Topalovs Antwort auf die Entscheidung des Appeals Committee

To the Appeals Committee
Mr. Makropoulos
Mr. Azmaiparashvili
Mr. Vega

To all mass media

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After we got acquainted with the ruling of the Appeals Committee of the Topalov vs. Kramnik world championship match we deem it necessary to point out the following:

1. The ruling in its present form is not satisfactory to us since it practically does not result in any change. Mr. Kramnik will be able to visit the new bathroom an unlimited number of times without being subject to further control.
2. We would accept the current relaxation rooms to continue to be used provided that the presence of controllers in both rooms is ensured.
3. When the two players need to go to the bathroom, they should be accompanied by an assistant arbiter.
4. The checks carried out in the relaxation rooms were made only by experts of the Organizing Committee, whereas our experts were present as observers and only after the second game.
5. We find it difficult to understand why is it that the accredited journalists are denied access to the video tapes from the relaxation rooms.

The World Champion Veselin Topalov is outraged by the suspicious behavior of his opponent Mr. Vladimir Kramnik who in actual fact takes his most significant decisions in the bathroom.

Despite the above, in the name of the chess game and out of respect to FIDE, to Kalmikia and the millions of chess lovers, Veselin Topalov is willing to continue his participation in the match provided that measures to guarantee fair play are taken.

If the match were to continue, the World Champion would refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and would not take part in joint press conferences with him. Veselin Topalov will make statements for the media separately.

We look forward to receiving your response by 14.30 h hoping that it will give concrete answers to the questions that we pose.