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Open
Letter from FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov From Chess Today www.chesstoday.net
issue CT-118(1267)
We
received yet another letter from
GM
Ponomariov. While it was addressed to ACP members, the message came with
the subject 'open letter', so I guess it's OK to publish it.
"Dear
colleagues,
I consider FIDE's decisions to cancel the match in Yalta and about the
format of the World Championship in Libya (where Kasparov gets preferred
treatment) illegal and in contradiction to the decisions of the FIDE
General Assembly in Bled, and with all sporting and Olympic principles.
The legal procedure in this case is as follows: to cancel these decisions
by applying to the International Olympic Committee and to the Sports Court
of Arbitration in Lausanne. However I realise that this is a lengthy
procedure and that it won't help improve the image of chess. I suggest
that we revise the Prague agreements, because currently we don't have a
distinct scheme for determining the unified World Champion. If we follow
the existing scheme worked out by FIDE, then we will only have a new
champion in two or three years. I suggest a compromise settlement: to
arrange a match-tournament to determine the absolute champion, like it was
in 1948, with the participation of Ponomariov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Leko,
Anand and the winners of the Libya tournament. The approximate dates would
be December 2004 – January 2005.
Respectfully
yours,
Ruslan
Ponomariov."
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