Ponomarev’s inconsistency can cost him a title

In case of refusal to play with Harry Kasparov, Ruslan Ponomarev must lose the title of the World Chess Champion. This was stated on Wednesday at a press conference by the President of the Russian Chess Federation, Alexander Zhukov. He advised the organizers of the candidate match for the title of world champion and, first of all, the current world champion, the Ukrainian grandmaster, to be guided when making a decision of common sense and not to “torpedo” the negotiation process.

According to the president, recently Ruslan Ponomarev has been engaged in small nit -picking to the terms of the contract with the FIDE , according to which the match is held. Recall that, without signing a contract for the match, Ponomarev puts forward a number of requirements that concern both the rules of the match and financial conditions.

According to previously reached agreements, the match of Kasparov with Ponomarev , who won the last World Fide version, is one of the steps to unite the chess world. The winner of the match in Yalta will subsequently meet with the winner of the match Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) - Peter Lekko (Hungary). The Russian previously won the match against Kasparov for the title of the strongest chess player in an alternative feed version, and the Hungarian won the qualifying cycle for the match with Kramnik.

“If on Thursday until 14:00 in Moscow, Ponomarev does not sign the contract, then, unfortunately, the match will not take place. It seems that Ponomarev is afraid of Kasparova, so he is making such efforts at such a minor insignificant moments,” Zhukov summed up.

At the same time, the President of the Russian Chess Federation could not say how Fide would do if Ponomarev does not sign the contract.

The 13th world chess champion Harry Kasparov hopes that his match with Ponomarev will still take place. “I really want to believe that everything will be settled, and all this fuss is a game on my nerves, an attempt to get me out of myself,” Kasparov said at a press conference, adding that in this way unprofitable conditions are created for him.

"The breakdown of the match for such an insignificant occasion will be a tragedy for chess," he said. According to Kasparov, the famous chess player Bobby Fisher, who came out of the FIDE with a scandal, "could not even imagine that you can drink blood from FIDE with such a pace as Ponomarev."

Kasparov also drew attention to the fact that in this situation the organizing committee already took the side of Ponomarev, in particular, his lawyer makes statements on behalf of the organizing committee and did not rule out that we could expect some provocations during the match itself.

Consent to the meeting Ponomarev will send on time

According to the latest data, the current world chess champion agreed to hold a match with ex-champion Russian Harry Kasparov on the terms set forth in the last sentence of the International Federation of Chess. ITAR-TASS was announced today by a source close to the champion team.

"The match will take place, it is impossible to tear it off due to some two conditions," the specialist said. According to him, the consent to the meeting Ponomarev will send in the agreed time.