Chess - The Scotsman 08/05/13

IT WAS another classic case of FIDE fait accompli, as the game’s governing body ignored not only an objection from the Norwegian Chess Federation but also a sizeable opposing bid from Paris to confirm that the Indian city of Chennai, formerly Madras, as official venue for the World Championship match in November between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and world No 1 Magnus Carlsen.

The Norwegian federation’s oprotest about the lack of a fair and open bidding process for the eagerly awaited match was met by a deafening silence from FIDE.

Worse was to come, though, with news that that even a bid confirmed in writing by the Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe (which was almost $2m higher than Chennai’s $3.4m bid) to FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was dismissed out of hand during last weekend’s FIDE presidential board meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Although disappointed at being forced to play on Indian soil, Carlsen, - speaking from Stavanger, on the eve of Norway’s first super-tournament – confirmed he would play, and hopes that negotiations his team will now have with the Indian Chess Federation and FIDE run quickly and smoothly. “I’m deeply disappointed and surprised by the FIDE decision to sign a contract for the 2013 match without going through the bidding process outlined in the WC regulations, and for not choosing neutral ground,” said Carlsen.

“The bid from Paris clearly showed that it would be possible to have more options to choose from.”

A Greet - P Townsend,

4NCL Div. 1c (9)

French Defence, Winawer

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 Ne7 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 b6 7 Qg4 Ng6 8 h4 h5 9 Qd1 Qd7 10 a4 Ba6 11 Bxa6 Nxa6 12 Ne2 Qc6 13 a5 Nb8 14 axb6 axb6 15 Rxa8 Qxa8 16 Bd2 c5 17 Ng3 Nc6 18 0–0 Nxh4 19 Bg5 Nf5 20 Nxf5 exf5 21 dxc5 bxc5 22 Qxd5 0–0 23 e6 fxe6 24 Qxe6+ Kh8 25 Re1 Qc8 26 Qg6 f4 27 Re6! Nd8 28 Re7 1–0