Date:	   Fri, 29 Sep 2006 
Subject: World Chess Championship and Toilet Gate


Dear chess students and friends,

Good news: Chess is featured today on the homepage of the NY Times: www.nytimes.com and
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/sports/30chesscnd.html?hp&ex=1159588800&en=bf9e8b405118c22c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Bad news: The story has nothing to do with an actual game of chess but rather with a simmering
dispute over toilet facilities.

Current status: Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Veselin Topalov are contesting a 12 game match in
Elista, Kalmykia to unify the World Chess Championship. After four games, Kramnik leads by
3.0-1.0. He won the first two games of the match and then drew games 3 and 4. Perhaps most
disappointing from Topalov's perspective is the defeat in game 2, when he missed a trivial win
with 32.Rxg4+ followed by 33.Qc7. As it stands, a two point deficit is considered to be enermous
against a solid player of Kramnik's caliber.

However, Kramnik officially forfeited the fifth game today over the disagreement about private
bathrooms for both players. Instead of playing, Kramnik waited off stage to see if the organizers
would open his private bathroom. They did not. Arguably this forfeit result is still subject to
debate. Nonetheless, the bigger question is whether the combatants will ever return to the table.

In short, Kramnik refused to play today's game in response to implications by his opponent's
manager that he was frequenting the bathroom to cheat. This allegation, which stated that Kramnik
would visit the private bathroom up to 50 times during a single game, was released on Thursday on
a rest day. Since then, chaos has broken loose. The story is still developing at the time of this
writing.

* Topalov's manager accused Kramnik of using the bathroom too often. He noted that the bathroom
facilities were not monitored by cameras and were used by some spectators as well. Mind you, these
bathrooms were inspected and approved by both players prior to the start of the match.

* The appeals committee ruled that Topalov exaggerated the frequency of bathroom visits but
ordered that both players use one (shared) bathroom. This ruling was essentially a vindication of
Topalov's claim.

* Topalov again stated his displeasure, but agreed to resume playing except that he would refuse
to shake his opponent's hand. The hand shake at the beginning and end of a chess contest is an
important symbol of sportsmanship.

* On the other hand, Kramnik strongly objected to the ruling, stating that the match conditions
guaranteed both players their own private bathrooms. Moreover, Kramnik questioned the impartiality
of two members on the appeals committee, alleging that they were allies of Topalov.

* While Topalov sat at the chess board, Kramnik refused to come on the stage for today's game.
After waiting for one hour, Kramnik was forfeited by the chief arbiter. Today was only the second
forfeit result ever during a World Championship match. The first such forfeit came when Fischer
failed to show up for game 2 in the famous Fischer-Spassky match in 1972.

* Tonight, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov broke away from a political meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin and is now on his way back to Elista. Respected chess statesman and
mediator GM Yasser Seirawan has proposed a logical solution to this situation in his open letter.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3379

I find this news personally disappointing. It is a sad day for chess when our royal game makes
front page news because of a bathroom scandal. This certainly does nothing to improve the image of
chess as a worthwhile game and sport. The World Champion is supposed to be a role model for all
the young people around the world. I really wish the players would settle this match at the chess
board and not with managers, lawyers and psychologists!

You may view the games played so far on ICC by typing "finger Elista06" and "liblist Elista06".  

Michael Aigner