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1994-01-05
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EVANS ON CHESS. July 2, 1993. Copyright by GM Larry Evans
CHESS GOES TO WAR
The fledgling Professional Chess Association (PCA) made a bold move by
seizing the crown last February. Within three weeks world champion Gary
Kasparov and challenger Nigel Short raised a cool million more for their
title bout than FIDE, the World Chess Federation, had been able to raise over
three years.
The Savoy Theater in London will host all 24 games from September 7 to
October 30, with side events for TV. The London Times, backers of the $3
million chess festival, calls it "the dawning of a new era in the world's
oldest game."
Indeed, tens of thousands of fans around the world can enter a contest called
"Predictamove" utilizing a new interactive computer technology. Cash plus
trips to London will go to those who predict the most moves.
FIDE declared war by staging a rival match for Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman,
who were both beaten by Short. The match lacks legitimacy and is likely to be
ignored by the media, but its multi-million dollar purse can't hurt chess.
"We wish FIDE nothing but the best," said PCA commisioner Bob Rice. But the
major casualty of this war may be FIDE, which brazenly purged Kasparov and
Short from a rating list which is supposed to measure merit, not politics.
FIDE is rife with scandal, and rigging ratings is an old story. In 1986 Susan
Polgar was dislodged from her top spot in the women's rankings after FIDE
gave all others a gift of 100 points. It nudged a Soviet woman to the top
just when FIDE president Florencio Campomanes desperately needed Soviet
support in Dubai to get re-elected. An American reporter who got wind of the
deal was ejected from an open session of the Women's Committee chaired by the
Soviets.
Campo later drained most of FIDE's cash from Switzerland into his own British
bank account. He swiftly returned it after we blew the whistle in this
column, but no penalty was ever exacted and he easily won a third term in
1990.
The PCA is making its own ratings free of political taint. They also
announced a new Grand Slam circuit and abolished two different crowns for men
and women "given that there are no grounds for having separate titles for
each sex."
As the highest rated player in history, Kasparov is clearly in a class by
himself. Any aspirant to the throne must vanquish him in a match, and is now
giving newcomers a shot at the title every two years (instead of three).
To find a challenger in 1995 the PCA invited the top-rated 50 to Holland in
December. This system rewards excellence by sweeping away FIDE's geographic
quotas, and the best in the world can now qualify no matter where they come
from. In addition to sharing a whopping prize fund of $200,000, the first
seven join the loser of Kasparov-Short in a series of elimination matches.
Back in the bad old days, FIDE was the only game in town. When I played in
the 1964 Interzonal, a first step on the road to the crown, top prize was
$420. How times have changed!