Thursday, September 02, 2010

An Imploding Olympiad?

Looks like we're about to witness the single biggest chess event implode into a total disaster. I suppose this is what happens when you send the event to some third world part of the world like Khanty-Mansijsk.

The Chess Mind blog has gruesome details of a rather nasty email exchange between FIDE big wig Israel Gelfer, who is listed on the FIDE site as an honorary veep, and Bermuda representative Nick Faulks:

Dear Mr. Faulks

Without going into the details of invoice you got let me just respond to your style of your mail:

I find your last message to the organizers and to Fide as disgraceful and unbearable and if I were the organizer I would simply disregard any mail from you from now on.

Personally, I would not care if people like you would withdraw from the olympiad.

Israel Gelfer

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing new - just the typical arrogance of some FIDE officials to legitimate enquiries.
Unfortunately if this is true I will be in Siberia to experience this first hand unless the chartered flight does not depart as scheduled from Moscow.
Could it be that Karpov may be depending on an Olympiad fiasco to win the election he has all but already lost thanks to his backer and even more inept team and campaign than that of the incumbent.

ejh said...

some third world part of the world like Khanty-Mansijsk.

On what basis would Khanty-Mansiysk be "some Third World part of the world"? It's a small town in Siberia. It's not where I'd choose to hold the Olympiad, on several grounds including the dubious means by which it was selected as a venue, but it's not part of the Third World on any criteria I can think of.