| Ultimate
World Chess Championship Announced! 10 Million Prize Fund! Super Match Tournament for Unification! |
脑力健和因特网奥林匹克拟办
世界冠军四大天王赛
4月1日脑力健和因特网奥林匹克召开新闻发布会（"Brain and Internet Games Olympiad of Sport" (BIGOS)），拟在今年12月举办世界冠军四大天王赛。特设1000万美圆的巨额奖金 。
这次比赛拟邀请棋坛巨无霸卡斯帕罗夫、克拉姆尼克、阿南德和神秘人物菲舍尔，如果他应邀出席此次大赛，将会引起世界棋坛的轰动！
国际棋联主席伊柳姆日诺夫在他的报告中说：“这太好了！对此我非常高兴！能有西班牙巨富投入巨额资金办这种天王赛，对国际象棋是个大推动。”
 |
The new group is formed of wealthy chess aficionados, players, ex-players, and a few who just think they are chess players. Everyone on the chess scene, particularly the participants, have expressed delight at this new development.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is reported to have said, "This is wonderful. I’m very happy that I am not the only person to pour millions of dollars into chess! Which national treasury are they looting?" FIDE Commerce director Artyom Tarasov also had a big smile when he said, "This will be wonderful for chess, especially since it will be part of the FIDE Grand Prix! Oh, it won’t? Well, it will be soon! I’ll make them an offer they can’t, um, turn down." This reported by Russian daily Lyohtka.
Of the players, of course the recluse Bobby Fischer has attracted the most attention. His return to the chessboard was presaged with remarks intended to clear up what he says were simple misunderstandings. "I know I made some strong statements in recent interviews, but they have been misinterpreted by the press, who are as bad as sheep. And that’s what I’ve been saying all along! It’s those damn ewes! They won’t leave me alone, that’s why I’ve been on the lam."
World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has been quiet about title defense plans since taking the title from Kasparov last year. However, he sounded eager to unify the title and fight for the 10 million dollar purse. "Well, I was planning to wait until Garry and Vishy were a little older, but Fischer is what, 60 or something? I’m confident I can score +2."
Meanwhile, Vishy Anand also liked his chances, although he had some concerns about the format. From his home in Spain he said to the paper Arenques, "I’m happy to put my FIDE title on the line for the ultimate crown. But why can’t it be a knockout event? Then we can get it over with in a few days instead of dragging it out over a month."
And what about the top-ranked player in the world, Garry Kasparov? In the German newspaper Heringe, Kasparov was quoted as saying, "I look forward to this maximum challenge. I have already prepared the openings for all 18 games up till move 24."
In a side note, both Alexei Shirov and Anatoly Karpov have filed lawsuits against BIGOS and all the players. This move came with surprising quickness, but the litigants explained, "We just used photocopies of the last few lawsuits we filed and changed the names with white-out."
The players will play six games against each opponent. The schedule released by BIGOS says that the first pawn will be pushed on December 28, 2001. Bids are now being taken to decide which city will host this tremendous event, which will last a full month. Write BIGOS@KasparovChess.com for more details and ticket prices!