Morozevich drops out of the FIDE Grand Prix
World number four, Alexander Morozevichw in a new interview with Sport-Express, told chess observer Yury Vasilyev that he refuses to
participate in the FIDE Grand Prix. Alexander, in particular, said: “The cycle would last almost four years. In 2008 we begin to qualify for the 2011 world championship match. Even at the time of the Botvinnik versus Smyslov rivalship it was not like that”.
[Translation by GM Mikhail Golubev]
Morozevich felt that it would have been wrong to agree to participate in four tournaments without knowing clearly all the specifics such as dates and venues. He also said that he preserves the possibility to fight for the title through the FIDE world cup. Morozevich said that, as far as he knows, Anand, Kramnik and Topalov have also refused to play in the Grand Prix. But anyway his decision was not influenced by the opinions of anyone else.
Source: http://www.chesstoday.net/
Thanks for the plug about chess today. They don’t get enough recognition for what they do.
This is a great move by Morozevich which I hope other GrandMasters can follow. We all want for our favorite pastime (Chess) to be recognized by the mainstream media as a sport….and we want more coverage for it. But unfortunately, every move FIDE makes gears against that purpose. For example, how come there is only one World Championship match per year??? Are we protecting the World Champion to the risk of loosing his title to another top GrandMaster??? That makes no sense. Even boxers defend their titles 3-4 times a year.
Having three or more chess world championships per year would simply degrade the worth of the title like it is in boxing.
In boxing they also have 3 different associations and several weight classes which means a lot of champions at the same time.
Do we really want that.
I don’t.
I want to have a chess championship match once in three years as it was in the “good old times” from 1948 to 1991.
I can’t see what was bad with that cycle…
today, pro boxing “world titles” are worth nothing. every champion will give up any belt for a more lucrative match in terms of $. In the same interview Moro says WC should be pleyed every 2 years in his opinion. Very reasonable. I dont understand why Fide makes the system so complex. complex plans are more difficult to stick to and this just increases the mess…
For mainstream media, you are as good as many opponents as you beat. Mayweather is a great Champion because of what he does in the ring and how often. If Mayweather was out there, defending his title once every 3 years he would have no credibility has a World Champion since he is not putting his title at risk and not providing the chances for others to attain the title. This is exactly what FIDE is doing. A World Champion should be able to have as at least two defences a year….this will bring more folowers to chess. And more followers means additioanl sponsors, and more sponsors means better funding, and better funding means more quality events and better prices for GM’s, etc, etc, etc.
lol. in boxing, the champion has no other competitions but defending the title. in chess, he still plays in tournaments. this makes the difference.
if the situation was similar to that in pro boxing, top GMs would have constantly challenge each other for matches (there no weight divisions 🙂 ) in complete disregard of the title.
btw I would allow “voluntary defences” i.e. champion can pick up any challenger, (say, above 2700 or from top 20) when the mandatory defence is not due. this “mix” system makes perfect sense IMHO.
The time between the beginning of qualifying and the final WCC match needs to be minimized. 2 years max would be good.
3 and 4 year spreads can mean a guy is no longer a top title contender, tho he gained much of his qualification way back years ago when was stronger.
Besides, these long delays just suck the excitement out of it all.
Bad for Grad prix if Anand, Kramnik, Moro and Topa are not playing. They are effectively top four of the world today. It will be a fight between lot others good players but not necessary great. IMHO if this is the case, FIDE lost it agian!
Morozevich is my favorite chess player today. I love watching his crazy and aggressive games. It’s unfortunate that he also refused to play in Corus 2008, I could have seen him.
Having too many/too frequent championships kills the meaning of the “world title”. The world champion title should be again more honoured and not given more than once in three years.
Here is part of a recent interview by Newsweek with Garry Kasparov which adresses exactly that problem:
NEWSWEEK: Do you think you’re the last chess champion to be well known so broadly?
KASPAROV: I think it’s probably a correct assessment, because chess has changed, you know. It’s more like tennis, because the champions are changing too often. If somebody’s No. 1, so what?