FIDE: Candidates Matches it will be

FIDE president Kirsan Ilhumzhinov has announced that in the spring of 2007 candidates matches will be held. If everything would have gone according to the original FIDE plan (a scenario enough to make you laugh) these matches would have been played in October. Then it would already have been clear which four players had qualified for the World Championship Tournament in 2007.

But is was the same song again: Kirsan couldn't find sponsors, couldn't make his promise and came with a new plan in September: a candidates tournament April, 2007. The players protested (see for example Boris Gelfand's open letter) and now Kirsan tries to heel the wounds by another grab from his own wallet.

This is what Ilhumzhinov wrote this week:

Dear friends of chess,

On behalf of FIDE I am pleased to announce that both rounds of the Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Championship Tournament will take place in Elista, 26 May ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 14 June 2007. The prize fund for each match of both rounds will be USD 40,000. I shall personally contribute 320,000 USD towards the total prize fund and a further USD 160,000 will be contributed by FIDE.

The 16 Grandmasters who will participate in the Candidates Matches are:

Levon Aronian (ARM) Peter Leko (HUN) Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) Boris Gelfand (ISR) Etienne Bacrot (FRA) Alexander Grischuk (RUS) Judit Polgar (HUN) Alexei Shirov (ESP) Michael Adams (ENG) Evgeny Bareev (RUS) Vladimir Malakhov (RUS) Gata Kamsky (USA) Rustam Kasimjanov (UZB) Sergei Rublevsky (RUS) Mikhail Gurevich (TUR) Magnus Carlsen (NOR)

Out of the above 16 Grandmasters, the top 4 will qualify for the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament in Mexico, 11 September [this should be 12 September - ed.] ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 1 October, joining the defending World Champion Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) and GMs Vishy Anand (IND), Peter Svidler (RUS), Alexander Morozevich (RUS) who have already qualified from the previous World Championships.

We are all looking forward for another world class event to be held successfully in Elista.

Gens Una Sumus! Kirsan Ilyumzhinov FIDE President

We shall see...