SARGSYAN DID NOT ALLOW ARONYAN TO COME TO BAKU

In 2011, Baku is to host a tournament of contenders for the title of world chess champion. Agreement on this was reached in talks between the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sports and the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The agreement was signed during a visit to Azerbaijan by FIDE Vice-President Georgios Makropoulos.

Along with agreement to hold the event in Baku, the document, acknowledging the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, also touched upon security guarantees provided by Azerbaijan for Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronyan. Azerbaijan then paid its FIDE membership fee of $150,000 euros.

However, events took an unexpected turn after a meeting of the Presidential Council of the International Chess Federation in the Norwegian city of Tromso. There is another contender for hosting this prestigious tournament - Russia has nominated Kazan.

There is no doubt that the world chess's governing body is likely to grant the right to host the tournament to Russia. September will see elections for the presidency of FIDE, and the Russian Chess Federation has nominated the current head of the federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, for a further term. That is to say Ilyumzhinov is unlikely to reject the proposal to hold the tournament in the capital of Tatarstan. In this situation, Aronyan's refusal to come to Baku was very opportune.

It must be remembered that late last year FIDE debated holding the tournament in two cities. Four chess players would compete in Baku and the remaining four, including Aronyan, in any other country except for Armenia. The neighbouring country was excluded due to the fact that Azerbaijani chess players cannot go to Armenia for the same reason that Aronyan cannot come to Azerbaijan.

What is the reason for the Armenian chess player's decision, remembering that Azerbaijan guaranteed his security at the highest level? The international sports community is well aware of how Baku has ensured the security of Armenian athletes in other tournaments. Suffice to recall the participation of the Armenian team in the world wrestling championship in Baku in 2007.

Considering the reasons for the Armenian grandmaster's refusal to come to Baku, it should be noted, first and foremost, that his decision was affected by pressure from "above". The Chess Federation of Armenia is headed personally by President Serzh Sargsyan, who strongly opposes Aronyan's visit to Baku and has repeatedly informed the FIDE leadership of this. Thus, Armenia seeks first to prevent the holding of a prestigious international contest in Azerbaijan and, second, to disrupt the tournament in Baku. Yerevan is also doing Russia a favour; it also seeks to host the tournament.

Thus, a FIDE decision to hold the contenders' tournament in Kazan is quite possible. In this case, Azerbaijan can exercise its right to nominate another chess player to participate in the contest. The Azerbaijani grandmaster Teymur Racabov has already won a place in the tournament after giving excellent performances at the Grand Prix. Another contender from Azerbaijan is Sahriyar Mammadyarov. Here is what the vice president of the Azerbaijani Chess Federation, Mahir Mammadov, had to say: "The right to host the tournament of contenders for the title of world champion belongs to Azerbaijan. FIDE and we have an agreement about this. Therefore, to host the tournament in Kazan, Russia must obtain permission from Azerbaijan. But, in this case, we demand that another of our chess players be allowed to take part in the tournament. Teymur Racabov's participation in the tournament is in no doubt. As a second contender, we nominated Sahriyar Mammadyarov. In any event, the participation of two Azerbaijani sportsmen in such a prestigious competition is a great success. In total, the contenders' tournament will bring together eight of the strongest chess players, two of whom will represent Azerbaijan. As for Aronyan's refusal to come to Baku, as far as we know, he received such a wish from Serzh Sargsyan. The Armenian president even initiated discussions on this issue with FIDE."

Interestingly, the Bulgarian chess master and 2005 world champion, Veselin Topalov, opposes holding the tournament in Kazan. He says that in all competitions held in Russia, Russian chess players are given hidden help. For this reason, Topalov said that he would not play against Russian grandmasters in Russia.

One way or another, to finally clarify the question of the tournament venue, there should be a trilateral agreement between FIDE and the chess federations of Russia and Azerbaijan. According to the rules, the first written proposal must come from the Russian side. After that, Azerbaijan will present its conditions. In conclusion, we note that the tournament of contenders for the title of world chess champion will take place in March 2011.