Kamsky-Topalov: end of November

The Kamsky-Topalov match will be held at the end of 2008; after Anand-Kramnik. FIDE has scheduled the match between 26 November and 11 December. At the moment of writing, a Bulgarian bid to organize the match is well in the running, and so we foresee problems.

Today, FIDE has communicated that bidding for the organization of the Kamsky-Topalov match is possible till April 11. Actually, a Bulgarian bid of 150,000 USD has already been accepted in June 2007, but "after the recent FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Singapore and following discussions with all parties involved", FIDE has decided to allow other bids too, "in order to try to improve the financial terms and conditions for both players".

This is a nice way of implying that FIDE has listened to Gata Kamsky. Through his lawyer, the winner of the 2007 World Cup had stated that he felt there was no equal treatment. Kamsky had asked for an extension of the bidding deadline, to give other nations a chance to organise the match. It's clear that a match in Bulgaria would mean an advantage for Topalov.

Topalov's team had responded that they would only agree under the condition that the Bulgarian side would receive a two-month term to match any improved offer if it comes from USA or Russia. A remarkable strategy, with which they were making clear that a match organized in either Kamsky's native country, or in his previous, is unacceptable. A match in Topalov's country, however, is no problem.

Naturally, Kamsky's lawyer has tried to get written on paper that FIDE takes an independent position and allows Kamsky the same two-month-period to present a counter-bid, if that need shall arise. But as became clear today, the attempts by the Americans have been in vain, if we look at FIDE's conditions for the bidding process:

BIDS FOR THE WCC CHALLENGERS MATCH KAMSKY - TOPALOV 2008
(...)
a) if by 11 April 2008, FIDE receives a bid with a net prize fund of 250,000 USD (minimum) from any country other than USA, Bulgaria, Russia and Spain, then the match will be organised in that country with the highest bid. b) if by 11 April 2008, FIDE receives a bid with a net prize fund of 250,000 USD (minimum) from USA, Russia or Spain, the organisers in Bulgaria will be requested to match that bid by 30 May 2008. If Bulgaria matches the new bid, the event will be organised in Bulgaria. If Bulgaria refuses, then the match will be organised in the bidding country. c) if by 11 April 2008 no such bids arrive, the match will be organised in Bulgaria with a net prize fund of 150,000 USD.
(...)

A possible scenario would be that in mid-March, the city of Elista comes with a bid higher than 150,000 USD. (Valery Bovaev, who was the Organizing Committee chairman of the May 2007 Candidates Matches, has indeed shown interest in the Kamsky-Topalov match.) This will be interpreted as a "bid from Russia" and if the organisers in Bulgaria manage to match the Elista bid, the event will be organised in Bulgaria anyway. If we understand today's conditions as published by FIDE correctly, in this scenario the USCF (for example) wouldn't get a similar opportunity to match Elista's bid.