Veselin Topalov har gennem sin manager Silvio Danailov udstedt en officiel appel til turneringskomitéen, hvori hans russiske VM-modstander, Vladimir Kramniks, opførsel under partierne mistænkeliggøres. Ifølge det bulgarske team gør russeren under et parti i gennemsnit brug af sit private hvilerum mere end 25 gange, og det private toiletrum, der er det eneste sted uden videoovervågning, bliver benyttet mere end 50 gange.
Appelkomitéen har imødekommet ét af tre specifikke krav fra bulgarerne og har nu lukket de private toiletrum og i stedet åbnet et fælles. Et krav om også at lukke for de private hvilerum er ikke imødekommet, mens det også nægtes at give pressen adgang til båndoptagelserne fra videoovervågningen.
Klage og svar kan ses herunder.
Press Release
To the Organizing Committee
of the match Topalov vs Kramnik
To the Appeals Committee
Mr. Makropoulos
Mr. Azmaiparashvili
Mr. Vega
To all mass media
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The careful study of the video recordings from the rest rooms done by the technical experts of the Bulgarian team revealed the following facts which we would herewith like to bring to your attention:
1. After each move Mr. Kramnik immediately heads to the rest room and from it directly to the bathroom. During every game he visited the relaxation room 25 times at the average and the bathroom more than 50 times – the bathroom is the only place without video surveillance.
2. Unlike Mr. Kramnik, the World Champion Veselin Topalov spends his time mainly at the playing table. The average number of times he visited the rest room and the bathroom is 8 and 4 respectively.
A short statistical sample derived from the camera recordings in the rest room during the third game shows:
15.54 – Kramnik plays move 15
15.55 – Goes into the bathroom
15.56 – Goes out of the bathroom
15.57 – Goes into the bathroom
15.59 – Goes out of the bathroom
16.03 – Goes into the bathroom
16.04 – Goes out the bathroom
16.07 – Comes out for move 16
The behavior of Mr. Kramnik is very similar to the above during all games played so far.
The logical question arises: How many times during a game does a player need to go to the bathroom and with what regularity? The logical answer is: between 5 -10 times at the most, but not 50 as the statistics from the games played so far shows.
We would like to once again remind you that the bathroom is the only place without video or audio surveillance.
In our opinion these facts are quite strange, if not suspicious.
In relation to the above, and to ensure the best conditions for fair play and rule out all suspicions we demand:
- To stop the use of the rest rooms and the adjacent bathrooms for both players.
If a player needs to go to the bathroom, he can use the public bathroom, but only with permission from the Arbiter and accompanied by an assistant arbiter. - The Organizing Committee should present the video tapes from the rest rooms to all journalists accredited in the press-center so that they can verify for themselves the facts described by us.
Should this extremely serious problem remain unsolved by 10.00 o’clock tomorrow (September 29th, 2006), we would seriously reconsider the participation of the World Champion Veselin Topalov in this match.
28.09.2006
Elista
Sincerely:
Silvio Danailov
Manager of the Bulgarian team
Elista, September 28th, 2006
Decision of the Appeals Committee to the appeal of Mr. Danailov
The Appeals Committee has received today an appeal from the Head of the Bulgarian Delegation, Mr. Danailov, regarding the use of the rest rooms and toilets during the match Topalov – Kramnik.
We have received from the Organizers part of the video recording of the rest room from games 1, 2 and 4 and the whole recording of game 3. There were technical problems that did not allow a full recording of the rest rooms where a partial recording was made available.
In the appeal there is an exaggeration of the number of times that Mr. Kramnik visited the toilet. Despite there being an unusual number of visits, this is insufficient on its own to come to a conclusion.
In order that the World Championship can continue running smoothly, the Appeals Committee has decided:
(a) To close both the toilets in the players’ rest rooms and to open another toilet that will be available only to the two players.
(b) Not to accept the request of Mr. Danailov, to stop the use of the rest rooms by the players.
(c) The Appeals Committee believes that the publication of the videotapes to the mass media is not within our authority and we consider such action to be against the privacy of the players.
(d) The Appeals Committee will return the fee of USD 5,000 for the appeal to Mr. Danailov.
The Appeals Committee would like to thank the Organizing Committee for their cooperation and emphasize that thorough inspections, including rest rooms and toilets, are made prior to each game involving the Arbiters and representatives of both players’ delegations. Complete satisfaction has been expressed on all occasions.
Georgios Makropoulos
Jorge Vega
Zurab Azmaiparashvili
