The press conference by the President of FIDE and President of the Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took place in the Grand Tournament Hall on Sunday Along with him the questions were answered by Andrei Selivanov, Chairman of the Russian Chess Federation and member of the Russian State Duma, Alexander Roshal, Chief Editor of "64 - Chess Review" magazine, and Yury Averbakh, Chief Arbiter of the forthcoming Championship.
The hall was full of journalists, which is clear evidence that the press conference was of the real interest for the chess world.
As a foreword Kirsan Ilyumzhinov reminded that there are only two days left before the commencement of the championship and confirmed the dates of the main event and the final. The prize fund will be $ 3 million for men and $ 500 thousands for women. The FIDE President stressed that eight winners of the Internet qualification (men) joined the championship. The second novelty is the requirement of doping tests to all the participants. Finally, Mr. Ilyumzhinov thanked the Russian Chess Federation for its active support.
The first question replied by Ilyumzhinov did not touch upon the forthcoming World Championship, it was about the next Olympiad. Ilyumzhinov said the next 35th Olympiad will take place in the beginning of the next year in Slovenia. This was discussed at the FIDE Presidential Board several days ago. He also informed that there is now an official resolution to refer to chess as sport. The IOC decision specifies chess as a summer sport.
The next question was about the new pairing procedure and how much money would a looser in round 1 receive. Ilyumzhinov answered that one who leaves the tournament after round 1 will receive $ 6 thousands. This amount was defined at the FIDE General Assembly in 1996. The pairing procedure was also established there. Pairs of the first round should be arranged as in the other sports: the strongest plays the weakest, the rest of the grid is built according to the criteria usually employed in sports.
Ilyumzhinov also pointed out that the next few years (at least the next 5 Grand Prix Tournaments) will be played with participation of Internet tournaments' winners.
A question that interested the majority of the journalists and participants was asked in the end of the press conference: "What medications are illegal in case of doping control?" Ilyumzhinov got a bit confused with the answer but stressed out that cognac, coffee and even vodka do not make that list. Dr. Barrera who was present at the conference took work and amended regarding coffee: "If it is 4 or 6 cups during the game, it is not a problem. But it depends on the weight of player. But it is illegal to mix coffee and Coca-Cola because it increases caffeine rates". And in case the test proves positive, this strictly confidential information will be send to the FIDE Ethics Commission, this is where decisions will come from.
These were the most interesting aspects of the press conference and if you want to read more about it, you are welcome to visit
www.kasparov.com.