1939 Buenos Aires (Women)

I added the PGN for the 1939 Buenos Aires tournament to World Chess Championship (Women) : 1927-39 Title Tournaments. For a discussion of discrepancies related to FIDE's official crosstable, see 'Notes for the 1939 PGN' on the same page.

A Rigged Match?

While working on the subject of World Championship Opening Preparation (see Between the Lines for the latest post), I've been reading and re-reading all first-hand match accounts that I can find. The Karpov - Korchnoi rivalry was documented by both players in several books, making the three matches a rich source of stories at several levels. Here is a story recounted by Karpov in a book subtitled 'Memoirs of a Chess World Champion'. I'd already heard a similar account of this semifinal candidates match, but Karpov's is unusually direct.

At the candidates' matches in 1971 [Petrosian and Korchnoi's] paths crossed again. It was already clear that whoever won would have to face Fischer, who was swiftly ascending to the chess throne. There was practically no doubt that Spassky would deal with him, but our sports committee decided that that it was better to stop him on his march. Petrosian and Korchnoi were summoned and bluntly asked which of them had the greater chance against Fischer. Korchnoi replied that in the "Fischer age" almost no one had a chance, but Petrosian said that he believed in himself. At that Korchnoi was asked to throw the match to Petrosian, in compensation for which he would be sent to the three biggest international tournaments (for a Soviet chess player at that time this was a regal present).

No documents exist to substantiate this plot. But the mediocrity of Korchnoi's play and the fact that, considering his bitter nature, after he lost to Petrosian he remained on good terms with him implies that Korchnoi let Petrosian win. ['Karpov on Karpov', p.114]

Keeping in mind that the world's top chess players, especially the players who developed in the Soviet Union, rarely have anything complimentary to say about each other, the accusation that 'Korchnoi was asked to throw the match' and the implication that he acquiesced, are still stunning. Here's what Korchnoi had to say.

The match turned out be highly tedious; we played eight draws in a row! [...] People joked that neither of us wanted to win the match, and then meet Fischer. In the West many were thinking the same way, being unable to believe that the match was being played seriously. And only those who knew me well realized that I was trying very hard, but that my play was not coming off. I was most upset when, in the heat of the moment, I overreached myself, and lost from an excellent position in the ninth game. [...]

It was not difficult to guess that the last game of our match would finish in a draw, and Petrosian went through to meet Fischer. By his play against Huebner and me [Huebner abandoned the quarterfinal match], he did not deserve a place in the final candidates' match. But only Fischer was able to demonstrate this. ['Chess Is My Life', p.79]

What about the three international tournaments? According to my page on 1970-72 Candidates Matches, the Petrosian - Korchnoi match was played in July 1971. In the next chapter of his autobiography, Korchnoi mentions playing in the Alekhine Memorial (Moscow, autumn 1971, where Karpov also played), at Hastings (year-end 1971, again with Karpov), at Amsterdam (summer 1972), and at Majorca (November 1972). That corroborates Karpov's story. As for remaining on 'good terms' with Petrosian, Korchnoi's account of the semifinal match continues with the following.

After winning the match against me, Petrosian persuaded me to take part in his preparations for Fischer. For two weeks I visited his ostentatious villa on the outskirts of Moscow. Before his departure for Buenos Aires, Petrosian insisted that I should also go. The question was debated in the Sports Committee. I said that I was a participant in the same candidate's cycle, and so it was unethical for me to be a second, but I could agree if Fischer were to allow me. And I said further that it wasn't always pleasant for me to watch Petrosian's play to say nothing of carrying responsibility for it. In the Committee they did not insist, evidently realizing that the devil himself wouldn't help Petrosian against Fischer!

Karpov continued his account with:

But the idyll [that the players 'remained on good terms'] could not last long. Petrosian had a notorious appetite, and he didn't want to depart from his habits here. Korchnoi knew Fischer well, and in general knew a great deal, so why not make use of this knowledge in the match with Fischer?

This incident is known to me from Korchnoi's own account, although it generally received wide publicity in the chess world. After hearing out the request, Korchnoi could not contain himself and burst out laughing. "Now how the hell can I be Petrosian's second if it makes me sick to watch how he plays?"

This was the end of it. This wasn't just an explosion, but a challenge, and Petrosian vowed to annihilate Korchnoi. And now he was trying to do it with my hands.

That last sentence puts Karpov's account into context: Petrosian offered the young grandmaster valuable advice during the 1974 Karpov - Korchnoi final candidates match, which was a de facto World Championship match.

What do other sources say about the 1971 Petrosian - Korchnoi match? Kasparov glosses over the match both in the Petrosian chapter of 'Predecessors III' (p.108, not even a complete sentence) and the Korchnoi chapter of 'Predecessors V' (p.73, a paragraph)

Plisetsky and Voronkov's 'Russians vs. Fischer' (p.220) quotes exactly the same Karpov passage that I used in this post, with some rewording; Korchnoi's 'it makes me sick to watch how he plays' becomes 'his playing puts me to sleep'. The next chapter is a transcript of documents dated June 1971 that analyze Fischer's 6-0 whitewash of Taimanov in May of that year. That's followed by a long chapter, apparently another copy of an official document, by four Soviet GMs analyzing Fischer's play. It mentions the Fischer - Larsen semifinal match, played in July like the Petrosian - Korchnoi semifinal, leading me to assume that Petrosian had already qualified to meet Fischer in September.

Conclusion: the silence from the two other sources is deafening. Only Korchnoi's account -- 'those who knew me well realized that I was trying very hard, but that my play was not coming off' -- speaks in favor of a match that had not been decided by fiat.

Who Owns the World Championship?

Since early August, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I've been on a mailing list from one Stan Vaughan of Las Vegas. This past weekend I received the following email, apparently a press release. Except for cleaning up the bullets to make it more readable, I copy it here with typos included.

Subject: Controversial World Chess Federation media conference sees world record set.
Date: Saturday, October 31, 2009, 12:49 AM
From: Stan Vaughan

The World Chess Federation, Inc held its controversial press conference today at the Riviera Hotel Casino.Las Vegas Radio personality John Donovan opened the media conference and the following topics were discussed about current problems in the chess world: After main focus of the upcoming $7.5 million WCF World Chess Championship cycle include upcoming WCF Qualifying Tournament Dec 1-13

The media was given handouts regarding Ilyumzhinov and connections to such corruption as a) Larissa Yudina journalist murder; b) rigged ratings; c) claims to have visted foreign stars with aliens; d) insane time controls of FIDE; e) voting bribes of national federation officials; f) non compete clauses trying to prevent top talent playing in Siberian World Cup from competing in WCF; g) the recent $50,000 Euro (=$75,000 USD) compensation fees for players wanting to change nationality playing for; h) Ilyumzhionov holding FIDE championships in places like Libya where Qadaffi did not allow jews to compete

i) this led to Korchnoi was then attacked by a rabbi as being the root cause of of problerms in chess world by having broken Jewish and Christian law by contacting and playing a chess game from 1985-92 with ghost (spirit) of dead grandmaster Maroczy. The rabbi explained this created a portal whereby an evil spirit in form of Ilyumzhinov took over FIDE and caused Jews as a result to suffer dioscrimination by FIDE and he stated was the cause of failure of Grandmasters Associatiomn, PCA, WCC, Braingames Group and Einstein Group. The rabbi also said Korchnoi selling out to play in Elista rather than supporting WCF did not help matters spiritually for him or Spassky.

j) Stan Vauighan showed letter from Fischer and passed around along with a tie along with photo from Fischer of game played against Spassky in 1992 "The World Chess Championship". In addition. Vaughan also gave out copies of the recent US Trademark office awarding WCF exclusive rights to trademark and tradenames World Chess Championship and The World Chess Championship.

k) Also today GM Raymond Keene confirmed he will be coming to Las Vegas to be master of ceremonies for opening ceremony as well as accept an award from WCF recognizing Staunton as an officially recognized WCF World Chess Champion 1843-1845

l) The highlight was the press conference was followed by Stan Vaughan setting a new world record by playing 57 blindfold games one at a time against 20 different media members albeit none were over 1600 strength, Vaughan went 57-0 to break a previous record held by Koltanowski

The press conference can be viewed in the following video.

WCF World Chess Federation Press Conference 10.30.2009 (9:43) • 'Here is a video covering the WCF World Chess Federation press conference held by Stan Vaughan, inviting chess players from around the world to compete in the WCF World Chess Championship Tournament being held in Las Vegas NV Decemember 1 -13, 2009. For more information contact: Stan Vaughan [plus contact info]'

The bullets in the press release are all provocative and controversial, but I was particularly interested in the statement that 'Vaughan also gave out copies of the recent US Trademark office awarding WCF exclusive rights to trademark and tradenames World Chess Championship and The World Chess Championship.' A search for 'world chess' on the TESS database at uspto.gov revealed that a Word Mark for 'WORLD CHESS FEDERATION' had been registered on 13 October 2009 with 'FIRST USE: 19920901. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19920901'. The document confirming the USPTO Service Mark can be seen at 3:34 in the video.

I sent Vaughan an email questioning the discrepancy in the press release: 'It appears you have the trademark for "World Chess Federation", not for "World Chess Championship".' He replied, '"The World Chess Championship" is part of the logo that is part of the trademark', and that 'due to the legal documents FIDE's Campomanes signed in 1992 turning over rights to Fischer of "The World Chess Champion", our attornies insist that FIDE Championships since 1992 must be known only as FIDE Championships and not use word World in reference to.' That logo is visible at 0:51 in the video, and again near the end.

Vaughan must have suspected that I was unfamiliar with the 1992 actions of Campomanes, who was FIDE President at that time, and added, 'See books Russians vs Fischer in Averbakh's chapter and Vol IV of Kasparov's My Great Predecessors where Kasparov also acknowledges Campomanes' actions.' I have both of these books and took them out to verify the statements concerning 1992. Plisetsky and Voronkov wrote,

FIDE President Campomanes fulfilled Fischer's main condition [for a match]: he signed and issued the American a certificate to the effect that Fischer continued to be the World Champion. And this in the existence of a live Kasparov, who, upon defeating Karpov in 1985, had been proclaimed the official World Champion by the very same Campomanes! ['Russians vs Fischer' (1994, p.371)]

Kasparov's account confirms this.

To judge by the press reports, a sizable contribution was also made by the FIDE President Florencio Campomanes: he supposedly met the American's main demand, by signing a document to the effect that Robert Fischer continued to be the World Champion. The paradoxical thing about these reports is that in 1985, Campomanes officially proclaimed me World Champion -- and then did the same thing three more times: in 1986, 1987, and 1990! However, everyone understood: for the sake of again seeing Fischer at the chessboard one would sign any paper.

If only FIDE had been so eager in 1975 to sign other papers of interest to Fischer. Kasparov continued his account with a second 'However'.

However, Campomanes categorically asserts that after 1972-75 FIDE never recognized Fischer as the World Champion. Campo was invited to Yugoslavia and visited the island of Sveti-Stefan, where the first part of the 'return match' was held, but he associated only with Torre and Gligoric, and not once with Fischer (and before this they had not seen each other since 1981). ['My Great Predecessors IV' (2004, p.483)]

It appears from these two accounts that the official title of World Champion around the early to mid-1990s depends on a certificate (Kasparov: 'document') that then-President Campomanes might or might not have signed in 1992. (See 1992 Fischer - Spassky Rematch for more about the events of 1992.) This tie-in with the Fischer - Spassky match explains the trademark mention of 'FIRST USE: 19920901'. The press conference kicking off the match was held on 1 September 1992.

Between the creation of the PCA in 1993, detailed in FIDE/PCA Chronology, and the Unification Match in 2006, the chess world went through a bruising period of uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the World Championship. Has FIDE finally secured the rights or not?

The New/Old World Championship Cycle

Remember this chart? The caption says that it 'details the new cycle and long term intentions of the new World Championship cycle'.

It was originally published as a supporting document for Tallinn Presidential Board Maps New World Chess Championship Cycle, dated 24 June 2007. In a post from 27 June 2007, New World Championship Cycle, I used a portion of the diagram to explain where FIDE was going with the concept.

Let's look at each of the events by year. First, 2007:-

• 'Mexico 2007' was won by Anand.
  
• 'Previous WCH match' was the Kramnik - Topalov match held in 2006.
  
• 'World Cup 2007' was won by Kamsky.

2008:-

• 'UEP match' was won by Anand over Kramnik.
  
• 'Challenger match' was won by Topalov over Kamsky.
  
• 'Grand Prix 2008-2009' is ongoing with one more event, still unannounced, to be played.

2009:-

• 'World Cup 2009' will start next month.
  
• 'World Ch match' is the Anand - Topalov match to be held April 2010.

2010:-

• 'Challenger match' was scrapped end-2008 and replaced by a Candidates event, to be held end-2010.
  
• 'World Ch match' is not yet scheduled, but London has been given an option to bid on a 2012 match.
  
• 'Grand Prix 2010-2011' is not yet announced and its future is uncertain.

It's clear that FIDE has not yet managed to create a stable World Championship cycle. Will the Grand Prix endure? The Candidates event? What will the next cycle, post 2010-2011, look like?

ICCF World Championships (2009 Status)

A year has passed since I last checked Correspondence Chess Champions, at which time I posted the status in ICCF World Championships (2008 Status). Here is the current status. The asterisk ('*') means the winner is known, the PGN game scores are available, and I need to update my page.

20		2004-	Started 2004-10-25
21	*	2005-08	Oosterom, Joop J. van (NED)
22		2007-	Started 2007-12-31
23		2007-	Started 2007-12-31
24		2007-	Started 2009-06-10

In last year's post on the 2008 Status, I marked the 2004+ winner as 'Lehikoinen, Pertti (FIN)', but there is still one game outstanding which could affect the final result. Why is it taking so long? It's a postal chess event, not an email event like the other ongoing championships.

2009-2010 Women's Grand Prix, Nanjing

I added the crosstable for the second leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix (nanjing2009.fide.com) to my page on the 2009-2010 FIDE Women's Grand Prix.

Players at the 1993 PCA Qualifying Tournament

During its brief attempt to gain control of the World Chess Championship, the PCA held one qualification cycle, starting with the 1993 Groningen PCA Qualifying Tournament. Somewhat ironically, the players in that event appear to have been chosen according to FIDE rating.

The event was initially expected to have 50 participants, but was expanded to 54. Of those 54, all but two were rated over 2570. The two exceptions were Friso Nijboer (2555) and Zsuzsa Polgar (better known now as Susan; 2545). I imagine that Nijboer was invited by the organizers and that Polgar was invited because of her status as the world's highest rated woman.

The top seven finishers at the event, held in December 1993, would qualify for the PCA Candidate matches. Players rated over 2600 on FIDE's July 1993 rating list -- there were only two rating lists per year at that time -- who did not play at Groningen are listed below.

2815 Kasparov, Gary (RUS)
2760 Karpov, Anatoly (RUS)
2705 Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR)
2685 Salov, Valery (RUS)
2670 Gelfand, Boris (BLR)
2665 Short, Nigel (ENG)
2655 Epishin, Vladimir (RUS)
2630 Jussupow, Artur (GER)
2625 Dautov, Rustem (GER)
2625 Andersson, Ulf (SWE)
2620 Timman, Jan (NED)
2620 Lautier, Joel (FRA)
2605 Speelman, Jonathan (ENG)

The list includes Kasparov, the reigning PCA champion, and Short, who was seeded into the Candidate matches after losing to Kasparov earlier in 1993, as well as Karpov and Timman, who had played the 'other' World Championship match, organized by FIDE. As for the other names, there is undoubtedly a small story behind their reasons not to participate.