Chess Olympiad Success – Saturday Open Forum

The 2010 Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk is a big success. There were problems early on and many people were worried that it would be a disaster. However, the organizers worked hard to make sure everything was ready for this global event.

Many players whom I talked to said that they are very pleased with the hotels, food, venue, weather, general hospitality, etc. There are very few complaints.

I have a personal story which I think speaks volume to the people here in Khanty-Mansiysk and the organization. Last week, I forgot my camera and computer cord at the venue. I thought that there would be no way that I will ever see these items again.

But some of my friends told me that they misplaced their wallets, cameras, and other items and everything was returned, without even a dollar missing. I came back the next morning and just as they said, my camera and computer cord were found and returned to me.

In general, everything is moving along very smoothly in Khanty-Mansiysk with the exception of the hotly contested FIDE elections. But after the votes were tallied and the results were announced, things became much more peaceful.

I have been friends with Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov for a long time. They are chess legends and they transformed our sport in many ways. I am happy that they are trying to make chess bigger and more popular. For that, I am thankful. They will always have my respect.

I have also known Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for a long time. Yes, many mistakes were made by FIDE and I was never shy to point them out, even directly to Kirsan and other FIDE officials. No one disputes this. But one cannot doubt Kirsan’s passion for chess. I am very thankful that he is reaching out to many of us to get feedback on how to improve things. He wants to improve FIDE and make chess bigger and better. He is listening to our ideas and thoughts. I am hopeful that the chess world will see many positive changes in our sport in the next four years.

Chess is not big enough to be divided from within. We must all work together to ensure the success of our sport. The big focus has to be chess in education. We have to work from the grassroots in order to build a solid foundation for the future of our game. I have been promoting this since 2002 and I will be even more active in the next few years to expand this part of chess.

Ali Nihat Yazici and Silvio Danailov have both done tremendous things for chess. What Ali has done for chess in the schools in Turkey is amazing. He is also behind many excellent international chess events in Turkey. I will publish an exclusive interview I did with Ali soon. Silvio on the other hand has transformed professional chess in many ways, from the Sofia rules, big money at Mtel Masters, to the Grand Slams, etc. Like them or not, we have to fairly recognize their achievements.

I cannot name everyone but there are many more talented people in our chess community who can do great things to help chess grow. We need to utilize all their talents and learn from them. The political bickering, backstabbing, personal attacks and insults must stop.

Maybe I am an idealist but I still believe that it is possible for people to work together in harmony toward our common goals for chess.

The 2010 Chess Olympiad will end soon. 2012 will be in Turkey and 2014 will be in Tromsø. The future of chess is bright and I hope you will join me and our chess community on this fabulous journey.

It’s Saturday Open Forum. What would you like to discuss?