The first FIDE Men's Grand Prix of the 2012/13 cycle was due to be held in Chelyabinsk, Russia from 19th September – 3rd October this year. Instead it now looks as though the event will take place in London, after the Russian Chess Federation refused to sanction the tournament unless Russian players were nominated for the series.

Even by the standards of chess politics the current dispute looks particularly murky. The first clear suggestion something was up came on Saturday in a tweet from IM Malcolm Pein, the London Chess Classic organiser:

Word on street that Russian Chess Fed refusing to sanction Chelyabinsk GP I say bring it to London

It seems the “word on the street” came “straight from the horse’s mouth”, as Chessdom quote Andrew Paulson, whose company AGON holds the rights to organise the FIDE Grand Prix:

Malcolm and I have become good friends working out these problems. He was the first person I called when I was forced to find an alternative venue for the Chelyabinsk Grand Prix.

The formal reason a new venue was required is that the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) refused to sanction the event being held in Russia.

Andrew Paulson | photo: Ester Dyson

Chessdom provide further quotes on the issue, and it’s curious to note that FIDE suggest Agon were trying to resolve the issue, while Agon suggest it was FIDE taking the lead:

FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg: RCF sent a letter some time back to FIDE saying that the event in Chelyabinsk was not sanctioned by the RCF. In the meantime, FIDE assigned the World Championship Cycle to AGON who attempted to resolve the impasse with the RCF, apparently without success.

Andrew Paulson: FIDE has been trying to resolve this situation for months. I am not involved, but from what I understand Levitov and Dvorkovich informed local Chelyabinsk officials that they were not to work with us, and sponsors that they were not to pay the €300k promised, and I was even told that it would be a criminal offence if we held an event in Russia. […] A completely confusing situation for a foreigner!

Of course the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle was the motivation of the Russian Chess Federation. Their President Ilya Levitov today commented for Chess-News (where you can listen in Russian, or read a loose transcription of his words).

He said the local chess authorities in Chelyabinsk had no knowledge of the Grand Prix and the RCF had indeed written to point out that the event couldn’t be held there without their approval. A reply was received asking for permission, to which the RCF responded that if Agon wanted they could even hold all the stages in Russia, but three Russian players should be invited.

No explanation was provided for the number three (if Chess-News asked they clearly received no response), but in general it seems the RCF is unhappy that Agon and Andrew Paulson have been given the right to determine six players for the Grand Prix series. Levitov says the issue of who has the right to play for the World Championship should be decided on the chessboard.

It’s perhaps worth glancing at the FIDE regulations for the Grand Prix series:

3.4 Organiser Nominees. Six players may be nominated by AGON and must be rated not less than 2700 in the January 2012 rating list or have been a former World Chess Champion.

In the past the nominees would usually be from countries where individual event were being held. If that policy was followed this time round it’s relevant that the “former World Chess Champion” clause would allow Rustam Kasimdzhanov to play in the Tashkent Grand Prix although he’s rated under 2700, Arkadij Naiditsch had 2702 on the relevant list (a Grand Prix is planned for Berlin) and if a Grand Prix is held in Lisbon, Portugal no player would be eligible. However, as AGON rather than local organisers hold the rights they could choose to nominate six 2700+ rated players based on any criteria – and perhaps on the basis of financial support regardless of where the event is held. A precedent is the 2013 Candidates Tournament, also to be held in London, where Teimour Radjabov is the nominated player due to sponsorship coming from Azerbaijan.

In short, it seems Ilya Levitov and the Russian Chess Federation are unhappy at a lack of influence over decisions that could significantly affect Russian players’ chances of claiming the World Championship title. He says:

We consider that if you hold an event in Russia – and the sponsor’s money intended for the development of internal Russian chess is going to develop external chess (let’s put it like that) – you should include our players.

Chess-News asked Andrew Paulson for a response to Levitov’s comments, but apart from a quip about failing to meet Arkady Dvorkovich for lunch he simply describes the whole situation as a “mystery”.

Kramnik at the possible new venue, Simpson's in the Strand, after winning the 2011 London Chess Classic | photo Ray Morris-Hill

In any case, the decision to move to London appears to be a fait accompli, even if the details are yet to be fleshed out. Chessdom quote Paulson:

…as time is getting short, to avoid conflict and scandal, I decided to hold the event at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand and try to find sponsors in London. We will be making the formal announcement this week; my apologies to the Players for the confusion.    

Malcolm Pein noted at Twitter that there are some clear advantages to holding the event in one of London’s oldest and best-known restaurants (not to mention one with a long chess tradition):

1st FIDE Grand Prix moved from Chelyabinsk to Simpson's in the Strand the ambience just got an upgrade not to mention the cuisine