After Dresden and on the Grand Prix.
After Dresden I've been more concerned with the changes related to Grand Prix than with writing a summary from the Olympiad, but we would like to congratulate the Armenian team with their glorious victory in the Open group!
As anticipated, the Norwegian team ended approximately around the pre-tournament ranking (21st versus 19th). Magnus was relieved to score 3.5 in the final 4 rounds to secure a decent overall result, 7.5/11 and a rating performance of 2757.
Kjetil Lie and Jon Ludvig Hammer also did very well. With a few losses at the end Kjetil was out of contention for board prizes, but the 2650+ performance and beating X.Bu of course made the Olympiad a great success for him. Jon Ludvig was really close to taking his 4th GM norm, but as long as he consistently performs close to or above 2600 it is only a matter of time before he is not only a GM but also a strong GM.
The Norwegian women performed slightly below expectations. The WIM title secured by Silje Bjerke and the great experience the Olympiad represents for our juniors Katrine Tjølsen and Line Jin Jørgensen were clearly highlights for our female squad.
What really stole the attention of Magnus and many others during the latter part of the Olympiad was of course the news from FIDE about changes to the Grand Prix cycle.
First came the short notice cancellation of Doha (about two weeks after we had been told everything was all right and could go ahead and buy plane tickets (which we did).
Going to the new venue Elista in wintertime and over Christmas was not something Magnus wanted to do, and later we have got oral confirmation that this issue has been resolved. (I don't know how and do hope it was done without any harm to other GP participants.)
Later the really big issue came up.
Without proper prior notice, and on the last day of the FIDE congress, a proposal was approved by the (people still left in the) General Assembly to degrade the GP midway by introducing a new qualifying layer, an 8-player Candidate tournament replacing the match between GP and World Cup winners as qualification for the 2011 World Championship match.
Thursday November 27th I wrote an e-mail letter of protest to the FIDE office on Magnus' behalf and Monday December 1st they reverted promising a response to the letter by today (which we have not received yet).
What we want from FIDE are transparent processes, fairness and predictability.
Significantly changing the GP regulations to the detriment of the GP players in the middle of the cycle is clearly unacceptable, and the reactions we consider include legal action and withdrawal from the cycle.
It is understandable that the FIDE board is unhappy about the fact that several top players decided against taking part in the Grand Prix. But, this should not have come as a big surprise and was anyhow known before the start of the GP cycle. Subsequently giving privileges to the players involved in the current World Championship cycle is obviously not the right way to solve their problem.
In the (unfortunately) lopsided GP regulations, there's a clause (1.4) stating that
"The body responsible for any changes to these Regulations is the FIDE Presidential Board."
I'm not a lawyer, but to me this passively oriented wording describing the role of the FPB would typically apply to the resolution of uncertainties or conflicts pertaining to the GP regulations and not as a basis for completely changing the purpose of the cycle midway.
On a positive note, Magnus today visited his sponsor Smartfish (brand name of the company Pharmalogica marketing Omega-3 fish oil products) together with legendary snow boarder Terje Håkonsen.
They got an update from the Smartfish management, tasted the new juice & fish oil - drinks and played a few games of chess!
More info on Smartfish will soon be available on their currently-in-work site; www.smartfish.no.
I'll provide an update regarding the GP in a few days.
Henrik Carlsen
Lommedalen December 2nd 2008
As anticipated, the Norwegian team ended approximately around the pre-tournament ranking (21st versus 19th). Magnus was relieved to score 3.5 in the final 4 rounds to secure a decent overall result, 7.5/11 and a rating performance of 2757.
Kjetil Lie and Jon Ludvig Hammer also did very well. With a few losses at the end Kjetil was out of contention for board prizes, but the 2650+ performance and beating X.Bu of course made the Olympiad a great success for him. Jon Ludvig was really close to taking his 4th GM norm, but as long as he consistently performs close to or above 2600 it is only a matter of time before he is not only a GM but also a strong GM.
The Norwegian women performed slightly below expectations. The WIM title secured by Silje Bjerke and the great experience the Olympiad represents for our juniors Katrine Tjølsen and Line Jin Jørgensen were clearly highlights for our female squad.
What really stole the attention of Magnus and many others during the latter part of the Olympiad was of course the news from FIDE about changes to the Grand Prix cycle.
First came the short notice cancellation of Doha (about two weeks after we had been told everything was all right and could go ahead and buy plane tickets (which we did).
Going to the new venue Elista in wintertime and over Christmas was not something Magnus wanted to do, and later we have got oral confirmation that this issue has been resolved. (I don't know how and do hope it was done without any harm to other GP participants.)
Later the really big issue came up.
Without proper prior notice, and on the last day of the FIDE congress, a proposal was approved by the (people still left in the) General Assembly to degrade the GP midway by introducing a new qualifying layer, an 8-player Candidate tournament replacing the match between GP and World Cup winners as qualification for the 2011 World Championship match.
Thursday November 27th I wrote an e-mail letter of protest to the FIDE office on Magnus' behalf and Monday December 1st they reverted promising a response to the letter by today (which we have not received yet).
What we want from FIDE are transparent processes, fairness and predictability.
Significantly changing the GP regulations to the detriment of the GP players in the middle of the cycle is clearly unacceptable, and the reactions we consider include legal action and withdrawal from the cycle.
It is understandable that the FIDE board is unhappy about the fact that several top players decided against taking part in the Grand Prix. But, this should not have come as a big surprise and was anyhow known before the start of the GP cycle. Subsequently giving privileges to the players involved in the current World Championship cycle is obviously not the right way to solve their problem.
In the (unfortunately) lopsided GP regulations, there's a clause (1.4) stating that
"The body responsible for any changes to these Regulations is the FIDE Presidential Board."
I'm not a lawyer, but to me this passively oriented wording describing the role of the FPB would typically apply to the resolution of uncertainties or conflicts pertaining to the GP regulations and not as a basis for completely changing the purpose of the cycle midway.
On a positive note, Magnus today visited his sponsor Smartfish (brand name of the company Pharmalogica marketing Omega-3 fish oil products) together with legendary snow boarder Terje Håkonsen.
They got an update from the Smartfish management, tasted the new juice & fish oil - drinks and played a few games of chess!
More info on Smartfish will soon be available on their currently-in-work site; www.smartfish.no.
I'll provide an update regarding the GP in a few days.
Henrik Carlsen
Lommedalen December 2nd 2008
Comments:
Posted by: Gegga
FIDE virker jo som en russisk mafia. Helt utrolig hva den gjengen der finner på! Nå må det snart komme en boikott fra de beste spillerne i verden, så kan det være de tar til fornuft. Han der UFO-mannen må jo dessuten gå av som sjef, og heller reise tilbake til sjakk-byen som han har bygd opp. Han bor i et av verdens fattigste land, men har selvfølgelig privatfly og milliarder på bok, og spiser lunch med Putin - som ikke er mindre korrupt.
Jeg skriver dette på norsk, og håper at ingen oversetter det til russisk :-)
Jeg skriver dette på norsk, og håper at ingen oversetter det til russisk :-)
Posted by: WidowTwanky
Henrik, Thanks so much for this update.
I'm afraid that the world is stuck with FIDE in its present incarnation until the majority of its members vote otherwise. I guess they had a chance to vote otherwise fairly recently, but the story of the 'pressure' brought to bear on small member countries is well known by now.
I only hope that Magnus will find a way to laugh at this nonsense - (serious though it may be) - and remember to work hard at his chess every day! He can, and will, beat this stacked system.
Fight hard for what is right, and good luck. But bottom line, the winner at the board is the winner - the corrupt regime is already exposed as a loser.
Go Magnus!!
I'm afraid that the world is stuck with FIDE in its present incarnation until the majority of its members vote otherwise. I guess they had a chance to vote otherwise fairly recently, but the story of the 'pressure' brought to bear on small member countries is well known by now.
I only hope that Magnus will find a way to laugh at this nonsense - (serious though it may be) - and remember to work hard at his chess every day! He can, and will, beat this stacked system.
Fight hard for what is right, and good luck. But bottom line, the winner at the board is the winner - the corrupt regime is already exposed as a loser.
Go Magnus!!
Posted by: Bobby
Does anybody know WHY Doha was cancelled? Was it because they (Doha) couldn't come up with the money?
Posted by:
Det jeg lurer på og håper er om det foregår noen form for koordinering mellom toppspillerne. Skjønner at dere ikke kan si noe om det, men håper det skjer. Rettsak kan fort ta vekk fokus. Veldig slitsomt. Har magnus 'fri' til nyttår nå? Heia dere!
Posted by: Alexandru
Dear Henrik,
As I wrote in my previous post, I think Magnus would dominate this World Championship cycle under any circumstances. I am just sad that he has to go through all this unfair treatment by FIDE.
Best wishes,
Alexandru
As I wrote in my previous post, I think Magnus would dominate this World Championship cycle under any circumstances. I am just sad that he has to go through all this unfair treatment by FIDE.
Best wishes,
Alexandru
Posted by: tompson
Henrik, I am sure Magnus will find his way to the title sooner or later. No one can stop him. Can you confirm this news www.chessdom.com/news/why-changing-w...d-championship-cycle Is this GP canceled as well?
Posted by: Foto school
Magnus should train on how to pose on pictures!
Chest up, hands away, and always smile regardless of the circumstances. If you look good on pictures, the whole world will worship you!
Chest up, hands away, and always smile regardless of the circumstances. If you look good on pictures, the whole world will worship you!
Posted by: Bobby
Magnus has played one GP tournament so far, BAKU, sharing the first place and winning ?24,166. The total prize for all players was ?162,000 for the 14 players. Even the 2 losers of the tournament (Bacrot and Inarkiev) collected ?4,250 each.
I don?t know how much money there is in professional chess playing, but it seems that the GP tournaments, as it was planned originally, was quite profitable to the players.
Now we have learnt that the GP series are halting due to lack of sponsors. First Qatar (Doha), then Switzerland (Monteux) failed to raise the money.
Also recently, we saw that the price fund of the Kamsky Topalov match dropped considerably. The original $750,000 offer from Ukraine never appeared. The counter offer from a Bulgarian organizer was ?only? $250,000. Kamsky accepted in the end, saying that ?he wanted a shot at the title, and a share of $250,000, was better than nothing?.
On various web forums it's popular to criticize FIDE these days, calling them ?mafia?, ?acting unfair? etc. But to me it seems that the problems of the GP series are caused by the recent global financial crises. In hindsight FIDE can be criticized for not eliminating the financial risk in advance. Maybe they could have asked the various GP organizers for bank guarantees earlier on? But this kind of fault, they share with corporations and enterprises from all over the world. The sudden financial crises have hit ?everybody?. For this reason, and to a certain degree, FIDE can claim Force Majeure.
-----------
In any case, it seems that Magnus has good chances to qualify for the new 8-player tournament. Either by
-Becoming first or second in the Worldcup 2009.
-Becoming first or second in the FIDE GP. (He already has one shared 1st place).
-Becoming the highest rated player. (He has already achieved it once, unofficially).
BTW, regarding the ELO rating, if (lets say) Topalov and Anand tops the FIDE ranking, the third ranking player will be chosen. And if the third ranked was number one or two in the World Cup, then the ELO ranked number 4 or 5 will be next in the queue. Or so I think. Does anybody know more about this final point?
I don?t know how much money there is in professional chess playing, but it seems that the GP tournaments, as it was planned originally, was quite profitable to the players.
Now we have learnt that the GP series are halting due to lack of sponsors. First Qatar (Doha), then Switzerland (Monteux) failed to raise the money.
Also recently, we saw that the price fund of the Kamsky Topalov match dropped considerably. The original $750,000 offer from Ukraine never appeared. The counter offer from a Bulgarian organizer was ?only? $250,000. Kamsky accepted in the end, saying that ?he wanted a shot at the title, and a share of $250,000, was better than nothing?.
On various web forums it's popular to criticize FIDE these days, calling them ?mafia?, ?acting unfair? etc. But to me it seems that the problems of the GP series are caused by the recent global financial crises. In hindsight FIDE can be criticized for not eliminating the financial risk in advance. Maybe they could have asked the various GP organizers for bank guarantees earlier on? But this kind of fault, they share with corporations and enterprises from all over the world. The sudden financial crises have hit ?everybody?. For this reason, and to a certain degree, FIDE can claim Force Majeure.
-----------
In any case, it seems that Magnus has good chances to qualify for the new 8-player tournament. Either by
-Becoming first or second in the Worldcup 2009.
-Becoming first or second in the FIDE GP. (He already has one shared 1st place).
-Becoming the highest rated player. (He has already achieved it once, unofficially).
BTW, regarding the ELO rating, if (lets say) Topalov and Anand tops the FIDE ranking, the third ranking player will be chosen. And if the third ranked was number one or two in the World Cup, then the ELO ranked number 4 or 5 will be next in the queue. Or so I think. Does anybody know more about this final point?
Posted by: Francisco Rivera
I think what you did is about right. I don't know what on his mind (FIDE President) to make a changes on where the players are used to. Why not finish it first you make any changes. Anyways, its not only FIDE that organizes big tournaments as what Mr. Ilumzynov (I'm not sure with the spelling of his name) qouted "Let see if they can run an Olympiad or a World Championship". He sounds arrogant and high minded. I hope Magnus won't be affected with what is happening now. I hope Magnus can still give us a brilliant game as he used to be especially his matched against Leko.
From a BIG fan of Magnus,
Francisco Rivera of Philippines
From a BIG fan of Magnus,
Francisco Rivera of Philippines
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