What GMs think

Open Letter From GM Yasser Seirwan to FIDE Preisdent Iljumzhinov

GM Gulko and GM Seirawan on the FIDE Crisis

GMs Hertneck & Baburin share their views on FIDE and the role and future of chess

Discussion Forum--share your views

About a year ago I contacted over 60 GMs via e-mail and asked their opinion about the situation in chess. I felt that chess pros needed an organization, even if not official, which would raise their concerns over important issues (devaluation of FIDE titles, calculation international ratings, occurrence of ‘ghost’ tournaments, etc) and to back up its individual members in their dealing with chess organizers, sponsors, publishers, etc. Many replied and here I would like to summarize their views:

View One – "Chess players cannot really unite and work together". This is a VERY common view and I must admit that I am not over-optimistic about grandmaster’s solidarity either. Indeed, we have bad history in that respect – many remember GMA and PCA and the promises, which those organisations did not quite fulfilled... It put many players off. But in those organisations a few players (namely Kasparov) had too much power and when their goals were accomplished (or not accomplished), they collapsed the organisation. I believe that such professional unions can be made more sustainable.

View Two – "Chess players are intellectual killers and cannot come with anything constructive". There is certain (sad) truth in this. This particularly applies to our champions, who have VERY strong ego and have proved that they can destroy not only their opponents’ plans over the board, but also some worthy organizations and initiatives. But surely not all players are such killers and even in difficult times even most egoistic players may recognize the need to unit and settle their differences with other in a civilized manner. And we have exactly such difficult times now, as things can hardly get any worse!

View Three – "Chess players have no time for any professional chess organization, because there are too many chess pros chasing a small pool of money, so they can’t do anything else". While it is true that there is little money in chess, I still believe that players might recognize that they must do something for chess in general, if they want to keep their profession alive.

View Four – "Chess players are too divided – whose, who belong to the chess elite, do not care about players below 2700 and won’t do anything as long as their cozy tournaments in Linares, Dos Hermanos, Dortmund, etc. take place". Indeed, there is some division among chess pros, but the guys in the top 10 (20) are not isolated from the trends in chess. And those trends are not good for them: now there are fewer tournaments, the appeal of chess to sponsors is falling, etc. Many would welcome an organization with could stand by them, for example dealing with FIDE. After all, those 2700+ guys are smart people!

View Five – "GMs are fed up with any chess organizations at present, but if we can share our views and experiences using the Internet, then maybe we can start something more formal later." This is a very common view and I share it fully. Indeed, we need to start somewhere and the Net gives us a chance, for it is a very good medium. If we are successful, we can then select people we can trust and delegate them to represent our interest in FIDE. I suspect that Players’ Council in FIDE is dead, but we need to deliver our message to FIDE. Otherwise one day we all might be made mere workers in the ‘FIDE Commerce’ or called to play the next World Championship on the Moon! And why can’t FIDE try that? They have reasons to believe that chess players will accept anything.

Although we can all see that there is a lot of pessimism around and that our problems are indeed difficult, I hope that together we – players, journalists, coaches, organizers, promoters, etc. - can improve the situation. Even if we fail, we will be able to say that we at least tried, rather than idly watched our profession dying…

I hope to hear from you!

Your colleague in chess,

Alexander Baburin