Vishy Meets the Volcano: Will the World Championship Match Be Postponed?
Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 11:32AM As all of you probably know, the tersely named Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland has been spewing ash into the air since this past Wednesday, and it has wreaked havoc with travel plans in and to Europe. Many thousands of flights have been cancelled (or delayed indefinitely, if you prefer), and alternative travel plans have proved almost equally difficult to achieve. Even the President of the U.S., with all the technological resources afforded him by Air Force 1 and the travel rights available to him thanks to his office, was unable to travel to the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski.
Against this backdrop, Viswanathan Anand tried on Thursday to fly from Madrid, Spain to Sofia Bulgaria, but got stuck at his stopover location in Frankfurt, Germany. He's still stuck, and with the match's opening ceremony scheduled for this Wednesday (the 21st) and game 1 scheduled for Friday (the 23rd), Anand's federation has understandably asked for a slight delay in the start of the match, of three days. It isn't like they're playing in some sort of open swiss; it would be normal to give the players time to acclimate.
In a remarkable display of goodwill (...not), Bulgarian Chess Federation President Stefan Sergiev said this:
We believe Anand's team is here. If Anand had called or warned about the possibility, or at least for the time of his arrival, earlier, we would have made everything possible to arrange alternative transportation to Sofia. I have a feeling the Schmitt coming earlier and checking in all rooms could be a trick.
And this:
Topalov was also in Spain on an island, but managed to come on time, Anand is looking for excuses and reasons. No World Championship has ever been postponed.
Wow, this guy has class. To tell you the truth, this is one of those times when I kind of wish I didn't have a kids-friendly policy regarding language. So (composing myself), let's deal with this garbage objectively. Was Anand supposed to have foreseen the volcano's eruption coming ahead of time, and placed his travel plans in the hands of the Bulgarian organizers? And when did Topalov get there? It probably isn't quite a world-class achievement if he made it there before the volcano interrupted everyone's travel.
As for the last sentence, what the heck is Sergiev talking about? The most famous title match ever, Spassky-Fischer in 1972, was delayed over a week. In any case, what precedent is there for a volcano grounding air travel over an entire continent? For the hard-hearted powers-that-be in Bulgaria, here is a precedent to follow, albeit only at the level of the Candidates matches rather than the World Championship:
[Boris Spassky] triumphed narrowly in extra games in his first Candidates' match over Vlastimil Hort at Reykjavik 1977 with 8.5/16. This match saw Spassky fall ill, exhaust all of his available rest days while recovering; then the healthy Hort, in one of the most sportsmanlike acts in chess history, used one of his own rest days, to allow Spassky more time to recover; Spassky eventually won the match. [DM: This happened when Hort lost on time, when he had more than enough time to make the move, in a completely winning position.]
I wonder what Anand has to look forward to once he's actually in Bulgaria. What a terrible blunder he made, letting them host the match!
[Sources: Here and here regarding the delay, and here for the Spassky-Hort match. HT for the first source to Allen Becker.]
Reader Comments (29)
Gimme a break. Anand arrived in Frankfurt on Thursday, right? Should be no problem for a VIP like him to get a limo with driver. From Frankfurt to Sofia it is a 19-hour ride. Lets suppose he does this comfortably in two days, with an overnight stay somewhere. So, starting on Friday, he could have been in Sofia on Sunday. He could have relaxed on Monday, Tuesday, show up for the opening ceremony on Wednesday, relax again on Thursday, then play on Friday. Honestly I fail to see the problem.
What are his train options too?
BTW, hilarious irony in this post contrasted with your last post's title.
There is an Indian embassy in Frankfurt. Why can't they give Anand and his team a limo (or two)?
Stefan- So you see no problems in him havingto alter his schedule for a world championship match? Of course, a couple of days here or there doesn't make a difference does it- it is just a game, eh? How does it matter if he is 40 hours before the game or 4? Yes, Anand arrived in Frankfurt on Thursday. Unfortunately, he failed to hire a world class scientific team to tell him that what began as a 12 hr delay in flights was actually a 24 hr delay, and then an indefinite one. So yea, the moment he heard about the volcano he should have made arrangements for car travel. Of course, a 19 hour drive is not tiring at all. Particularly if you are playing a world championship, where going to the toilet too many times is a problem, somehow having to make last minute plan changes and delays and 2 day drives is no concern at all. Very fair.
From Chessbase:
"Naturally with hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded it is almost impossible to make alternative travel arrangements. We tried calling Lufthansa, and just the wait on the phone was over an hour. Even when you reach the carrier little can be achieved. If you are lucky you are put on a later flight, but of course that is usually cancelled. One of our family members is stuck in Ireland, and it looks as if the delay will be from Friday until Wednesday at least; Garry Kasparov and his wife are in New York, unable to return to Russia (the flight route would take the plane through the cloud); the German national chess team is stranded in Vietnam, and even Barack Obama is unable to attend the funeral of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and the 95 other victims of last weekend’s plane crash in Russia. Travelling from Frankfurt to Sofia by other means is hardly less daunting. Car rentals are completely booked up, as are trains, which are totally packed. A train journey from Frankfurt to Sofia would take 28 hours. Anand’s wife Aruna has spent considerable time trying to find a reasonable way to reach the Bulgarian capital. These efforts continue, as there seems to be no end to the crisis in air traffic."
Now of course, the argument will be - but the Indian consulate/embassy in Frankfurt could have done something. Let us for the sake of argument assume that it could (not that this was a stopover, and not the original point of origin). Evidently, they did not. Now what? It is Anand's fault that the embassy did not arrange? So maybe, the championship could be held on the moon, and as India has the capacity to send objects into space, the Indian government should have arranged for that transport? What I mean to say sans hyperbole is this - how is the alleged, as yet unproven, inaction of Indian governmental authorities a legitimate reason why the organisers should refuse to postpone the match? Further, assume that Anand is at fault/has been negligent for not arranging alternative transport, is it legitimate to automatically assume that he is running away from the match? As a matter of goodwill and sporspersonlike conduct, I do not see any justification for the organisers actions.
Bulgarians must come across badly in translation, at least I hope so - because those snide comments were totally uncalled for. Pretty certain the advance sections of Anand's team arrived early, to check the hotel rooms, install computers, etc.
And then he and his wife, as well as some seconds, etc, planned to arrive on Thursday afternoon, more than a week before the start of the match, and well in advance of the time given for when the players are to inspect the venue, together with the arbiter.
Sure, you can hop on a train or drive in a car, and arrive flustered and several days late, your run-up preparations totally ruined by circumstances you have absolutely no control over -- but you'd think that chess players would at least understand. Frankfurt's open now, and transport's been arranged for him to go to Sofia. Whether he gets a delay is up in the air, given the rule that states no postponements are granted.
The organizers would probably find it wise to grant a delay, given all the fans that won't be able to reach the opening, now that the airlines have hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers to get out of the way first. Foolish comments by the Bulgarian master diplomat acting as spokesman.
wait the bulgarian is supposed to be a diplomat? Now thats rich... he might be competing for worst diplomat ever in that case.
This guy Stefan from the Bulgarian Chess Federation seems to be one of the most rude and offensive guys around. Agreeing to a match in Sophia seems to be a serious mistake. Anand has not asked for abandoning the match - just a postponement on the grounds of force majeure ("unforseen circumstance" or "Act of God") which this almost certainly is. This seems to me to be reasonable both from a legal and from a sports perspective. I am not sure why the BCF has to be so rude and offensive in dealing with a reasonable request.
Also, as a practicing lawyer I am certain that a volcano disrupting travel arrangements across Europe is a "force majeure" event in English common law. I am not sure if the contracts are governed by English law but the principles are the same in most common law countries.
dev anand: "This guy Stefan from the Bulgarian Chess Federation seems to be one of the most rude and offensive guys around."
ONE of the most rude and offensive, but some other Bulgarian chess guys surpass him, e.g., Topalov's manager Danailov, Topalov himself, and Topalov's buddy Cheparinov.
I'm not the slightest bit surprised.
I just hope Anand destroys Topalov in the match, like Kramnik did. That was the best possible response to the ridiculously pathetic behaviour of Topalov's team back then, and would be a perfect response to the BCF now.
Going by available information, it's clear the Anand's informed the BCF on the 17th, after spending the 16th hoping there would be a flight from Frankfurt to Sofia. Frankfurt is a major hub airport, and the place has been a battleground of travelers wishing to spend fortunes to secure alternative transportation to their destinations.
A chess player headed to defend his championship doesn't go standing room only through several nations with four changes of trains to Sofia.
For whatever it is worth, it appears the Anands are on their way now. Frankfurt Airport (Europe's biggest hub) has now reopened.
Nightmare scenario: Anand arrives late (but not late enough to miss the first game, maybe just the night before for eg) and demands postponement. Topalov refuses. Clocks are started and you have a forfeit point right there. Anand refuses to go ahead, FIDE declares Topalov the champ, Anand negotiates with Carlsen to play a "non-volcano" world championship. 1993 anyone?
@SteinL: Frankfurt and other German airports were _temporarily_ reopened for a few hours Sunday afternoon (4:00-8:00PM local time), now they are closed again. This short window, announced at short notice, wasn't enough to resume normal flight operations - it seems that a single plane has landed in that period.
Stefan Sergiev - my favorite numbskull, and in charge of the Bulgarian Chess Federation - has a smooth tongue.
"Anand is looking for excuses and reasons" was the opening volley. Then he fires off this beautifully worded thought:
"You must remember that the Indian even postponed the event by 16 days under the pretext that he would play in the "Amber" tournament, but he did not participate there."
Ze Indian, indeed.
He's the World Chess Champion, Mr. Sergiev. Show some respect.
Has a World Championship participant ever been as disliked as Topalov? Only Karpov and Steinitz come to mind.
Ok, now that we got that verbal flogging out of our collective systems...
Perhaps Sergiev feels that the Bulgarians have gone out of their way for Anand, and he "repays" them by undermining the long-planned schedule at almost the last moment. Also, as we've seen before, sometimes quotations from foreign sources aren't quite in the original what they became in translation. If it is as Chessdom reports it, it's at least an extremely ungracious comment.
It should also be said that while Topalov hasn't always been a paragon of graciousness either, we should be charitable when possible and not assume that Sergiev is speaking for him. (He might be, but I at least have no knowledge about this one way or another.)
Kajetan: I'm certainly rooting for Anand now and was rooting for Kramnik then (against Topalov), but the latter's winning by one game isn't quite "destroying" Topalov. Fwiw, my "scale" for a medium-length match is something like this: a one-point win is narrow, two points is convincing, and only with a three or more point margin do we get to employ our favorite metaphors of devastation.
SteinL: I'd prefer we stick to criticizing Sergiev's actions when they merit criticism, and hold off on the name-calling. (Granted, his comments make it tempting...)
Brian: Karpov was disliked to this kind of degree? I don't recall that. To be sure there were some Americans who resented his taking Fischer's title, and many Kasparov fans who rooted against Karpov in their matches, but I don't recall any general dislike of Karpov the individual. I'd add Kasparov to your list (remember "tourists", "birds", "it will be Short and it will be short", etc.), while realizing that he was also greatly admired. Btw, are you just including people at the time of their challenge? Fischer at his worst in the 90s and 00s didn't make many friends, nor did Alekhine in the WWII days.
I was considering Karpov in his matches with Korchnoi. The combination of being given the title by default from the beloved Fischer and playing Korchnoi while Korchnoi's son was in the Gulag did not endear him to the chess community. Alekhine's NAZI collaborations happened after his World Championship Matches so I did not include him. I am not certain that Karpov or Steinitz were disliked more than Topalov but their names came into consideration. Its hard to determine in the absense of polling data.
Ah yes, I forgot about Baguio City, though I wonder how much of the dislike was aimed at Karpov rather than the Soviets in general. As for Steinitz, was he disliked by the general public, as opposed to the (fairly large) collection of individuals he feuded with in print?
The general public back then was different than it is today. A much smaller group of enthusiasts. He found popularlity when he moved ot the USA ('I would rather die in American than live in England') which was when he contested the title match so I guess you can say he was more popular than Topalov appears to be now. Although Topalov is popular in Bulgaria just as Steinitz became popular in the USA. People didn't like him because of his chess style and abrasive personality. One of his famous quotes is that there are only five people in the world that he would share a cigar with. But I think Topalov is disliked more although again its hard to say without polling data. There might be more Topalov fans then we realize :
Dennis: what I meant is that he was leading 3-1 when the Bulgarian camp threw their biggest weapon at him and I imagine the whole situation affected his play. Note that Topalov only came back in games 8 and 9, right after the second press conference of Danailov and accusations of using Fritz.
So how I see it is this: in equal conditions, with no dirty tricks, Kramnik wins two games to Topalov's none. Then, after smashing Kramnik psychologically, Topalov manages to win enough games to lose the match by just one classical game (not counting the stolen point). That's why I said "destroyed". I imagine the three-point margin you speak of could perhaps be possible under normal circumstances. Of course, we'll never know.
Folks, let me remind you about some facts: Anand has signed a contract, for which he is paid VERY well. It says there will be no time-outs in this match, period. This means he had to calculate a large enough safety margin to ensure that he's there in time, even if frogs were raining from the sky. And what will happen if one of the players feels unwell during the match? I bet that Topalov, whether you like him or not, will play no matter what. As far as Anand is concerned, I'm not so sure anymore. And all his fans will be whining about the unfairness of life in general and the Bulgarians in particular.
No one is disputing that; I'm sure everything is more than clear from the legal point of view. We're talking sportsmanship, not law. It's not like volcanic ashes disturb air travel over an entire continent every few years and it's more or less possible to predict that. Such event on such a massive scale is probably unprecedented. Scientists had trouble predicting how long the cloud would be there even days after the eruption.
I don't think Anand is asking for much in such extraordinary circumstances. This is the most important event in the chess world and it's in the interest of everyone that it goes smoothly and the players are able to focus on their games only.
Even as a matter of law, Anand's action is WELL within legal permissibility. And something like this would entitle parties to do what Anand did, as a matter of common law (i.e. UK, Australia, India, USA partially, a host of other commonwealth countries) AS WELL as a matter of most of civil law (i.e. continental legal systems). I am certain as a matter of French and German law. Not sure about Bulgarian law. Is the proper law of the contract Bulgarian law? If it is not - then I am certain Anand is legally in the right. If it is Bulgarian law, then I am not certain of the position, but if Anand were in the wrong in that ca, it would mean that Bulgarian law on the point is vastly different from most other systems.
About portsmanship, there is no question as to what the answer is.
Please stop blaming Topalov for Danailov's machinations. Topalov is only scheming when he is at the chess board.
I fear that Danailov, Ilymzhinov and Associates will once again cause Topalov to lose a match he might have easily won.
What a pity that this happened, because now we will never know who is the real World Chess Champion in 2010.
Please stop blaming Topalov for Danailov's machinations. Topalov is only scheming when he is at the chess board.
Isnt Danailov the manager of Topalov? How can Topalov not be responsible for what his manager says? And in any event, Danailov close to the organiser too. That is close to being an outright conflice of interest.
But more than Topalov, it is the reaction of the organisers here which deserves more criticism. Theoretically Topalov is responsible for what Danailov says, not what the organisers say. That is blurred because of the close association of Danailov and the organisers.
Being a fellow-countryman of Anand, I am his big fan (specially when compared to Danailov). But, at the same time, we must admit that the short statement from BCF is actually a good enough reaction (stating that they can consider postponing the match for one day). It is not entirely unreasonable to ask Anand to suck it up and be prepared to play as per the original schedule - provided the refusal is in polite terms. Anand can drive from Frankfurt to Sofia in less than 24 hours. Or do it over two nights, sleeping on his way. Better to do that,and play in less than perfect condition, than go through the mental agony of being slandered by the BCF. Hopefully Anand realizes that BCF is just playing mind games. Anand should be prepared for more mind games. If he is not confident (and angry) enough of beating the hell out of Topalov in less than perfect condition, he will not do well, I am afraid.
In order to correct the bad image of Topalov, if I were in his shoes, I would have come out with an open statement saying that "I understand Anand's difficulties in reaching Sofia, and, if Anand insists on it, I will agree to moving the first game by either one day or to the end of the schedule (i.e. after the currently scheduled game 12). If the organizers do not want to postpone the first game, I am willing to offer to Anand, either of the following solutions (a) accept a draw in the first game, or (b) reduce our prize pool by 20-25% to compensate the organizers in order to induces the organizers to accept a reschedulement - this will also help bear a portion of the organizers' contractual penalties.
I realize that a draw in the 1st game will mean that we play 11 (instead of 12) regular length games (where I have the better record against Anand). A draw will also increase the chances of getting into a tie-break, where Anand has a superior record historically, but I am willing to give Anand a draw if the first game can not be scheduled as per his convenience.
However, I hope that Anand can make it on time and we can play as scheduled.
A reschedulement will necessarily mean change of plans for me. Thus, due to the volcano (which is under no one's control) unavoidably, some less-than-perfect situation is created, either for Anand (if we do not reschedule) or, arguably, for me (if we reschedule). Nevertheless, I can understand Anand's request and will be flexible in agreeing to reschedulement if he so desires and insists.
I again hope that Anand can play as scheduled.
Signed Topalov"
Oxymoron: Bulgarian Diplomat ;)
I just hope, just for the junk and rubbish that the Bulagrian federation is throwing at him, and for the sake of the the worldwide chess loving fraternity, that Anand crushes Topalov in this match like a boot crushing an ant.