I made a few Men in Black jokes about fighting against Kirsan and his alien pals, but the inimitable Diaz has taken it to a new level. Maybe they can neuralize us so we can forget the last 15 years of Kirsan?
I made a few Men in Black jokes about fighting against Kirsan and his alien pals, but the inimitable Diaz has taken it to a new level. Maybe they can neuralize us so we can forget the last 15 years of Kirsan?
Looks like "someone" is making a joke to me...
1) http://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=1
2) http://www.uzood.com/video/33/Comedy-Club-Ukraine--Garik-Buldog-Harlamov
3) Perhaps Vladimir Kukaev has been visiting the Ukrainian comedy club! http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6401
Who is Kirsan?
Mig asks:
"Maybe they can neuralize us so we can forget the last 15 years of Kirsan?"
Very easy: Kasparov will just deny those 15 years ever existed!
"Very easy: Kasparov will just deny those 15 years ever existed!"
he he..touche ! apres "Mig&Garry" epistemology consists in believeing that what is (or what was once) is not what is (or what happened) but what it happens that you know that is or what you can still remember that happened
For the last 15 years the chess "professional" elite (including Kasparov and Karpov) have sold chess' reputation to a lunatic and a criminal nouveaux riche who had money and who (quite a typical story) wanted class and prestige on the world stage.
But now the money have run dry and the honour has been sold long time ago.
BTW, what is wrong with the last 15 years of Kirsan ? If I recall, Garri was the person who broke apart the chess world. Kirsan was the person who reunified the chess world.
Exactly! I have been following chess forums for the past 2 years. And i am not too sure of the mistakes made by Kirsan.
Ofcourse i have read about his regime in Kalmikiya, the midway policy changes for organization of world championship matches. The improper handling of Topalov-Kramnik toiletgate episode etc. And his associations with aliens!
But to me there has never been "great-order" in chess world ever. The chess image today is a lot cleaner than it was ever before. Now that we are ever critical of the current FIDE president, may be we should come up with a summary of this evils/ and things he could have done better.
In all fainess, Kirsan's tenure has been one marked by idiotic decisions, under-the-table dealings and general disregard for transparency. Kirsan is, by all accounts, a lunatic and a lowlife. No arguments there.
That said, Kirsan is NOT the reason FIDE and chess in general are not doing well. We should remember that before Kirsan, there was the much-hated Campomanes and things were not an iota better back then. The same accusations of corruption and mismanagement used against Kirsan today were used against Campomanes at the time.
The problem with chess is that a very large majority of players - titled and untitled alike - work under the delusions that 1. chess is a "sport" and 2. chess can be made into a professional endeavor.
Under those false premises, we see all sorts of arguments for longer matches, qualifying events, bigger prizes, health insurance coverage, even pensions for retired professionals. But there is never mention of where the money to fund those ideas is coming from.
Chess, for better or worse, is a very marginal activity, so the money that can be made is going to be small. Everything will fall into play once chess players accept this simple fact. If the world becomes more interested in the game, things will change, but for now, that's the reality.
The world championship should be played over no more than one week and prizes should not go over, say, half million. That would greatly increase the chances of finding suitable, realistic sponsorship - even though it would be an uphill battle still.
In other words: the problems with chess will not go away until chess players are willing to "live within their means". Until then, they will have to behave like prostitutes and cater to the whims of their sugar daddy. They can't complain if the guy wants certain "unnatural acts"; if they don't want to be treated like prostitutes, they should not go into the "profession".
As simple as that.
Irv asserts:
1) The President of FIDE (Kirsan) is not responsible for the current state of FIDE.
2) Campomanes was not better than Kirsan.
3) The World Chess Championship should be limited in duration to not more than seven days and the total prize fund should not be more than 500,000 USD.
I'd say that when chess "fans" have those beliefs, it's no wonder chess languishes behind other games. You must have been hittin' the weed or the bottle a little early this morning Irv!
"1) The President of FIDE (Kirsan) is not responsible for the current state of FIDE"
Believe it or not, chess is not doing bad becuase it is led by Kirsan. It is the other way around: chess is being led by Kirsan because chess int doing well.
If you need the proof, you just need to remember that Kasparov split from FIDE (taking the title with him) because the Campomanes-led FIDE was inept and corrupt (sounds familiar?)
Kirsan would not be able to take control of the NBA, would he? He can take control of chess because chess professionals are willing to embrace him (even Kasparov embraced him at some point) hoping to obtain finiacial benefits.
"2) Campomanes was not better than Kirsan."
Campomanes had his share of accusations leveled at him. Remember when he supposedly stopped the first K-K match?
"3) The World Chess Championship should be limited in duration to not more than seven days and the total prize fund should not be more than 500,000 USD."
That was just an example. The point I was making is that chess prizes - at any level - should reflect the real financial possibilities of the game (it's called "living within your means"). If you want extra money, you need to prostitute yourself. That's where the problem begins....
FIDE's finances were in turmoil and in 1995 it became clear that FIDE was bankrupt and that Campomanes had lost the support of the Federations (Campomanes re-election in 1994 in Moscow was accompanied by accusations of threats against delegates and candidates). He didn't give up however and he found a young Russian multi-millionaire, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who ran his own former Soviet Republic (Kalmykia), to bail the organisation out and he got the support for him to be elected. I believe that FIDE should have been allowed to go bankrupt and the officials should have faced the consequences of their profligacy. Also that was the time for a long needed root and branch reform of the organisation. Campomanes became an honorary life President with a large stipend from Ilyumzhinov.
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/obituaries/florencio-campomanes-1927-2010
offtopic >
I remember a heated argument @here about the spanish soccer team being the best of the world and people getting angry with my comments about them being a 2nd or 3rd tier team which never actually won or even came close to win a World Cup.
I remember mishamp and Thomas and a guy named Alez too , but i cant find the thread and i have some friends from Switzerland who might have something to share with them.
Cheers
Surprising results are common at a Swiss, though, favourites often get scalped..
So far, it looks to me like Argentina and Germany have produced the best football. Spain and England are overhyped marketing gimmicks.
:)
I just wrote this on Kirsan's campaign page, but it will never see the light of day there, so I am copying it here. BTW, Campomanes stopped the match because the Soviet Chess Federation, who backed Karpov, told him to. Campo's failing is that he was afraid to stand up to the Soviet Union, and therefore everything was run by them during his presidency. They even suggested Kirsan to be his successor.
"ninja inky says:
July 8, 2010 at 2:49 am
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Kirsan, you are not only a murderer (the world will never forget Larrisa Yudina, the beautiful brave truthful woman whom you ordered killed), but you have also ruined the popularity and fair sportmanship that chess had before you came to FIDE.
Only a stupid or corrupt person would align themselves with you. I speak of all those who have been lured by your promises of money (and yes some real money in the pockets of those who do your dirty work). You are a liar, a thief, a scoundral, and a MURDERER!"
The above was my comment. I want to add that I applaud Kasparov and you too, Mig, for supporting Karpov in his bid for the presidency. I'm afraid Kirsan is too good at dirty politics, but I keep hoping.
"I remember a heated argument @here about the spanish soccer team being the best of the world and people getting angry with my comments about them being a 2nd or 3rd tier team which never actually won or even came close to win a World Cup.
I remember mishanp and Thomas and a guy named Alez too , but i cant find the thread and i have some friends from Switzerland who might have something to share with them."
Hi, I found that thread you were looking for :) http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2009/06/candidates-matches-2010.htm
He he he I'm awaiting the ingenious "but what I actually said was" with pleasure, cos this one will really take some imagination.
I checked the earlier thread - for the time being, Manu doesn't need to panic: even if Spain wins the World Cup, they are still behind Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy and Uruguay because it will be their first title. Though they would be(come) tied with France and England who - like Italy - didn't impress at this occasion ... .
And I have a slight problem: the Dutch in me wants "us" to win, the German wants that "we" lost against the world champion. Hmm, a final Germany-Netherlands would have been a win-win situation.
Sure, one win wouldn't make Spain World Cup giants, but Manu also claimed form was irrelevant, the Euro 2008 win counted for nothing, and Spain weren't among the favourites for this World Cup. So the fact that they're (deservedly) in the final already makes that look even more silly than it did at the time.
In case you didn't notice, I was quite ironic. Some claims have a rather short lifetime, including AfkaM's that it was "a South American tournament with some European guests" - true until the quarterfinals because some (but not all!) European teams underperformed. Then it became a European event with tourists from Uruguay - a matter of taste if they're deservedly there.
I am ready to welcome Spain among the elite in case they win the final (more precisely tier2 considering that i stated then that they were just a tier3 country), but for the time being they are not quite there ...
I will be cheering for Holanda because of the stand they made during world cup 78 , when they openly challenged the dictatorship of Videla in my country, i believe soccer owes them a lot since then.
My condolences Thomas , soccer can be unfair sometimes.
Hmm, by your criteria Topalov is at best a tier1.5 chess player (winning the title once, then losing two finals), and Ivanchuk a tier3 player (only once reaching a final which he lost against Ponomariov). From a chess historical perspective this may be correct - they are behind Kaprov, Kasparov and, dare I say it, Kramnik. But it says little about their current form and/or the potential they have or had.
Your argument for supporting "Holanda" in the final is interesting. First, I think that (here also) history should be irrelevant. But secondly, if history matters you might as well support Spain based on more recent facts:
- The biggest Argentinian supporter of Oranje (at least the one prominently shown on TV) is the daughter of a minister under Videla.
- Recently, Spain arrested a pilot suspected of human rights violations under Videla (involved in death flights where political prisoners where dropped out of planes over the Atlantic Ocean). He was working for a Dutch airline, and had been provided with a new life in the Netherlands [unclear though if they knew about his past].
Anyway, my impression is that you have a bone to pick with Spain for whichever historical reasons (colonial past, Franco regime?).
On Uruguay only that much:
- They were "cheating" in the quarterfinals (Suarez' handsball against Ghana)
- They head a very easy draw (once it was clear that France was only a shadow of itself).
If the tournament was played over, maybe with a different drawing of lots at the start hence different opponents to face, I would give three teams decent chances to reach the semifinals again, I am not sure about Uruguay.
"So the fact that they're (deservedly) in the final already makes that look even more silly than it did at the time."
I think Spain played well only against Germany. In other matches, they just about scraped through. So, I wouldn't say they are deservedly in the final.
They haven't been the most spectacular team of the tournament, but I wouldn't say they scraped through - they dominated possession and deserved to win every game (including Switzerland). They could just have done with a fit and firing Torres to make the scorelines reflect the play better! But there's still one game to go...
¨They were "cheating" in the quarterfinals (Suarez' handsball against Ghana)¨
Get a grip Thomas, that is not cheating ...
Colonial past? we erradicated those bastards soon enough ...just kiddin
I just like Holanda as a team , thats all.
:)
But how about making it more interesting Thomas ?
I´m sure you wont have any trouble betting on mighty Germany against Uruguay...
I bet you 3 months of ban from this site for tomorrow´s game , i fact im ready to go double or nothing : If Uruguay wins (including penaties ) you stop posting here for 3 months , if Germany wins i get banned for six months...
All you have to do is to accept before the game starts , What do you say?
This is good bet like poker. Loser must shut up mouth. We will miss out the loser wile he is in limbo hole but what else. Mabe winner must say hi to him in his hole. I think Thomas do not play and he go away some where other place to talk. I may wrong but who can say.
I have the feeling that Thomas wont show up until the end of the game ...
I dont blame him , playing against those ¨cheaters¨ can be risky sometimes.
Thomas accepts. You are bound by your words, Manu.
This post was delayed by 2 hours for technical reasons.
Nice try .
So no body is ban for 3 months. To bad.
Oh! Thank God.
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