Scandal Ruins World Cup’s Best Day

In a fairer world, we would all be talking about Xiangzhi Bu today. At the World Cup, he just defeated the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, in a game straight out of the nineteenth century. Bu played a daring bishop sacrifice on move 15; Carlsen accepted his challenge instead of meekly heading for a draw by repetition (which was an option); and after 20 moves of back-and-forth play, Bu played a pretty rook sacrifice that decided the game. Such a performance by Bu deserves a standing ovation.

But instead, everybody is talking about the stupid dispute that caused the Canadian player, Anton Kovalyov, to forfeit his game and withdraw from the tournament — all over a pair of shorts.

Probably most of my readers are already familiar with the sad details, but for those who haven’t heard yet, these seem to be the facts:

1. Kovalyov showed up for his game against Maxim Rodshtein wearing a pair of shorts. He had worn the same shorts for his previous four games. Yes, apparently he only packed this one pair of shorts for a potentially month-long chess tournament. Cue jokes about chess players’ dressing habits.
2. The chief arbiter spoke to him and told him that the players’ dress code (which is in a legal contract they sign before the tournament) requires more dignified wear. He told him to go back to his room and change.
3. Kovalyov went back to his room but never reappeared. His opponent played one move (1. d4) and won by forfeit.

Even from these facts, it seems to me that the FIDE approach was very heavy-handed. From a legal point of view it seems to me that they have greatly weakened their case by allowing Kovalyov to play four games (!) in the offending garment. The arbiter said that nobody noticed earlier. Come on! If it’s a rule, then enforce it from the beginning. If it’s not enforced, then it’s not really a rule.

But I grant that the shorts might be getting somewhat rank and smelly after a week, so maybe they were more noticeable today. In that case, give the player a warning, explain the dress code to him, and say that you expect him to wear more appropriate attire  the next day. Don’t come up to him 10 minutes before a game, the most stressful time for any chess player, and tell him he has to change.

But it gets worse. Kovalyov alleges — and this is, at this point, an unsubstantiated allegation — that in fact Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the organizer of the tournament, himself came up to him, told him that FIDE would “punish” him, and called him a “gypsy” twice. In America, where we don’t have a lot of Roma or Romany (their proper name), many people might not realize that this is an ethnic insult. But Kovalyov considered it one. On Facebook he wrote:

I’m being bullied by the organizer of the tournament, being assured that I will be punished by FIDE, yelled at and racially insulted. What would you do in my situation? I think many people would have punched this person in the face or at least insulted him. I decided to leave.

That’s as much as I know about the story, and I’m sure that much more will come out over the next few days. If Azmaiparashvili did in fact treat Kovalyov this way, he should have the same harsh rules applied to him that were applied to Kovalyov: He should have his right to organize tournaments for FIDE revoked.

Will that ever happen? No.

Such a sad day for chess.

Here is Xiangzhi Bu’s brilliancy against Carlsen:

Position after 15. Re1. Black to move.

FEN: 1r3rk1/pppq1pp1/3bb2p/3n4/8/2PP3P/PPBN1PP1/R1BQR1K1 b – – 0 15

Carlsen, playing White, had the opportunity earlier to play Nf1 to defend his kingside. Bu’s sacrifice on the next move is an obvious one in some ways — it’s almost as if Carlsen has gone out his way to provoke Bu to play it. But it still takes courage to play a move like this against the World Champion.

15. … Bxh3! 16. gh Qxh3

Black has only one pawn for a piece, but he has a dangerous attack and White’s pieces are all in a disorganized clump on the queenside.

Here White could have forced a draw right away with 17. Qf3. Black can play a perpetual check with 17. … Bh2+ 18. Kh1 Bg3+ 19. Kg1 Bh2+. And in fact, Black had better do that, because with the queen positioned on f3, White will easily be able to repel his attack.

But Carlsen does not believe that Black’s attack is sound, and he is playing to win! So he played 17. Nf1. This is what makes chess so great. You have two top-100 players, and both of them think that they can win. Probably players will analyze this game with their computers for years to come, and maybe they will reach a conclusion about whether Bu’s sacrifice was sound. But in the heat of the moment, nobody can tell. It comes down to who will play the best and keep their nerves together.

In the end, Bu outplayed the world champion. Carlsen gave back the piece, but it wasn’t enough to stop the attack. According to the computer, Carlsen missed one last chance to defend on move 30. By move 36, Bu was clearly winning, but the way he finishes off the game is really cute.

Position after 36. Nf3. Black to move.

FEN: 8/pp6/3b3k/3p4/3P2r1/2P2N1p/PP6/R2K4 b – – 0 36

Even a routine move like 36. … Rg2 would surely win, as Black’s passed h-pawn is just too strong. However, for a game like this you don’t want a routine finish, you want to finish with an exclamation point. And Bu delivers:

36. … Rg1+!

And White resigned. A real shocker for Carlsen, a career-defining moment for Bu, and a win for the game of chess, which somehow survives in spite of all the scandals.