Global Chess BV

Since my previous post on this blog, dated 1 April, is starting to look like the joke that it wasn't intended to be, it's time to take drastic action. Here's announcing WCC Wednesday.

For many people, Monday is the worst day of the week. For me, the worst day is Wednesday. On Woden's Day, the previous weekend is a distant memory and next weekend, a future dream. It also happens to be my quietest day, when I have the fewest regularly scheduled weekly activities. From now on, Wednesday will be the day I post to this blog. That should guarantee at least one post per week and four per month. Even if the posts are journal entries documenting links, it's better than nothing. If I'm feeling really ambitious, I might even update the World Championship site.

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I added a new link to the 'Other WCC Sites' sidebar : Chessgames.com • WCC Index compiled by Hesam7, 'I am building a World Chess Championship index similar to what is done by Mark Weeks'. Thanks for the mention Hesam7 (why 7?) and good luck with your project.

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Of all the events that have occurred over the past two months, the most important is Global Chess BV. Yes, I know the Candidate Matches are taking place, but they are not yet finished. There are so many good news sites. Who needs another, mediocre one? I've always thought of my World Championship site as a reference site, not a news site.

FIDE and Global Chess. Press Release
http://fide.com/news.asp?id=1309
Full text of the press release:

The FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Mr Bessel Kok have met in Dresden to announce formally the commencement of operations of Global Chess BV. The main office will be in Amsterdam where negotiations on space in the MAX EUWE CENTRUM are in a final stage. A branch office in Lausanne is also envisaged. • The first part of the working capital has been transferred to Global Chess BV and this will permit the Company to finalize negotiations with FIDE on a commercial licence agreement. • Upon conclusion of the license agreement, Global Chess will (in cooperation with FIDE) start working on World Class Chess tournaments (including the WCC cycle as from 2008). Global Chess will equally examine investment opportunities in Chess related projects and ventures. • The Chairman of Global Chess BV will be Mr Bessel Kok and the Chief Executive Officer of the Company will be Mr Geoffrey Borg. • Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Bessel Kok [4 April 2007]

Global Chess BV [lots of comments]
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2007/04/global_chess_bv.htm
'The pro management company planned by FIDE has been formally announced in Dresden by FIDE prez Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the chairman of the new company, Bessel Kok.' [3 April 2007]

Global Chess to operate out of Amsterdam
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3817
'In December 2006 we reported that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had launched a ten-million dollar company to be run by Dutch businessman Bessel Kok. Now that company, Global Chess, has now taken residence in the Max Euwe Center in Amsterdam. The web site Chess Vibes met with the main Global Chess officers and has provided indepth video interviews.' [27 April 2007]

Head office Global Chess at the Max Euwe Center - interview with Bessel Kok
http://www.chessvibes.com/?p=794&lp_lang_view=en
'ChessVibes had [video] interviews with Bessel Kok and with Geoffrey Borg, about the cooperation with the Max Euwe Center and especially about the plans of Global Chess BV.' [26 April 2007]

Malta Chess Federation President appointed CEO of Global Chess BV
http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/sports/article_1764.shtml
'Mr.Borg is also currently a Vice-President of FIDE, as well as General Secretary of the Mediterranean Chess Association (MCA). He was elected to the Presidential Board of FIDE in an election held in Torino, Italy in May, 2006. This new appointment is a prestigious opportunity not only for Maltese Chess but also for Maltese Sport in general.' [7 May 2007; more details on Borg's career]

Kok and his wife were also featured on the cover of the May 2007 Europe Echecs. An interview with Kok, offering insights not found elsewhere, was inside (p.15-19).

FIDE World Cup Qualifiers (2007)

The FIDE World Cup Qualifiers are a mixture of continental championships and zonals. The European continent has a continental championship only, while the other continents have both. The only information I can find about these events is on the FIDE Calendar 2007. The following events are listed and appear to be qualifiers.

European Events European Individual Chess Championship 2007 • Dresden, GER • 2-Apr-2007 • 16-Apr-2007 EU Chess Championship 2007 • Arvier, Italy • 15-Jun-2007 • 24-Jun-2007 American Zonals Zone 2.3 Chess Championship 2007 • Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Zone 2.4 Chess Championship 2007 • to be confirmed Zone 2.5 Chess Championship 2007 • to be confirmed American Events Absolute Americas Continental Chess Championships 2007 • Cali, Colombia • 11-Jul-2007 • 24-Jul-2007 Asian Zonals Zone 3.2 Championship 2007 • Bangladesh Asian Events Asian Individual Championship • Manila, Philippines • 1-Sep-2007

I assume the European Individual Chess Championship is the Continental Championship, but I include the EU Chess Championship because I'm not sure what the difference is.

To Be Continued

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Later: It occurred to me afterwards that the EU Chess Championship is for the 27 countries (25 before 1 January 2007) that make up the European Union. I doubt that it is a qualifier for the World Cup.

FIDE's Current Plan for the WCC

To make sense of the current plan, it helps to go back to FIDE's December proposal. Chessbase explained the details of the plan, which were buried inside a PDF document on the FIDE site. It is reasonable to assume that the proposal was the idea of Ilyumzhinov, although Balgabaev was given credit. The gist was that an elimination event called the World Cup (held in odd years) would determine a match challenger for the reigning champion (even years). • NB: The links are all given with two dates. The first date is that of the document which is the subject of the link. The second date is that of the page which contains the document.

• 2006-12-06 Proposal on the change of the World Chess Championship Cycle • 'FIDE is publishing the proposal on the change of the World Chess Championship Cycle made by Mr. Berik Balgabaev, Assistant to the FIDE President.' [6 December 2006; Fide.com]
  
  
• 2006-12-09 FIDE's new world championship format • 'Since 1998 the FIDE world championship has been a 128-player knockout event, which never really found acceptance amongst chess players and fans. In 2005 the format was changed to an eight-player double round robin, with the knockout transforming into a "World Cup". Now FIDE has tabled a plan to merge the two.' [9 December; Chessbase.com]

According to later documents, the FIDE Presidential Board gave Ilyumzhinov the authority to make the decision and deferred it to a later date. FIDE also solicited the opinions of parties having a direct interest in the proposal. The December proposal was called 'A'; a second proposal, keeping the two events which FIDE had already proposed (a series of candidates matches and a double round robin tournament) was called 'B'.

• 2007-01-29 FIDE Press Release of the 1st Presidential Board 2007, Antalya, Turkey • 'FIDE is publishing the Press Release of the 1st quarter FIDE Presidential Board that was held in Antalya, Turkey from 26-29 January 2007 at the invitation of the Turkish Chess Federation.' [29 January 2007; Fide.com]

Ilyumzhinov announced his decision at the beginning of March. It confirmed the December proposal ('Proposal A'). Various responses to the two proposals were only revealed after the decision had been announced.

• 2007-02-19 Alexei Shirov on FIDE Proposals for future World Championship Cycles • 'Giving Mr. Kramnik a match in 2008 regardless the results in Mexico would only add the anarchy into our sport and therefore both proposals A and B are totally unacceptable. They also contradict your previous public statements and change the rules during the cycle. Finally there can not be two different democracies - one for a particular player and the other for the rest of the chess world.' [12 March; Chess-players.org (ACP)]
  
  
• 2007-02-27 ACP position on "FIDE Proposals for future World Championship Cycles" • 'The ACP has thoroughly studied both proposals for the future World Chess Championship Cycles suggested by FIDE. In this letter we would like to present our official position, though we have to admit, that some of the ACP Board Members have different opinion.' [7 March; ; Chess-players.org (ACP)]
  
  
• 2007-03-01 Decision of the FIDE President in respect of the World Chess Championship cycle • 'The FIDE Presidential Board in Antalya tasked the FIDE President to make a decision until 1 March 2007 in respect of the World Chess Championship Cycle for the coming 6 years.' [2 March; Fide.com (attaches only 'Proposal A')]
  
  
• 2007-03-01 Decision of the FIDE President in respect of the World Chess Championship cycle • 'The FIDE Presidential Board decided in Antalya to present to the 20 Top Grandmasters and Candidates two proposals for the future World Championship Cycles. The ACP was also asked to present its opinion. The new format shall be stable and unchanged for a period of at least 6 years, starting after the Mexico WCCT 2007.'[12 March; Chess-players.org (ACP; attaches both 'Proposal A' & 'Proposal B')]
  
  
• 2007-03-08 FIDE Follies Forever • 'If not forever at least until 2014, which is where the new FIDE world championship plan leaves off with ".. and so on." It may as well say 3014 from an organization that has changed its world championship format three times in the past year on paper and three other times in practice in just three years.' [8 March; Chessninja.com (lots of comments)]
  
  
• 2007-03-12 FIDE President meets the World Champion Vladimir Kramnik • 'Today, 12 March 2007, the FIDE President has met the World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in Paris, France. Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov informed him on his decision in respect of the World Chess Championship cycle and decisions taken by the 1st quarter Presidential Board meeting held in Antalya, Turkey from 27 to 29 January 2007.' [12 March; Fide.com]
  
  
• 2007-03-15 Alexei Shirov on the Decision regarding future World Championship Cycles • 'More than ten days passed after your decision on the future of the World Championships was published. At first I did not want to get further involved in the matter because after all the decision is the decision. But then I realized that something is still wrong.' [16 March; Chess-players.org (ACP)]

It is fairly clear from reading the various documents that FIDE had no intention of implementing anything other than the December proposal ('Proposal A'). The request for comments on the two proposals was political window dressing. While I have no particular preference for proposal 'A' or 'B', I find it a pity that the world's top players were ignored once again as FIDE continued to flip-flop on the format of the World Championship.

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Following are a few more documents which have been published on the Web in recent weeks. They also have some relevance to the WCC events.

• 2007-03-15 Charter flight from Moscow to Elista • 'The Organizing Committee of the Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Championship Tournament informs that a charter flight for participants, their accompanying persons, officials and mass media representatives will be organized on the 25th of May 2007.' [15 March; Fide.com]
  
  
• 2007-03-19 ACP Proposal regarding Appeals Committee • 'Recently, the ACP has received many complaints (one of them attached) regarding the work of Appeals Committee during official FIDE events. Indeed, there was o lot of controversy even (or especially) during the World Championship Match in Elista 2006. Eventually, the FIDE President dismissed the Appeals Committee to have possibility of manoeuvre, as he admitted in an interview or the Members of the Appeals Committee voluntary resigned, as was stated on the FIDE website.' [19 March; Chess-players.org (ACP)]

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Does anyone believe that the latest FIDE WCC proposal will hold as presented until 2014?

Round Trip Complete

I added a link to this blog from all pages on the World Chess Championship site. Here, for example, is the index page:-

The link is circled. It's the first global change to the site since I added Google Adsense in May 2004.

The Second Decade

Almost ten years have passed since I first started assembling the information that became my first web site. Chess had always been good to me and I wanted to do something for the game. No one had yet put anything on the web that tackled thoroughly the history of the World Chess Championship, so I decided that it would be my little gift to chess.

I spent a month or two collecting the data, then bought a book on HTML while touristing with my Belgian family in California. I studied it while the rest of the family slept. After returning home, I started creating the pages that make the site. Within a week or so, I had loaded the first version onto the free web space provided by Compuserve.com, my first Internet service provider. Today the site has the same appearance that I gave it in 1997, and even though it looks badly dated by current standards, I doubt that I will ever change it. Reference sites don't have to be pretty; they have to be accurate.

Times change and people change with the times. For a long time I've wanted a more powerful method to maintain my World Chess Championship News. I am convinced that blog technology is an excellent choice. At first I wanted to integrate this blog into the WCC site, but scrapped the idea when I discovered that it required giving my domain's password to Blogger.com.

If you have anything to say about the World Championship, don't hesitate to comment against any post on this blog. The comment doesn't have to be related to the subject of the post. Blogger.com sends me a copy of all comments and I always enjoy hearing from other chess history amateurs all over the world.