CHESS GENIUS CHECKED RIVAL WHO MOVED AGAINST HIS “QUEEN”
by Jennifer Sym and Ayshea Buksh, PA
Press Association Newsfile
June 6, 2006 Tuesday 3:10 PM BST
A British chess grandmaster may face action from the game’s ruling
body for making a jealous move against a top player for dancing with
a stunning Australian contestant, the team captain said today.
In a surprise manoeuvre in the seemingly-sedate world of chess,
Danny Gormally’s behaviour towards Levon Aronian at the World Chess
Olympiad in Turin seems to have been sparked by the Armenian star’s
jiving with Arianne Caoili.
The Briton was said to have previously met and been emailing Caoili,
the 19-year-old Australian number three, but his dancefloor antics
at the tournament’s Bermuda Party led to retaliation from Aronian’s
teammates.
The World Cup winner’s supporters hit Gormally when he popped out
for a coffee the following day before they knew an apology had been
proffered, English team captain Allan Beardsworth confirmed.
Gormally, 30, from Durham, is ranked sixth in Britain, and subsequently
left the Olympiad early of his own volition.
Mr Beardsworth said: “The bottom line is this is just a little incident
in a nightclub where unfortunately Danny probably had a drink too
many and obviously saw someone dancing with a girl he liked and either
hit or tried to hit them.
“The guy he tried to hit was the world number three.”
The British player, he said, was “gutted” when he awoke the following
morning to realise what he’d done: “He knows he shouldn’t have done
it and knows he wouldn’t have done it normally.
“Danny is a nice, normal guy. When he woke up and realised he’d done
something really stupid, he knew he had to leave. We didn’t get into
any debate about what we wanted to do. He said `I must leave’. He
was so upset and I then arranged it all.”
Mr Beardsworth subsequently apologised to the Armenian delegation
and their star player the morning after the incident at the Hiroshima
Mon Amour nightclub.
“I found the head of the delegation and the translator and had a good
chat. He was fine with it, he rang Aronian up and he was glad I had
been in touch.
“We apologised then and the next day when I saw Levon we shook hands
and he was great. He realised it was just a drinking incident,”
he said.
However, while the apologies were being accepted, Aronian’s teammates
spotted Danny and “unfortunately gave him a punch or two”, said
Mr Beardsworth.
But he added: “Once they knew I had already apologised they came to
find me to apologise back to me. It was all very friendly.”
The English team subsequently came 19th in the biennial tournament,
up from 2004’s 30th place. The Armenian team won the Olympiad.
A captain’s report would be sent to the the English Chess Federation,
he said, and he would be “surprised if the ECF didn’t do something”.
“I think something has to be done. In two years’ time and four years’
time, people will remember this happened …. but what’s needed,
who knows?”
Mr Gormally – described by the team as “England’s newest Grandmaster”
and a “welcome addition to the Olympiad team” – declined to be
interviewed when contacted by the Press Association.
A spokesman for the Chess Federation in the former Soviet republic
said: “The Armenian Chess Federation does not want to give any details
on the subject. You must refer all inquiries to the British Chess
Federation. Goodbye.”
Denis Jessop, president of the Australian Chess Federation, said: “If
the Australian Chess Federation were to receive an adverse report about
the incident, the ACF Council would consider it but I do not see it
likely that any action would be taken in the absence of such a report.”
A spokesperson for the World Chess Federation (FIDE) said: “FIDE has
not received any official report of such an incident. Therefore we
cannot comment on this matter.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress