Here is excerpts from issue ct102 (1250) , Saturday, April 10th
2004. It has two letters about the Ponomariov open letter.
www.chesstoday.net
This
issue is prepared by GM Alexander Baburin; technical editor: R. Marconi
Subscription
is 15 euro for 3 months. For further details please refer to http://www.chesstoday.net
Letters
to the Editor
In
CT-1248 we published an Open Letter from FIDE World Champion Ruslan
Ponomariov. Here are two replies to that letter:
"Dear
Alex,
Concerning
Ponomariov's letter I would like to state a few things:
1.
Nobody says that he 'cancelled' the match against Kasparov. He however
did
not sign the
bloody contract
in time.
2.
It was most probably just Danailov (everybody's manager) and other
irresponsible
characters who influenced Ponomariov to play with
fire
until he got burned. Now they all pretend to be surprised by the logical
consequences.
3.
I respect Ponomariov for becoming the K.O. Champion. I don't bother
checking
his place in the Elo list - it's not all that important. But if somebody
is
number
one for 20
(twenty!) years like Kasparov, it is like Bobby
Fischer's
6-0 victories against Taimanov and Larsen! Ruslan does not
seem
to realize that. Too bad.
4.
I'm 54 now. I used to be younger and at those times I wanted to be a
Champion
myself. But I was not strong enough for that. I only reached the
Candidates
(it meant the
best 8 then)
5.
Respecting others (elders) does not make anybody smaller. Acting
differently
is a safe way to lose sympathy of the people who did so
much
for chess as you, Ruslan, must go a long way to catch up!
Greetings
to everybody!
GM
András Adorján, the Father of
BLACK
is OK thesis"
And
here is another, quite lengthy letter. While I don't agree with the
author
on several points, his views are shared by many chess fans and are
worth
showing here:
"Hi,
Alex!
Ruslan
Ponomariov is realizing that no one misses him. FIDE's decision to
cancel
the match was completely justified. He simply refused to play the
match
against Garry Kasparov. If FIDE can default Bobby Fischer, they
certainly
can default Ruslan Ponomariov. He is now realizing that
FIDE
Knockout champions are easily replaced and forgotten. You can easily
get
a new FIDE champion by holding another grab bag, blitz crazed FIDE
Knockout
Tournament. True World Champions are neither easily forgotten
nor
easily replaced. Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov are cases in point.
As
I recall events:
1)
Kasparov signed the contract, Ponomariov did not.
2)
Ponomariov held up the reunification process over
unreasonable
demands.
a)
Ponomariov wanted draw odds.
b)
Ponomariov did not want to use standard time controls, 40moves in 2
hours.
He wanted 90 minutes and 30 second increments per move.
3)
If Ponomariov wants to defend his title under similar conditions, then he
should
play in the next FIDE Knockout Tournament.
4)
Ponomariov passed up a great opportunity to play the strongest
player
in the world for a nice sum of money. Ponomariov would have been
seeded
in the next few future world championships. Ponomariov passed
up
a 'no lose' situation. Ponomariov took unreasonable stances on basic
issues. The first being time control. He did not want to play
using
standard time controls. True World Championship matches have
been
played using standard time controls, 40 moves in 2 hours. The
sixth
World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik stated, "World
Championship
matches are of competitive and creative importance".
So
why not use the slower standard time controls and allow these matches
to
be decided by the strongest player playing the strongest chess. This issue
should
not have been a showstopper. Ponomariov other unreasonable
demand
was that he wanted draw odds, just like Kramnik has with is
match
against Peter Leko. In order to answer this draw odds question, we
must
compare the two titles. Kramnik got his title by beating the man who
beat
the man who beat the man. In 2000, Kramnik defeated then World
Champion
Garry Kasparov, greatest World Champion ever, in a match by a
score
of 2 wins, 13 draws, and zero losses. This was truly a great
accomplishment
– Kramnik had climbed the Chess Olympus.
Ponomariov's
title was won in the knockout tournament, which was
missing
two best players in the world - Kasparov and Kramnik.
Kramnik's
title follows rich tradition. It would be unconscionable to give
Ponomariov
draw adds against the player who dominated chess for 20
years
and who defended his title for 15 years in numerous matches. This
issue
should not have been a showstopper either. Ponomariov failed to realize
that a victory over Garry Kasparov would have given some legitimacy to the
FIDE
Knockout Championship. It would have catapulted Ponomariov to
chess
stardom. It would have increased his marketability for big
dollar
matches. If Ponomariov wants to defend his title under the same
conditions
he won it, then he should play in the upcoming FIDE Knockout
Tournament
in Libya in September. Ponomariov wonders why the FIDE
knockout
tournaments prize funds are shrinking. This can easily be
explained.
How can FIDE hold championships when the top players
don't
play in them? Ex Champion and number one player in the world, Garry
Kasparov
and current World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will not play in the FIDE
Knockout Championship. The FIDE process is not worthy of world
championship
selection.
The other reason for poor sponsorship is player like Ponomariov,
who
make unreasonable demands and cause postponements of chess events.
Sponsors
need to know who will play and when these events will take place.
All
is not lost for Ponomariov - he is still a young and talented player. He
could
become a true World Champion some day.
Matt Traynor, New Jersey, USA"
|