 The much-awaited Ultimate World Chess
Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Gary Kasparov has become a non-starter for this
year. The original sponsor, a mega corporation from Silicon Valley withdrew as a result of
"conflict of interest" caused by Kasparov's Microsoft-backed Internet based
Chess Match with the "REST OF THE WORLD" at the MSN site http://www.zone.com/kasparov/Home.asp. The following press release was issued by Mr. Kuruvilla Abraham, Manager of
GM Viswanathan Anand, on 14th Sepetember '99 in Chennai:
"The much-awaited match between
Viswanathan Anand and Gary Kasparov will not happen this year. The 16-game championship,
which was to have taken place in October this year, has been cancelled due to lack of
sponsorship. The event was originally to have been sponsored by a Silicon Valley
mega-corporation which pulled out in the last minute due to a conflict of interest caused
by Kasparov's, Microsoft-backed, Internet based Chess match.
As a consequence, the promoter, Mr. Serge Grimaux, was
unable to finalise an alternative sponsor within the deadline prescribed by the formal
agreement signed by all parties involved.
Subsequently, Mr. Grimaux requested and was given 30
further business days (holidays and weekends not included) to make other sponsorship
arrangements. However, despite his best efforts, adequate sponsorship commitments were not
finalised during this extended period and therefore the championship now stands cancelled.
Mr. Grimaux is yet to make an official statement about the
status of this championship, which would have been a face-off between the two strongest
players of the world. A team of eminent people headed by Mr. Bessel Kok has informed the
committee under whose authority the championship was supposed to have been organized. The
committee may meet at a later date to decide on a future championship. Viswanathan Anand,
who had kept away from the FIDE Championship due to his contractual obligation to this
event, stated, "It is sad that the championship will not happen this year. It would
have meant a big boost for committed commercial sponsorship of Chess."
 It is
also unfortunate that Gary Kasparov went ahead with a Press conference in London to
announce that the championship was cancelled before the expiry of the extended period
given to Mr. Grimaux by all signatories to the agreement. All the signatories were bound
by a clause of confidentiality, which Mr. Kasparov has not seen necessary to honour."
In an immediate response, dated September 21st, 1999, Mr. Owen Williams, Gary
Kasparov's agent came out with the following Press release,
"WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP NOT
CANCELLED"
"I have read the press release
attributed to Mr. Kuruvilla Abraham, Manager of Vishy Anand, and it contains sufficient
inaccuracies to warrant a response. It also makes a vibrant attack upon my client which
needs attention.
Mr. Abraham commences by saying that the match between
Kasparov and Anand will not take place this year and then says "has been
cancelled" and again in the third paragraph says "now stands cancelled". It
is, therefore, Mr. Abraham who has jumped the gun and made a statement that should have
come from Bessel Kok (Chairman) or Serge Grimaux (Promoter). What caused Mr. Abraham to
rush into print with a cancelled statement is beyond my comprehension, especially as it is
my understanding that his client does not think the match is cancelled.
Next, Mr. Abraham compounds his errors by making a
statement about a Silicon Valley Corporation pulling out at the last minute due to a
conflict of interest caused by the Kasparov-Microsoft match. This is pure fiction! The
potential sponsor knew about the Microsoft match and I was with Gary when the Chairman of
the potential sponsoring company said that the Microsoft match was not a problem to them.
From where does Mr. Abraham get this stuff? Perhaps, he
would be good enough to tell us. Then comes a low blow as Mr. Abraham tries to lay the
failure for no sponsorship on Gary Kasparov. The facts are that the committee took on the
task of finding the site, sponsor and organization about nine months ago and soon turned
the organization and the all important guarantees over to Mr. Grimaux. Serge Grimaux had
his contracts out to both players well before Garry revealed that he "might"
have a total sponsor for not just one but for many years.
We cautioned them against stopping other sponsorship
solicitations. This was done verbally and in writing. If Mr. Abraham cares to check, he
will discover that Serge and the committee went into this agreement long time ago and at
that time, led us to believe that they had excellent sponsorship prospects. To try and
blame Gary is a very cheap shot indeed!
Errors are compounded in the last paragraph which reads
"It is also unfortunate that Gary Kasparov went ahead with a Press conference in
London to announce that the championship was cancelled before the expiry of the extended
organising period given to Mr. Grimaux by all signatories to the agreement. All the
signatories were bound by a clause of confidentiality, which Mr. Kasparov has not seen
necessary to honour." The Press conference in London was called by Microsoft and had
nothing to do with the World Championship. The only question asked about the World
Championship was whether Microsoft would be the sponsor. A Microsoft representative
answered, and not Gary, and a transcript of the conference is available. So now, we have
no statement by Gary as described by Mr. Abraham. After the conference, Gary was asked
privately about the match and he was very careful with his answers saying that he could
not see the likelihood of the match taking place this year and what is important, at no
stage did Gary say that the match was cancelled.
The last sentence of Mr. Abraham's release is insulting and
if he is deliberately trying to kill off a potential match, then insulting Gary is the
best way to set about it. I hope he will apologise."
Owen Williams, Agent for Gary Kasparov
The fallout of the Ultimate World Chess Championship is a
major blow to professional Chess sponsorship. For Viswanathan Anand, amidst further and
uncertain wait, the cancellation of the match for this year means more preparation time.
His hard work should bear fruit, should the match come to pass. |
