Sunday 5 May 2013

Trouble leads to trouble

When Moscow was awarded the rights to hold the 2012 World Chess Championship, there were some questions about the bidding procedure. Chennai (India) had offered a budget of $4.5 Million, and for a while it looked like it would have a bigger prize fund than a rival bid from Moscow. However Moscow increased their prize fund to $2.55 Million at the last minute, which was apparently enough to tip the balance in Moscow's favour. However FIDE then offered Chennai the 'first option' to hold the next World Championship Match (assuming they met the minimum conditions)
Well it looks like this decision is causing a new set of problems, with both the Carlsen camp and rival bidders questioning the process. The Norwegian Chess Federation has asked FIDE to open a bidding process, while Paris is apparently willing to put up a bid, with a larger budget than the Chennai bid.
So FIDE finds itself in a bind of its own making, as it may miss out on a bigger World Championship event if it sticks with Chennai, while reneging on the arrangement with Chennai may poison relationships with both India, and future bidding Federations.
One suggestion I have seen, and possibly the only way to walk this fine line, is to open a bidding process, but then allow Chennai the right to match the final bid (the 'right of first refusal'). However I'm not sure Chennai would be happy to accept this, as I'm sure they already think the match is theirs.
Here is a link to the FIDE regulations for the 2013 World Championship Match. While it does mention a bidding process, it does not specify how the process is to take place, and gives FIDE the right to reject any bid!
(NB FIDE Presidential Board is meeting right now, so this post may quickly become out of date)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Or some dodgy thing like six games in Chennai and six in Paris, so no-one gets offended. One hopes this doesn't turn into a circus, it should actually be a good chess match!
AO

Garvin said...

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009727/chennai-confirmed-as-world-championship-venue-060513.aspx