Nigel Short pessimistic about FIDE-PCA rift<\/p>\n
By Arif Suryobuwono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Together we stick, divided we're stuck. This
\nsaying, however, doesn't hold true for Nigel Short, who joined
\nworld champion Garry Kasparov in breaking with the world chess
\ngoverning body FIDE and setting up the Professional Chess
\nAssociation in 1993.<\/p>\n
For the London-born Grand Master, the saying should perhaps
\nread "together we're sick, divided I thrive."<\/p>\n
Short, who is here for a US$15,000 six-round duel with
\nIndonesia's number one Utut Adianto this afternoon at Hotel
\nIndonesia, argues that FIDE and the PCA will never reunite.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old Briton was commenting on FIDE president
\nFlorencio Campomanes. Campomanes resigned after a FIDE meeting in
\nNoisy-le-Grand near Paris following his failure last month to
\nschedule a reunification match with the PCA next year, which
\ncould have brought the PCA back into FIDE's custody.<\/p>\n
"FIDE and the PCA may have the same goal, that is, increasing
\nchess popularity in the world. But they are totally different
\nstructurally and in the way they pursue their goals. They can't
\nbe put under the same roof," Short told The Jakarta Post on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Short started the PCA with Kasparov "out of dissatisfaction
\nwith the way FIDE arranges the world championship and in particu
\nlar the way it deals with financial matters."<\/p>\n
"FIDE is essentially amateur. It is a collection of chess
\nfederations around the world. FIDE promotes chess by organizing
\nvarious tournaments, including junior tournaments and the Chess
\nOlympics," said Short, who is currently rated number 14 by FIDE.<\/p>\n
"The PCA, on the other hand, is a small organization. It aims
\nat putting on high-profile tournaments for the world's top
\nprofessional chess players," explained Short, whose present FIDE
\nelo rating is 2,665.<\/p>\n
"PCA is much like the ATP Tour in tennis. Thanks to ATP,
\ntennis has reached its present world-class level and fame from
\njust a middle-class game. With PCA we want to do the same," the
\nnon-smoking blond said.<\/p>\n
Is it money he's after? "Yes, this is correct. I'm interested
\nin my own pockets," said Short, who stands six feet but is short
\nand direct when expressing himself.<\/p>\n
Short realizes that in chess, as in tennis, money and fame
\ncome through popularity and publicity: "I will only be paid well
\nif there are a lot of people who come to see me play."<\/p>\n
The key to achieving this, Short said, is staging world
\nchampionships: "World championships are always interesting (to
\nwatch, which attract sponsors)."<\/p>\n
Short, a typically aggressive player, could say this with a
\nsmile because it is to the PCA, not FIDE, that the present world
\nchampion Kasparov belongs. Short implied that no world
\nchampionships would be interesting without the world champion and
\neverybody knows that Kasparov is the world champion.<\/p>\n
That is why, Short said, FIDE is still looking for sponsors to
\nprovide the prize money of one million Swiss francs for the 1996
\nFIDE world championships scheduled for next June in Montreal.<\/p>\n
The match, held for the title that was stripped from the
\nArmenian-born Kasparov after his revolt, will have Anatoly Karpov
\nof Russia and Russian-born Gata Kamsky of Brooklyn as the
\nfinalists.<\/p>\n
"FIDE won't find sponsors. Nobody will be interested in it. It
\nis not a world championship match," said the wizard whose
\nfavorite defense since childhood has been E4.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the PCA has been successful in staging two world
\nchampionships. The first featured Short and Kasparov in June
\n1993. The second, held at New York's prestigious World Trade
\nCenter last September, pit Kasparov and Indian chess maharaja
\nViswanathan Anand against each other for US$ 1 million.<\/p>\n
The money came from Intel Corp., the giant California-based
\nmicrochip maker, which also sponsored the PCA's 1994 and 1995
\nGrand Prix chess tourneys in Moscow, London, New York and Paris.<\/p>\n
It was a brilliant idea, using the New York World Trade Center
\na venue for the match.<\/p>\n
Another brilliant idea was getting the match televised. The
\nAnand-Kasparov match, called the 1995 Intel World Chess
\nChampionship, boasted national television coverage. What's more,
\nPCA games are now regularly carried on the ESPN cable sports
\nchannel, alongside such popular fare as exploding race cars and
\ncolliding speed boats. "We are concentrating on putting PCA
\nevents on TV until maximum publicity is reached," Short said.<\/p>\n
However, the PCA still has not been successful in developing
\nits own elo rating system. "It's one of the several programs we
\nhave not achieved," Short said.<\/p>\n
Following the PCA's establishment, FIDE removed Short and
\nKasparov from its rating list and ignored all PCA tours. "We were
\ntreated as non-persons. It was the pure totalitarian thinking of
\nFIDE," Short said. But now FIDE has put them back on the list,
\nwith Kasparov placed number two and rated at 2,777, three points
\nbehind Karpov.<\/p>\n
Short hasn't been on PCA's board since last June. Yet he
\nremains a PCA member, the same way he remains a member of the
\nBritish Chess Federation, which is under FIDE.<\/p>\n
"As a member of the board I found myself spending much of my
\ntime and energy promoting the PCA and explaining our stance to
\njournalists and people who were sometimes very critical and
\ninsulted me. It was a complete waste of energy," Short said.<\/p>\n
Thus, the long and the short of it: "Life is too short to be
\nwasted on such a thing like chess politics. I'd rather just play
\nin a match, like this one (against Utut), without having to care
\nwho the organizer is," Short replied.<\/p>",
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