FIDE, the world chess governing body, has revealed that it tried its best to convince India to allow Norway to stage one half of the 2013 World Chess Championship match but India had refused.
Following criticism by European officials for awarding the World Championship final to Chennai, FIDE issued a statement from Baku.
On the issue of neutral venue, FIDE pointed out that in the past, both Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov have played in their opponent’s country.
It also said that according to its rules, the World Championship cycle is not included in the list of events, for which the world body is obliged to have a bidding procedure as in the case of Olympiads.
FIDE also revealed that the Paris bid was higher than Chennai’s but the world body went ahead with the Indian city as it wanted ‘to respect its obligation’.
The statement said, “Since the Candidates’ Tournament ended, and GM Carlsen became the challenger of the coming World Championship Match. There have been several developments, mails exchange between all parties (Carlsen, Anand, FIDE), questions asked, and also speculations.
“FIDE would hereby like to put forward the current situation regarding this event.”
E-Paper
