The match for the world crown between Ukrainian Ruslan Ponomarev and Russian Garry Kasparov, widely announced in the media, will not take place. And even the fact that the Ukrainian government took this battle of the world's best chess players under its patronage (the chairman of the organizing committee is Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych) did not help prevent what happened...
A brief backstory. In 1993, Garry Kasparov - the undisputed chess genius of the last twenty years - rebelled and broke away from FIDE's authority, believing that this organization did not fully meet his demands. Garry Kimovich, who enjoyed incredible respect, managed to shatter the unified chess kingdom, which was only brought to a common denominator 10 years later. Of course, Kasparov is a figure on whom much depends. Especially in chess. He must be reckoned with, and he is reckoned with. Ponomarev decided that he, too, should be reckoned with, since he is the FIDE world champion. And after negotiations in Prague, at which all (!) chess players agreed to unification matches, after absolutely all issues concerning the holding of the match for the world crown had been resolved, Ponomarev suddenly began to insist on seemingly trifles.
The native of Kramatorsk did not sign the contract to participate in the World Championship. Let us set aside the fact that the very fact of competing with Kasparov deserves respect and attention. Let us set aside the fact that all financial aspects of the matter were settled down to the last detail, and the fees for just playing (not for winning!) were quite decent.
Ruslan Ponomarev and his entourage considered themselves entitled to dictate their will to FIDE and its president - President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov - a man far from soft. The Ukrainian put forward four demands, and without having them included in the contract, he refused to sign the document. Moreover, with the exception of one - "to exclude from the contract all mentions of the possibility of FIDE replacing the players of this match" - the demands were insignificant. For example, to appoint a Russian-speaking arbiter and to cancel the extra rest day before the tie-break.
FIDE, on the whole, could have agreed to these conditions. Ponomarev, on the whole, could have refrained from making them. But... The FIDE world champion, in whose interests it was to become the sole world champion, suddenly balked. I am afraid we will never learn the true reasons for the refusal. For now, we will have to content ourselves with Ilyumzhinov's promise to hold a reformed world chess championship in the same Yalta, where everything was ready for the chess congress, or in Kiev. The best in this major tournament will face Kasparov. After that, single rule will once again prevail in chess.