to pay for themselves and not depend on the generosity of petro-dictators seeking good PR. Of which there will always be an abundance.

[Geoff Chandler]

Chessbase are now running the Guardian article.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/caruana-v ... n-st-louis

It's going to be snatched away from under out noses.

What am I going to do for two weeks in London in November now?

Who do I sue?

[JustinHorton]

This of course is everybody reporting that everybody else has reported a rumour.