It's Later Than You Think

A number of complications -- a failing PC, two new chess960 correspondence events, complications around an inheritance, tax season, vacation -- have all arrived at the same time and have resulted in a serious lag between the date on this post and the date that I'm writing it. I wanted to catch up by doing a series of easy posts as a follow-up to Fischer vs. Carlsen (December 2023) and Rogues' Gallery (ditto), but I ran into technical issues with the underlying cloud software.

Since I'm not seeing an easy fix to the technical problems, I'll skip posting to this blog until I get my affairs in order. Back in a jiffy ... (he said).

Benko Wasn't Paid

I added a new clipping to the page (C08) Zonals 1969-1972 (m-w.com), under the zonal titled '5 New York 1969-11'. It's taken from the letters section of the November 2007 issue of Chess Life and starts,

September Issue: "Fischer Fallout" Fallout • Reading the sidebar on page 25 of the September Chess Life, "Myth of the lone gun," I found two sentences which [mention] me and I think I should correct them.

"Fischer couldn't have played [the 1970 Interzonal] if Pal Benko had not been bought out," and "They then paid GM Pal Benko $2,000 to step aside."

This is indeed only half true. [...]

Five paragraphs later, the letter signs off,

So I state again: I never got anything, not even a penny, for giving up my place to Fischer and I never regretted it. I only asked Fischer, "Don't quit." And indeed, he became the only American world champion.

Pal Benko
Budapest, Hungary

One of the intermediate paragraphs mentions,

Fischer once asked me, "Is it true you got money to give up your place for me?" [...] After I answered, "No," he asked me, "Can you put that in writing?" Indeed I did; one can find it in my old Chess Life column.

If I ever find that needle in the haystack of Benko columns, I'll add the reference.

Portrait of Hou Yifan

This month's featured photo on my main blog, Enhanced Chess Art (March 2025), won over another photo on the short list that I also wanted to use. Luckily, the second photo is equally appropriate for this current blog.

I play my enemies like a game of chess... © Flickr user Dunk under Creative Commons.

The description copied the first paragraph of Wikipedia's page on Hou Yifan (wikipedia.org), ...

Hou Yifan (born 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Shenzhen University. She is the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster (at the age of 14 years, 6 months, 16 days) and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16).

... then added,

Portrait of Hou Yifan at the 2016 Chess Olympiad by Andreas Kontokanis via Wikimedia Commons [plus a link].

The Flickr title, 'I play my enemies...', is a line from the 1996 Fugees hit 'Ready or Not'. For a look at Hou Yifan's path to the Women's World Championship, see 2010 FIDE Knockout Matches (m-w.com; 'Antakya (Turkey), XII, 2010').

Boris Spassky (1937–2025)

The Fischer - Spassky era is officially over.

Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky dies aged 88 | Reuters (1:15) • '[Published on] Feb 28, 2025'

The description of the video omitted any mention of Fischer. It was, after all, not Spassky's greatest accomplishment.

Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky has died at the age of 88. Spassky was the 10th World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972.

His Wikipedia page Boris Spassky (wikipedia.org), mentions all three of his title matches in the first paragraph.

Boris Vasilievich Spassky (January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.

As for the dozens of mentions of Spassky on this blog and on my main blog, the two that I remember best are:-

• 2018-07: Another Bad Day for Spassky; see also the link to 'A Bad Day for Spassky'.
• 2009-04: Photogenic Spassky

RIP, Grandmaster. You earned it.

Feedback on C02 Zonals

At the start of the previous post, Feedback on C10 Zonals (February 2025), I wrote,

During the six months of inactivity mentioned in [a] recent post, I received a number of relevant comments about my pages, some of them requiring non-trivial updates to those pages.

A few months after the comment on the 'C10 Zonals', I received an email from Przemek Jahr [PJ; of szachypolskie.pl] titled, 'C02 Qualifiers, 3* EUR Marianske Lazne 1951-08'. That title echoes a page titled, (C02) 1951-1954 Zonal Cycle (m-w.com) plus its corresponding 'Qualifiers' page. The email informed,

According to the report of Andrzej Pytlakowski, a participant of the zonal tournament, published in "Szachy" 9/1951, a play-off for 5th place was not planned and Jan Foltys took this place due to the better Sonneborn-Berger system.

The same email included an attachment showing the cover page of the referenced Polish chess magazine.

The paragraph outlined in red translates to:-

The most fierce battle was probably for fifth place. After 12 rounds, the contenders for this place were, apart from Benko, who had 7 points at the time. Lokvenc, Sajtar and I, all with 6 points each, also claimed. It seemed that Foltys with 5 1/2 points had no chance. However, events took an unexpected turn.

Foltys, who started even worse than Barcza, pulled himself up with a magnificent finish. Foltys gained 4 1/2 points from the last 5 games, winning against Benko among others. The game, as it turned out, decided who would qualify fifth for the interzonal tournament. Benko, playing white, gained an advantage, which he methodically increased. However, he ran into a very serious time deficit, which became the cause of his defeat.

Shortly before the time control, instead of carrying out a winning maneuver, Benko suffered material losses, as a result of which he lost the game. In general, time deficits were the greatest enemy of the talented Hungarian, who was the youngest participant in the tournament.

Foltys and Benko obtained an equal number of 10 points each and shared 5th-6th place. The Sonneborn-Berger evaluation system, which turned out to be beneficial for Foltys, decided who would play in the interzonal tournament.

The rest of the page is undoubtedly equally useful and I might tackle its translation some day.

Feedback on C10 Zonals

During the six months of inactivity mentioned in my recent post, Now I'm Here (January 2025), I received a number of relevant comments about my pages, some of them requiring non-trivial updates to those pages. The first such comment was the continuation of an older email exchange, titled 'Arandjelovac 1976'. It started,

I have investigated the cycle 1975-1978 and I can comment some facts.

The updates, to two related pages, are marked with the initials of the correspondent 'VA' [Vladica Andrejic] on those pages:-

• Zonals 1975-1978 (C10; m-w.com)
• Zonal Qualifiers 1975-1978 (ditto)

VA concluded his comment saying,

I hope that this helps. I cover Interzonals (and some zonals) with some info written in Serbian here:

• http://www.perpetualcheck.com/show/show.php?lan=en&data=T1976005&job=i
• http://www.perpetualcheck.com/show/show.php?lan=en&data=T1976006&job=i

Your favorite online language translator will reveal the secrets of those two pages, which are similar. Thanks, VA!

FCPC Backs Down

The previous post on this blog, FIDE Asserts Its Authority (February 2025), ended with a statement from FIDE:-

Attempts by FCPC [Freestyle Chess Players Club] to present their project as a World Championship are in contradiction with the well-established status of FIDE and its authority over world championship titles in all relevant variations of chess - including Chess960/Freestyle chess, as outlined in the FIDE Handbook.

Since that statement, we've seen interviews with responsibles from the two organizations. Both of the following videos are from Youtube channel Take Take Take:-

• 2025-02-04: FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky on the Freestyle Chess Conflict
• 2025-02-07: Freestyle Chess CEO on the FIDE Conflict • Weissenhaus [CEO?] Jan Henric Buettner

For a representative player's point of view, here is GM Fabiano Caruana on his own Youtube channel.

Drama between FIDE & Freestyle Chess | C-Squared (30:31) • '[Published on] Feb 7, 20255'

That clip from Youtube channel 'C-Squared Clips' is an extract from the full video on the main 'C-Squared' channel. A few days later, the FCPC backed down:-

2025-02-10: Press Release (Weissenhaus) • 'At a Sunday evening meeting in Weissenhaus with organizer Jan Henric Buettner, 12 Freestyle Chess Players Club members unanimously decided that the 2025 Grand Slam Tour winner in December (South Africa) will be titled "Freestyle Chess Champion." They also plan to form their own independent association with a qualified legal team to represent their interests.'

For the full text, see Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Participants Agree on "Freestyle Chess Champion" Title (freestyle-chess.com). FIDE is a non-profit association of national chess federations. FCPC is backed by for-profit Weissenhaus and represents an association of elite chess players. Federations and players are often at loggerheads over their particular interests. The two organizations have different objectives, so it's likely that we haven't seen the end of this tension.

FIDE Asserts Its Authority

I first covered the story on my chess960 blog in A Freestyle Fight (January 2025). There I wrote,

A few weeks later, the story became ugly. 2025-01-21: FIDE Statement regarding the "Freestyle Chess" project (fide.com); "With regard to the recent communications from the "Freestyle Chess Players Club" ("FCPC"), FIDE states the following..."

A few days later I came back to the story on my main blog in World Championship Yahoos 2025 (January 2025). This time I wrote,

I'm covering the freestyle saga on my chess960 blog, because 'freestyle' is one of numerous aliases for chess960. The most recent post on that blog was A Freestyle Fight (January 2025), where the last link to a story was 2025-01-22: FIDE Slams Freestyle Chess For Creating 'Unavoidable Divisions,' Threatens Legal Action (chess.com; TarjeiJS). The dispute is about FIDE's claim to have the exclusive right to any 'World Chess Championship'.

Let's go back to 2025-01-21: FIDE Statement (fide.com). After the introduction given above, the statement continued,

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the only internationally recognized governing body of chess (in particular, by the International Olympic Committee), regulating all official international chess competitions. While we have always remained open to cooperation with private organizations and initiatives across the chess community, FIDE retains its supreme role with respect to the rules, titles, and ratings. FIDE's status and global responsibilities towards the chess community are distinct and non-negotiable.

FIDE does not oppose commercial platforms, projects, or privately managed clubs, such as the FCPC, engaging with players in their own capacity. However, the attempts by FCPC to present their project as a World Championship are in contradiction with the well-established status of FIDE and its authority over world championship titles in all relevant variations of chess - including Chess960/Freestyle chess, as outlined in the FIDE Handbook.

During the intervening weeks, more statements were issued by both sides, but I'll cover those on the next post for my chess960 blog. In the meantime, here's a reminder of a well known historical incident analogous to the freestyle fight.

Portion of 'Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804' by Jacques-Louis David

Coronation of Napoleon (wikipedia.org)
'While the Pope recited the formula, Napoleon turned and removed his laurel wreath and crowned himself.'

Now I'm Here

It's been nearly three months since posting on my main blog Where Was I? (November 2024). There I wrote,

Over the last six months my blogging has dropped to minimum activity -- five posts a month on this blog [CFAA], one post a month on my chess960 blog, and nothing at all on my World Championship blog (WCCB). I would like to improve that.

Since then I've managed to write 12 posts, most of them about the recent World Championship match. The last such post (for now) was 2024 Gukesh - Ding Liren, Wrapup (January 2025).

During those three months I discovered a number of small errors on my pages, which I corrected for this current post. I also updated Wikipedia references for the new cycle on my index page The World Chess Championship (m-w.com). It is cycle 'C32' according to my convention for numbering the World Championship cycles.

2024 Gukesh - Ding Liren, Wrapup

It's been a month since the last post on the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore and I'm not sure if there will be another. Here's a summary of the posts about the match.

• 2024-11-06: 2024 Ding Liren - Gukesh, Warmup
• 2024-11-20: 2024 Ding Liren - Gukesh, the Players
• 2024-11-27: 2024 Ding Liren - Gukesh, First Week
• 2024-12-04: 2024 Ding Liren - Gukesh, Second Week
• 2024-12-11: 2024 Ding Liren - Gukesh, Third Week
• 2024-12-18: 2024 Gukesh - Ding Liren, Fourth Week
• 2024-12-25: 2024 Gukesh - Ding Liren, Closing Ceremony

Since I wasn't at all familiar with the early career of challenger Gukesh D, I ran a series of posts on my main blog to learn more.

• 2024-11-22: Gukesh Debuts in a WCC Cycle and in TWIC
• 2024-11-29: Gukesh in 2018 (age 12)
• 2024-12-06: Gukesh in 2018 (Scores & Rating)
• 2024-12-13: Gukesh Debuts in Google News
• 2024-12-20: Globetrotting Gukesh
• 2024-12-27: Gukesh's Influences in Winning the Crown

The same blog saw a number of scheduled monthly posts featuring the match.

• 2024-11-28: World Championship Yahoos 2024 (1/2) • 'more than 100 stories on the World Chess Championship (WCC) that started this week in Singapore'
• 2024-12-02: World Class Asian Players • 'explores the World Championship match currently being played in Singapore'
• 2024-12-08: Working with Gukesh 'A Fascinating Journey' • 'video collaboration between Youtube's ChessBase India channel and the Paddy Upton channel'

Several of the posts listed above used photos from FIDE's Flickr resource. Here's one more photo.

2024 FIDE World Championship - 1st Press Conference

(Left to right:)
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich,
Master of Ceremonies GM Maurice Ashley,
World Champion Ding Liren,
Challenger Gukesh Dommaraju,
CEO of the Singapore Chess Federation GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming
Photo: FIDE / Maria Emelianova

For more about the press conference, see 2024 FIDE World Championship: Opening press conference (fide.com; 'This afternoon's fantastic chess experience in Singapore began with the first official press conference...').

21 World Champions at a Glance

The previous post, World Championship Posters (January 2025; alternate title: 'Of Posts and Posters'), started,

I discovered a photo of historical interest among others from game 10: [see link to photo; (Photo credit: FIDE / Eng Chin An)] Posters in the background told a couple of important stories.

Along with the posters featured in that post, was a poster with a unique prespective on the official World Champions. It is shown below.

The World Champions
(can be expanded)

The historical path starts with Steinitz in the upper left corner, shows the five non-FIDE World Champions, then drops to Botvinnik in the middle of the second row, who was the first FIDE World Champion, no.6 in the accepted sequence of numbering the World Champions. He is flanked by the two players who beat him in a title match (then lost a rematch), after which the path moves to Petrosian (no.9). The path then runs sequentially through Kasparov (no.13).

After Kasparov, the path resembles spaghetti. Kasparov is succeeded by Karpov and Kramnik (no.14). Karpov is succeeded by Khalifman then the other three FIDE Knockout (KO) World Champions plus Topalov. The Bulgarian is succeeded by Kramnik then Anand (no.15). The Indian is succeeded by Carlsen then Ding Liren (no.17). The current World Champion, Gukesh (no.18), is not shown.

The total of 17 numbered World Champions plus five FIDE World Champions makes 22 faces. Who's missing? No one, because Anand sits on two paths, as the second KO champion and for beating Kramnik in 2006. Karpov's win as the first KO champion in 1997/-98 is not shown, probably because he succeeded himself.

The colors used for the arrows could have been better chosen, but that's a detail. All in all, it's an informative chart with tons of info and good photos packed into a small space. Kudos to its designer. For more clarity on the spaghetti portion of the chart (ten faces), see the main page of my World Chess Championship (m-w.com) site.

World Championship Posters

While I was searching FIDE's official photos in preparation for previous posts, e.g. 2024 Gukesh - Ding Liren, Closing Ceremony (December 2024), I discovered a photo of historical interest among others from game 10: 2024-12-07 FIDE World Championship Singapore 2024 Others (Photo: FIDE / Eng Chin An). Posters in the background told a couple of important stories.

First, here is a composite extract from the photo showing posters from various World Championship matches. Beneath the extract is a legend linking to my own pages (m-w.com).

Top to bottom, left to right [notes in brackets]; first row:-

• 1995 Kasparov - Anand; PCA Title Match; New York, IX-X, 1995. [see '(A)']
• (ditto)
• 1987 Kasparov - Karpov; Seville, X-XII, 1987.

Second row:-

• 2012 Anand - Gelfand; Moscow, V, 2012.
• 1993 Kasparov - Short; PCA Title Match; London, IX-X, 1993.
• 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin; New York, XI, 2016. [logo same as poster]

Third row:-

• 1981 Karpov - Korchnoi; Merano, X-XI, 1981.
• 1987 Kasparov - Karpov; Seville, X-XII, 1987. [as above, different poster]
• 1972 Fischer - Spassky; Reykjavik, VII-VIII, 1972. [program; see '(B)']

Fourth row:-

• 2014 Carlsen - Anand; Sochi (Russia), XI, 2014.
• 1990 Kasparov - Karpov; New York/Lyon, X-XII, 1990.

Notes:-

• (A) Chess at the World Trade Center (June 2018)
• (B) 1972 Fischer - Spassky Poster (March 2013)

It's noteworthy that some of the posters were created for non-FIDE World Championship matches; see the three PCA title matches in the first two rows.

The same FIDE photo which was the source of the composite image above included another poster/chart showing the relationships between the World Championships starting with Steinitz. I'll save that for the next post.

Twenty-Five Years into the Millennium

https://cooltext.com/

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Is 2025 a Dystopian Year?
(Cooltext Style: Tesla)