PRESS RELEASE
Dear
Chess Friends,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
It has
now been more than three weeks since I defended my World Champion title, and I
would like to thank all the chess fans for their keen interest in the match.
In the course of
the match I unfortunately contracted an illness that I have not yet overcome.
After the completion of the World Championship, doctors insisted that I should
abstain from any form of competitive chess until the end of the year, so that
the necessary treatment may be administered without any interruption.
I deeply regret
that for the above reason, my participation in the Russian championship had to
be cancelled. I would like to extend my special thanks to the Russian Chess
Federation and to the organizers of the championship, for the understanding
they showed me for the incapacity to play.
I would also like
to take this opportunity to express my surprise at the recent press campaign,
in which several people have misrepresented my stance on the subject of
reunification. In the last two and a half years following the Prague
Agreement, FIDE has not only failed to fulfil the greater part of its
obligation, it has also showed disrespect towards chess players rights in
several instances.
It is therefore
no wonder that a feeling of distrust towards the current FIDE leadership has
grown among a large group of players, including myself. Such a state of
affairs is not satisfactory and should not be allowed to continue. I have a
principled position regarding many questions pertaining to further
developments in the world of professional chess players, and I will uphold my
views when the time for negotiations has come.
To conclude, I
would like to repeat once again for the record: I have never given up the idea
of reunifying the chess world and I am trying to search for a solution.
With best
regards,
Vladimir Kramnik
Classical World Chess Champion
12th of November 2004