Topalov’s exclusion not considered
PTI
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is not considering the request for disqualifying Veselin Topalov for his remarks linking Vladimir Kramnik to Russia’s secret agency KGB.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has indirectly confirmed that it would not impose any penalty on Topalov.
“I would like to thank two of the world’s best chess players Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik for agreeing to play a joint match for the world title. In April they signed an agreement for this match under the auspices of FIDE. I hope the argument between them on the chess board will continue to the delight of everybody who loves chess,” Ilyumzhinov was quoted as saying by ‘Focus’ newsagency.
Topalov had said in a recent interview that “people from outside who were Russians and were far from the world of chess helped Kramnik. These were either amateurs or people from the secret services.”
The FIDE President, however, said the atmosphere in Elista during the World Championship match was nothing but nervous.
The full article is here. 
Ban of Topalov turned out to be just another ChessBase lie, as usual.
>> I’m really curious why chessbase keeps doing this to Topalov….
ChessBase has commercial interests to invest in Kramnik to make him a world champion. He is their advertisment, sponsored by them, playing with Fritz: “The strongest human player playing the strongest program”. Great moto but containing 2 lies in 1.
It’s good that Topalov has not been banned; Kramnik is far more deserving of that.
But make no mistake, this decision is not based on the rights and wrongs of the matter. Topalov was about the only top GM to support Ilyumzhinov’s re-election as FIDE President. This is the real reason he was not banned.
On the Topalov homepage http://www.veselintopalov.net stands even, he didn’t get this interview:
“veselintopalov.net never published parts from the mentioned interview in ABC. It is not authentic and the words just paraphrase what Mr. Danailov has said. Veselin himself never said directly a word against Mr. Hensel or Mr. Kramnik in Bilbao. He made many comments on the match, he mentioned that there were strange things in Elista, but nothing more. The only sharp sentence that Topalov used was that he is not friends with Kramnik. Veselin Topalov was in Bilbao to play chess and Judith Polgar and thousands of chess fans may confirm this, since he was with them all the time.”
Actually, even if he had said something against Kramnik and relation with KGB, this would be still ok. Everybody can say, what he thinks, this is not a crime!
I also think, that Kramnik lies. ChessBase lies too: Kramnik is not the strongest chessplayer, nor Fritz is the strongest progamm.
It is ridiculous to demand that he be banned over this.
They made the right decision, Topolav should not have been banned.
This being said I used to be a fan of Topolav but the indignity that he brought upon the championship match was disgraceful. He grossly over-exaggerated the number of times the Kramnik went to the bathroom. Unfortunately the situation was made worse by the arbiters.
I’m not sure what Kramnik was “wrong” about though. I would tend to believe that the interview that Topolav is denying took place actually happened. If the story was indeed fabricated than the journalist’s career should be over. I just don’t think a journalist for a Spanish newspaper would fabricate such a story. Too much risk for little reward.
>>Ban of Topalov turned out to be just another ChessBase lie, as usual.>>
Wrong again. Kramnik did indeed make the request. FIDE could hardly have refused him if he hadn’t asked.
If you don’t feel guilty in telling lies yourself, how can you blame anyone else?
But the precedent is now set. Top players can accuse the FIDE President himself of participating in a cheating scandal and get away with it. Open season on Kirsan!