Mother of all chess battles

Last week, the World Chess Federation (Fide) shocked journalists at a press conference in Paris by announcing that the world chess championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsky will be held in Iraq this June.

The match will be held at either the Al-Rasheed Hotel in central Baghdad or the city's Congress Centre. Twenty games will be played and the match will last no more than 40 days.

Kirsan Iljumzhinov, Fide's 34-year-old Russian president, told a news conference that Russian defending champion Karpov and his Russian-born American-based challenger, Kamsky, will play for a prize fund of US$2 million (about RM5 million); Iraqi president Saddam Hussein would preside over the opening.

Iljumzhinov declined to say whether the prize money would come from the Iraqi government, but he did said that Saddam has agreed to soften his public image by shedding his customary military uniform in favour of a civilian suit when he attends the opening ceremony.

The Fide president said he negotiated on the match with the Iraqi Chess Federation, and that both Karpov and Kamsky have agreed to jointly donate US$500,000 (RM1.25 million) of their winnings to UNICEF for the benefit of Iraqi children and other humanitarian causes.

The decision in ordinary times would probably not have raised any eyebrows; however, at the moment, Iraq is still the subject of a United Nations trade sanctions and international diplomatic isolation because of its invasion of Kuwait in 1990 which culminated in the 1991 Gulf War.

However, Iljumzhinov said: "I believe the sanctions are economic, and culture and sport are not involved," adding that he has checked and found that there is no sports sanction against Iraq. International sporting activities have been held there during the period of UN economic sanctions.

Nevertheless, he wants the UN to rule on whether the economic embargo against Iraq applied to the planned match.

The Fide president said the federation received a bid from Montreal in November last year but until the end of January, it had not been formalised. The deadline for Canada to confirm their offer was extended but there was still no positive news by Feb 29.

Accordingly, Iljumzhinov started to explore other possibilities. Moscow and Baku showed interest initially but they did not provide any concrete proposals. Then Baghdad started to come into the picture.

"I talked to Saddam and asked him if he was ready to make his first knight move and he said yes," Iljunzhinov said.

lljumzhinov then contacted Karpov and Kamsky to inform them of this development. He said both players not only did not object to the possibility of playing in Baghdad, but they indicated their readiness to do so.

The Paris press conference lasted about one and a half hours during which time Karpov, Rustam Kamsky (Gata's father) and Fide deputy president Bachar Kouatly, answered questions from some 40 journalists, including from CNN.

The journalists were reportedly stunned to hear the news and could not believe the match could take place in Baghdad. Moscow seemed a more likely venue but Iljumzhinov said it would be a critical period in Russia because of the country's elections in June.

If the mother of all chess battles goes ahead in Baghdad, it will be a substantial public relations coup for Iraq in its bid to breech the wall of international ostracism.

The only fly in the ointment is American regulations that bar American citizens from playing in Iraq. Although Gata Kamsky is still not an American citizen, he is actively seeking to become one. Gata's father, Rustam, said the US State Department's initial reaction to Gata playing in Iraq has been unfavourable.

A day after the announcement of the match, the United States said Kamsky had been refused permission to play in Baghdad. A US$1 million (RM2.55 million) fine has been threatened.

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns suggested that Saddam would be wiser to focus his energies on dragging his nation out from underneath the crippling UN economic sanctions than on hosting a costly chess event.

Burns said the match has also cast doubts on Iraq's complaints before the UN about the hardship imposed on it by the economic embargo.

"It tells you something about Saddam Hussein's priorities, that instead of feeding his people he is going to host a bunch of chess grandmasters."

Burns questioned Fide's rationale for scheduling the match in Baghdad, saying "Iraq ought to be isolated." He declined to comment on whether Kamsky would be given permission to play the match, but other US officials said he will not.

It would not be the first time that the United States government stepped in to prevent Americans from playing chess in politically explosive venues.

In 1992, the US Treasury Department banned former American chess champion Bobby Fischer from playing a rematch for US$5 million (RM12.5 million) against his former opponent, Russian emigre Boris Spassky, in Serbia.

Fischer, in typical fashion, ignored the ban, in which the US government argued that the match was in violation of UN sanctions which were effective in 1992 against Serbia and Montenegro. Fischer is still threatened with arrest if he returns to the United States from his present whereabouts in Hungary.

SPOTTED DOGGIE DO

The Royal Selangor Club will organise a one-day rapid-play tournament at its Card Room this Sunday.

Registration of players will be from 8.15am to 8.30am, and thereafter the first of the six scheduled rounds will be played. Entry fees are RM15 for under-14 players and RM20 for others.

Lunch is provided for all participants. During the lunch break, there will be a video screening on the second Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky match in 1992.

PFS OPEN

Here is a final reminder to readers that the sixth Penang Free School open chess tournament will be held at the school on March 24.

This will be played over seven rounds and cash prizes, including a RM200 first prize, will be given to the top 10 players. There will also be various category prizes.

Entry fees are RM4 for players under 20 years old and RM6 for others.

To register for the event, contact Liong Ing Kiat or Lim Cheng Teik in the evenings. Alternatively, you can register electronically with Ronnie Lau at rlau@pl.jaring.my.

INDIANS DOMINATE

The Malaysia-India match in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month was won by Indian international master PS Mithrakanth who scored 8 1/2 points from 12 games. In second place was another Indian international master, Lanka Ravi, with eight points, while Malaysia's Ooi Chern Ee was third with six points.

Fourth was Indian international master K Murugan with 5 1/2 points, fifth was local Fide Master Mas Hafizulhelmi with five points, while in sixth place was another local player, Mok Tze Meng, with three points.

There will be a closer look at this tournament, including a selection of games, next week.