GM Yasser Seirawan Publisher's Message August24, 2000 Inside Chess™ Online GM Yasser Seirawan Publisher's Message: A Tale of Two Presidents I must say my Latin studies didn’t go well at all. Graduation requirements included a foreign language and my parents thought Latin was a good idea. They were probably right. Even during my time of youthful indiscretion I was blessed with a heightened sense of danger: my first week in Latin class was very difficult! Fearing that my expected ace would cost heroic sized effort I quickly transferred to Spanish class. I now enjoy the fruits of these labors by being able to order like a virtuoso in any Mexican restaurant in the world. (Provided of course that they serve tacos and enchiladas.) As I’ve grown older I’ve developed some regrets at having dropped my class as I’ve become partial to a number of Latin phrases. To wit: mea culpa (my fault), caveat emptor (buyer beware!), quid pro quo (something for something), pro bono (for free), carpe diem (seize the day) and the insightful offering by Kasparov: cui bono (who benefits?). For a language that has been "dead" for some time, Latin seems remarkably alive. Latin phrases are everywhere in the arts, museums, currencies as well as in numerous [older] organizations. Here’s one that gets missed, mala fide (in bad faith). Marvelous stuff, what? Well I’ve dilly-dallied long enough and shan’t postpone the inevitable any longer. You see this message is an apology. Mea culpa. An apology to FIDE and its leaders for my open letter, Enough is Enough. I thought that my views, my principles stood me in the right and that the gods of the USCF, its delegates, would overwhelmingly support a vote of no-confidence against FIDE’s President Iljumzinov. I was wrong. At the time, I was so certain of the correctness of my views, I had expected to send out the following message following the passage of the no-confidence motion at the delegates meeting in St. Paul: Dear FIDE Delegates and Federation Presidents, Greetings and salutations to each and every one of you! By way of introduction, my name is Yasser Seirawan and I am one of America's highest rated FIDE grandmasters. This message is being written out of care and deep concern for the game we love and not for any personal ambitions. I'm writing you on an issue of vital importance to all of us: the future of FIDE. Over the last several years I've witnessed the actions of FIDE with growing alarm. I'm writing to share with you my dismay and in the hope that you will join with the United States FIDE delegate, Bill Kelleher, and vote in favor of a motion of no-confidence in FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzinov. As you may be aware, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) just held its annual delegates' meeting, where by majority decision a no-confidence motion was approved. The motion read: "The USCF delegates do hereby direct our FIDE team to submit a motion of no-confidence in FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov and to make their best efforts to have this resolution passed at the FIDE Congress in Istanbul." There were many reasons why the USCF delegates voted for this motion and why the USCF President Robert Smith gave it his strong support. I'd like to review here some of the main ones. As you are aware, the current FIDE President has proposed the creation of a for-profit company based in London called "FIDE Commerce PLC" in which he will be the largest shareholder. He will ask FIDE's delegates to approve the transfer of ALL of FIDE's commercial rights from FIDE to this for-profit company. Besides the obvious conflict of interest and the highly questionable legality of such a misappropriation of FIDE's rights, it would be good to reflect for a moment on this question: if FIDE Commerce is approved, what will FIDE's purpose become? The memorandum suggests that once FIDE's commercial rights are transferred, anything and everything of value owned by FIDE today will become the property of FIDE Commerce. This company and its director Artiom Tarasov - appointed by Mr. Iljumzinov - will be responsible for everything! FIDE delegates won't have to meet to approve contracts, approve playing locations, bids for tournaments, World Championships, Olympiads or anything... Simply put, the directors and shareholders of FIDE Commerce PLC will control the rights to all FIDE events and all of FIDE's "commercial" interests. While FIDE delegates will still be able to put themselves forward for office within the Federation itself, such positions will have no responsibility whatsoever. All the important decisions will be made in the boardroom of FIDE Commerce PLC. Of course, FIDE Commerce PLC isn't bad news for everybody. For those who pledge to support it, there will be shares in the company or other generous rewards. This cheap and obvious attempted bribe is an insult to the delegates' intelligence. We all make mistakes and if this major blunder was a solitary one it might be forgiven as a freak aberration. However, the tragedy is that it comes on the heels of a series of errors. In 1996, President Iljumzinov stated that Baghdad would host the FIDE Men's Championship match between A. Karpov and G. Kamsky. When Mr. Kamsky protested this decision, he was threatened with forfeiture unless he agreed to play the match in Baghdad. Only when Mr. Iljumzinov belatedly realized that world opinion was (of course!) firmly against such a venue did he back down from his decision. In later interviews he explained that his decision to hold the FIDE Championship in Baghdad had been a ruse to gain publicity for chess. Indeed he did gain publicity for chess by dealing it a decisive black eye, injuring its image around the world. In the same interview, he explained that the match would have received support from the highest levels of Iraqi government officials, that Iraq owed Russia a great deal of money and that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to broach this topic. Once more, we have a clear conflict of interests as he tried to mix chess and personal/political gain. After such callous treatment, Mr. Kamsky gave up chess. So did the FIDE President learn from his blunder? Not at all. FIDE recently announced the site for the 2000 FIDE Championship: Tehran! Whether this is a deliberate snub to world opinion and/or another attempt to put personal/political interests before those of chess is hard to say. One thing is certain, Tehran is at the very least a controversial and inappropriate site for the FIDE Championship. How wonderful it would be for FIDE to make a clean break with the recent years and have a leadership worthy of the name, and one that uses common sense in its policy decisions. Still, even these issues were not enough to convince the USCF delegates that a no-confidence motion was necessary. There was much more. Any FIDE titled player is well aware that FIDE titles have lost their sparkle. They have been cheapened to the point that a player with a rank amateur Australian rating can easily become an International Master. Don't believe me? Please ask Australian Arbiter Peter Parr how it is done. The abuse is such that there are nearly twice as many FIDE titled Australians today as there were just two years ago. Neither are FIDE's titles the only cheapening of its once proud image. The FIDE rating lists have been perverted for political purposes. FIDE has failed in their administration and they are serially inaccurate. This combination is a double blow against the integrity of the FIDE rating system. FIDE has a responsibility to the players, the organizers and to the federations to do things properly. Then there is the humiliation of the non-payment of prizes. In the 1999 FIDE Championship event in Las Vegas, FIDE officials signed checks which they knew would not be honored by the banks on which they were drawn. In America when this is done with the full knowledge of the signers, it is a violation of the banking act, a fraud and a felony. FIDE is very fortunate that it enjoyed the forbearance of the players affected. In a class action suit FIDE would have had to pay treble damages if it had been found guilty of writing bogus checks - an almost certain decision. This conduct harmed not just the players but also FIDE's reputation. Forbearance to the players, however, isn't a FIDE policy. As you know, your FIDE dues are being spent to hire attorneys to sue A. Karpov in Swiss courts while Z. Polgar and A. Karpov are suing FIDE. FIDE is unabashedly at war with its chess heroes. In a recent exchange between FIDE Executive Director Emmanuel Omuku and myself Mr. Omuku stated: "The main problem that FIDE has to deal with today and which has taken a lot of the energy and time of the FIDE leadership, is that some players have sought to use their position to obtain more privileges than they deserve against the interest of their colleagues." What a terrible thing to say! I'm ashamed that the official FIDE policy is to declare that professional players known to millions of people are "the main problem." When did the motto "Gens una sumus" lose its meaning? Why is FIDE trying to financially injure A. Karpov? And when, pray tell, did YOU, FIDE's delegates, approve this decision? Your answer, of course, is that you did not approve the decision to sue Karpov and try to destroy his career. FIDE's leaders did it for you, on your behalf. Now with a vote scheduled on FIDE Commerce PLC, with the prospect that everything will be taken away from you, will you not also agree that enough is enough? To sum up: the men and women of the United States Chess Federation didn't lose all confidence in the FIDE President based on a single mistake. It was the sheer weight of so many blunders that caused them to vote for such a firm motion. Today, FIDE is an organization in desperate need of a new direction. The policies of this administration have failed. It is time to restore honor to the titles and the ratings, to treat the players with dignity and respect, to be civil with one another and to genuinely uplift the standing and reputation of the game we love. It is not too late. Now is the time for a decisive move. Please join with the USCF delegate, Bill Kelleher, and vote in support of a no-confidence vote in Istanbul. Following the passing of a no-confidence vote, the federations will be called upon to fulfill their sovereign responsibility for selecting a fresh team of their choice. Let me stress that I'm writing this letter based solely on principle. I'm unavailable for office myself but am hopeful that, with the new millennium, new leaders will step forward to restore FIDE to what it was always intended to be: a respected body in which players and administrators work hand-in-hand, in a spirit of mutual respect, for the good of the game that they all love. Thank you, Yasser Seirawan Chess player Chess lover Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to send this letter. It didn’t go out to the FIDE delegates’ mail boxes for the simple reason that the USCF delegates did not pass a motion of no-confidence in Iljumzinov. Furthermore, it didn’t receive the approval of USCF’s FIDE Delegate Bill Kelleher nor James Eade, our FIDE Zonal President, who were both against the motion. Instead of voting on the no-confidence motion, they supported a substitute motion made by FIDE Vice-President E. Steven Doyle, (yes, the very same person that a no-confidence vote would seek to remove): (Doyle) "The US Delegation is instructed to begin working on a ticket for the next election in 2002 with a new set of officers. The Delegation is instructed to submit the following motion: 'The member countries of FIDE express grave disappointment in the mishandling of the Las Vegas Prize fund by the local organizers and then by FIDE by not promptly settling the issue. In addition we recognize the current state of affairs in world chess is causing disharmony among the top players. We express the strongest form of disapproval in the handling of the Polgar matter. Lastly, the lack of adherence by the World Chess Foundation to the FIDE statutes which require advance payment of 20% of the prize fund is unacceptable. FIDE should seek interest payments and demand that Mr. Berik be removed from the payroll immediately.' " PASSED 81-7. Huh? Why Polgar? FIDE is suing Karpov, not Polgar. Who were the mysterious "local organizers" in Las Vegas who mishandled funds? Their discovery is news to me as the entire event was run by FIDE folks. And what about the "unacceptable" behavior of the World Chess Foundation? It is after all Iljumzinov’s foundation. Or did the USCF delegates mean FIDE Commerce PLC? And why pray tell is Mr. Berik to be removed immediately? Aren’t their labor laws in Russia? Shouldn’t we just have him stripped and beaten in the town’s center instead? Okay, Mr. Berik isn’t favored by Mr. Doyle, but who the hell is he anyway? It turns out that according to the Kalmykian Embassy web site, Balgabayev Berik Tytykbekovich [Please take note Mr. Steve.] is an assistant to Mr. Iljumzinov. Why should any USCF delegate wish to point the finger at this unobtrusive gentleman rather than the person responsible, the FIDE President? Such a motion smacks of unfairness and cowardice. And what about Iran? Is it good for the image of chess to stage its championships there? How on earth could the USCF delegates have been led so badly astray and swallowed this gobbledygook? Supporters are touting it as a "strong" motion but count yourself much more clever than myself if you understand what it’s on about. Its insertion into FIDE’s working documents is bound to be a lot of fun. To express my disappointment as clearly as possible, I’m left to make an apology. Mea culpa. I apologize for my views regarding FIDE and its President. Clearly, I am out of touch with the USCF delegates and their position regarding FIDE. I apologize for believing that what FIDE is doing is terrible for chess, its image and the players. This motion is sure to make things better. To make my apology as sincere as possible, I formally withdraw from the FIDE Championship and wish my replacement well. I will honor my commitment to my teammates and play in Istanbul as promised and thereafter will withdraw from all FIDE activities, events and competitions. I apologize to my fans who have wished me success in such competitions but I cannot support an organization bent on destroying the players and the image of chess. An organization whose values are at such utter odds with my own. I am sorry. Now, I will cease my efforts to help FIDE reform itself and leave such a process in the hands of others – indeed if reform is even required! So this apology ends the hoped for advent of new FIDE leaders and a new direction for at least the next two years. The gods of the USCF have spoken and let us hope they know what they are doing. Well that is the end of this message except for one question, why the title? Indeed, one shouldn’t drag out an apology, one should state it clearly, concisely, quickly and move on. (What a poor apologist I am! Mala fide!) For reasons that aren’t clear to me, the USCF delegates also debated the USCF Presidency of Robert Smith. The motion asked the delegates to allow the Executive Board to re-select its President from its members. After contentious debate, the motion was defeated 49 – 44 and Robert Smith remained USCF President. Having won the debate, a few days later Robert Smith stepped down and resigned as USCF President. In doing so, he has completely won my admiration. To compare for a moment, Robert Smith has not been held responsible for writing bad checks, suing players, siphoning money, transferring USCF rights to a privately held company, manipulating titles or ratings, yet he was nearly censured while Iljumzinov was not. What heinous crime did Bob Smith commit? What were the USCF delegates thinking? I just don’t know. Sorry. Sincerely, Yasser I.C.E. - USA P.O. Box 19457 Seattle, WA 98109 USA Tel: 1-800-26-CHESS/(206)-286 9764 Fax: (206)-283 4363 e-mail: orders@insidechess.com Copyright©2000 by International Chess Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved. Inside Chess™ Online is best viewed with Netscape 4.+ or IE 5.+. Inside Chess™ Online is published by International Chess Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Masterpiece Games, Inc.I.C.E.- Euro Postbus 59064 1040 KB Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel & Fax 31 - (0)20 - 689 1293 e-mail: ice-euro@knoware.nl