Chess in Olympics will be my main achievement — Fide chief

Excerpts:

Q:How do you summarise your term in office as Fide president?
A: When I took over as Fide president in 1995, there was no stability in Fide. There were clashes between players and in Fide itself there were clashes. Fide did not trust in reforms. My first task was to bring stability to Fide. And my main victory was I could create stability. Now everybody believes in Fide.

  The next achievement was that last June in Seoul, International Olympic Committee recognised chess as a sport. Fide represents chess players now in IOC. And if chess enters Olympics, that will be my main achievement.

Q: Do you see chess getting into Olympics soon?
A: I am sure chess will be there in Olympics. I told Samaranch (IOC president) we will play chess outdoor in summer and indoor in winter. It does not make any difference whether it gets into winter or summer Olympics.

Q: Is the knockout world championship a step to take chess into Olympics?
A: Yes. Samaranch told me in 1995 itself that if chess had to be included in Olympics, the privileges for players, like the champion having the right to play the title match directly, had to be removed. It had to be a democratic sport. and when I took over the world champion was deciding whether he should play or not. So I made it clear that Fide was the organisation for world champions alone, but for the millions of players and the 159 national federations under Fide.

Q: This recent match between Kasparov and Kramnik created a lot of confusion. How do you view it?
A: This was a commercial match. I congratulated Kramnik after the match because he beat the strongest player. But that does not mean that the match had Fide’s approval. It won’t be considered for rating purposes. Kramnik is inside Fide and not outside. He told me that he wanted money and that was why he played the match.

Q: Is there any attempt to make the duration of a chess game shorter?
A: In the presidential board meeting in Teheran, we will have this new proposal of one and a half hour for 40 moves and 20 minutes for the remaining moves will be passed. This will come into effect from January, 1, 2001. This came up for discussion in the New Delhi meeting. The duration of the match will now be four hours. The seven-hour chess is now history. I am even looking at a three-hour format, but it needs time.

Q: How do you rate Anand as an individual?
A: He is the representative of the new generation. I hope Anand would be a good representative in the years to come. He is very intelligent; he is cultured; and he is honest. I like his position.

Q: Where do you place India in terms of chess activity?
A: Chess is very popular in India now thanks to the efforts taken by All India Chess Federation. There is activity months after months. India hosted many Asian and World class tournaments. The Indian federation has now proposed to host the next World Cup in India and I am sure that they will do a good job.