'Prevented from Taking Part for Political Reasons'

I started to tackle the new material mentioned in Qualification Paths, and quickly ran into a frequent problem that occurs with data maintenance: The more old material you have, the more work it takes to incorporate new material. The reason is that everything has to be cross checked for consistency. The only thing I was able to finish in the time available was to add new clippings to two zonal pages -- C02 (1951-54) and C05 (1960-63). One clipping on the 1961 Marianske Lazne event mentioned,

The [FIDE] Congress unanimously decided to state as a general principle that a tournament in which one or more players for political reasons are prevented from taking part cannot be recognized as a FIDE tournament. Prior to the Berg en Dal tournament such an event had never occurred in the history of FIDE. (FIDE Review 1961)

The Berg en Dal tournament was played in the fifth FIDE World Championship cycle (C05). To put this in perspective, the current cycle, culminating next year in the Anand - Gelfand title match, is C24, and the next World Cup, 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, is C25. The situation where 'one or more players for political reasons are prevented from taking part' has been a recurring problem in recent years, where the 2004 FIDE Knockout Matches in Tripoli, Libya, provided numerous examples. I recently wrote about this in The Worst World Championship Ever. Maybe it's due to the passage of time, but the early FIDE officers seem to have been wiser than the bumbling bozos currently in charge.

Incidentally, the 'Berg en Dal tournament' would be better called the 'Ubbergen tournament'. As mentioned in another clipping, Berg en Dal was a hotel in the town of Ubbergen, Netherlands.

Insiders' Guide to the 2011 FIDE Candidate Matches

Pre-match

• Fide.com: Rules & Regulations for the Candidates Matches of the FIDE World Championship cycle 2009-2011 • Official site
  
• CB: (Chessbase.com) FIDE Candidates Matches 2011 start on Thursday • Pictures from the opening ceremony
  
• CN: (Chessninja.com) Kazan Candidates 2011
  
• CV: (Chessvibes.com) Candidates matches start in one week – who’s your pick? • Aronian clear favorite to win Candidates
  
• CM: (Chessmind.net) The Candidates Matches Start Next Thursday
  
• CT: (Chessintranslation.com)
  
• CD: (Chessdom.com) Schedule; Preview • Logo, preparations, Kazan • Dvorkovich on the Candidates Matches • Venue • Kazan might be the revenge for Elista, says Danailov • Candidates matches opening day LIVE!

R1 G1, 5 May 2011

• CB: Fighting chess but no knockouts • GM commentary on Aronian-Grischuk
  
• CV: Candidates matches start with four draws
  
• CM: Candidates Quarterfinals, Day 1: Four Draws
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on Candidates QF, Game 1

R1 G2, 6 May

• CB: R1G2: Kamsky strikes first • Caruana annotates game two
  
• CV: Kamsky beats Topalov
  
• CM: Quarterfinals, Day 2: Three Draws and a Kamsky Win

R1 G3, 7 May

• CB: R1G3: Gelfand rolls six pawns to win
  
• CV: Gelfand beats Mamedyarov
  
• CM: Quarterfinals, Day 3: Three More Draws, Plus a Gelfand Win

R1 G4, 8 May

• CB: R1G4: From Topa to bottom
  
• CV: Kamsky eliminates Topalov, Gelfand also through
  
• CM: Day 4: Four Draws, Gelfand, Kamsky Advance

R1 TB, 9 May

• CB: R1 Tiebreak: Aronian out; Kramnik saved by the clock!
  
• CV: Grischuk & Kramnik through, Aronian & Radjabov out
  
• CM: Quarterfinal Tiebreaks: Grischuk, Kramnik Advance
  
• CT: Kramnik and Radjabov’s post-match press conference • Grischuk and Aronian’s views on their match
  
• CD: Kramnik - Radjabov tiebreak video (inluding blitz) • Radjabov speaks about the match with Kramnik

Intermission

• CN: Kazan Candidates 2011 R2
  
• CB: The battle resumes tomorrow
  
• CM: Semi-Final Preview

R2 G1, 12 May

• CB: Semis G1: Gelfand and Kamsky draw
  
• CV: Semi-finals start with two draws
  
• CM: Semi-finals, Day 1: Two Draws
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates SF, Game 1

R2 G2, 13 May

• CB: Semis G2: White wins both games!... Almost
  
• CV: Candidates: two more draws
  
• CM: Semi-Finals, Day 2: Two More Draws
  
• CT: Kramnik: I thought of banning castling before the 10th move • Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates SF, Game 2

R2 G3, 14 May

• CB: Semis G3: Blood, sweat and tears
  
• CV: Two more draws on third day Candidates semi-finals
  
• CM: Semi-Finals, Day 3: Guess the Result!
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates SF, Game 3

R2 G4, 15 May

• CB: Semifinals G4: Blood, sweat and real tears this time
  
• CV: Again two draws, tie-breaks on Monday
  
• CM: Semi-Finals, Day 4
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates SF, Game 4

R2 TB, 16 May

• CB: Semis Tiebreak: G-Day for the Ks
  
• CV: Gelfand and Grischuk reach Candidates final
  
• CM: Semi-Final Tiebreaks: Grischuk, Gelfand Advance
  
• CT: Gelfand and Grischuk’s press conference

Intermission

• CN: G-Man Shootout in Candidates Final
  
• CM: A Preview of the Gelfand - Grischuk Match

R3 G1, 19 May

• CB: Finals: First game drawn after fight
  
• CV: First game Candidates final drawn
  
• CM: Final: Game 1 is Drawn

R3 G2, 20 May

• CB: Finals G2: Grischuk close to win against Gelfand
  
• CV: Gelfand and Grischuk draw second game Candidates final
  
• CM: Final: A Narrow Escape for Gelfand in Game 2
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates Final, Game 2

R3 G3, 21 May

• CB: Finals G3: Strong novelty... quick draw
  
• CV: Game 3 also drawn, after 14 moves
  
• CM: Final, Game 3: A Short but Savory Draw
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates Final, Game 3 • Gata Kamsky: I can’t play like Grischuk and Kramnik • God created man, but the Queen’s Gambit made them equal

R3 G4, 23 May

• CB: Finals G4: Another short draw
  
• CV: Candidates final: game 4 also drawn
  
• CM: Game 4: Dr(y)awn
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates Final, Game 4

R3 G5, 24 May

• CB: Finals G5: No winner in trenchwar
  
• CV: Candidates: game 5 also drawn
  
• CM: Game 5 is...Drawn
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates Final, Game 5

R3 G6, 25 May

• Fide.com: Boris Gelfand is challenger for World Championship
  
• CB: Finals: Gelfand wins right to challenge Anand in 2012!
  
• CV: Gelfand beats Grischuk, wins Candidates
  
• CM: Game 6: Gelfand Wins Game, Match, and the Right to Face Anand in 2012
  
• CT: Shipov’s live commentary on the Candidates Final, Game 6 • Gelfand and Grischuk’s final press conference

Post-match

• CB: Accusations by the ECU and FIDE over Kazan • Feedback on Kazan – how should the Candidates be conducted? • Kramnik: Reflections on the Candidates Matches
  
• CV: Kazan: the aftermath • Gelfand & Grischuk post-final interviews • Skill and luck in high-level chess competitions
  
• CT: Grischuk: I was worried I’d forgotten how to play chess • Boris Gelfand: A completely happy man
  
• CD: Pros and cons of the Candidates matches system and organization

2011 Kazan Candidate Matches

I updated my page on the 2011 Candidates Event to include the results and the PGN game scores. I also added links for the eight competitors to my Index of Players. It's a great result for GM Gelfand, who earned a shot at World Champion Anand in 2012. According to Chessgames.com's Overall Record, the two players first met in 1989 and since then 'Viswanathan Anand beat Boris Gelfand 16 to 6, with 43 draws'. It promises to be a great match.