LEVON ARONIAN: FIDE MUST REVERSE ITS DECISION!
Chessbase News
d=5059
Dec 6 2008
Germany
06.12.2008 – "I must request you to critically view and question the
GA’s latest decisions," writes Levon Aronian, the world’s number seven
ranked player, to the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. "Why should
we go through several tournaments over several years and fight for a
place in a tournament that another player gets by losing a match?" The
winner of the second Grand Prix sent us this open letter.
Open letter
Dear Mr. Ilyumzhinov and the FIDE Presidential Board,
In the wake of recent events surrounding the FIDE Grand Prix and the
General Assembly’s decision to alter the current World Championship
cycle, I feel obliged, as a participant and a leading chess player,
to express my disappointment. I must request you to critically view
and question the GA’s latest decisions and the processes to which
they came. I must stress that I am not one for scandals and do not
wish to cause unnecessary fights – however I believe it is my duty
to act as the voice of the players.
Firstly, the decision to alter the World Championship cycle at this
time is not in the spirit of fair competition. We can draw a parallel
to the following example: the rules set before a race state that the
marathon is 42km, and while the runners are still running, having
already completed 20km, the rules are suddenly changed to make the
marathon an 80km run. The runners thus lose motivation to run and
consequently distrust the rule makers. This is comparable to the
situation the participants of the FIDE Grand Prix will be in if the
GA’s decisions are made final.
After severe criticism for many years over the World Championship
cycle, FIDE finally created a promising new system, only now
to self-impose new waves of criticism. When the initial World
Championship cycle was set in place and the Grand Prix system was
created for players to qualify legitimately for a chance to challenge
the world champion, we had the belief that there was finally a fair
and reliable system (which my federation also supported).
With the GA’s recent actions, it seems that there is a democratic
deficit within FIDE. The GA did not consult the players currently
taking part in the Grand Prix in their decision processes. Please keep
in mind a very important point – these players, including myself, have
a legally binding agreement with FIDE regarding the World Championship
cycle and the Grand Prix. Therefore it is FIDE’s duty to consult the
other party of the contract – the participants.
Does this mean that the chess players have lesser rights than
others? The GA appears to act with no concern for the players. The
decision to suddenly change the World Championship cycle has damaging
effects on the career plans of leading chess players. It is also
reasonable to ask: why should we go through several tournaments over
several years and fight for a place in a tournament that another player
gets by losing a match? The GA’s decisions remove the motivation for
players like myself to take part in the World Championship cycle.
It should be noted that Mr. Mastrokoukos’ reason to change the
cycle because of the unforeseen events of two legs of the Grand Prix
withdrawing is not convincing and does not reflect reality – because
a Grand Prix event in Yerevan has already been announced by FIDE as
a replacement. It is clear that the withdrawal of Doha and Montreux
are not endangering the system, as he would have us believe in his
letter to Mr. Carlsen.
It seems that FIDE was on the right path towards a reliable World
Championship cycle, which had the support of leading players and
chess federations worldwide. However, with the GA’s recent actions,
FIDE has left the right path and will lose its credibility in the
eyes of chess players world wide – not to mention, ruin its efforts to
be recognized as a sport by the IOC. I hope that the above arguments
will be heard before finalizing the decisions of the GA.
Sincerely, Levon Aronian Frankfurt am Main December 6, 2008