The players have not yet received contracts. Carlsen’s camp is surprised that no venue has been announced and that Agon claims it will be another three or four weeks before venue and sponsors are made known. Karjakin has said he doesn’t want to play in the USA.
Here’s a good summary from Wiki. Follow the footnote links for access to comments by Leonard Barden and others.
“Almost immediately after Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament 2016 there were Internet rumors from persons such as Nigel Short that the host city was likely to be changed.[33][34] These were later echoed by more substantial sources such as Dirk Jan ten Guezendam (editor of New in Chess) who stated to Norwegian broadcaster NRK (Apr 19): “I would like to travel to New York. But still I would be surprised if I had to go there for this match.”[18] Agon moved to quash such “tittle-tattle and gossip” by a public message on May 2.[20] A month later they were proud to announce that a venue in New York City had been found, advising that in the next 2 weeks sponsor details and final paperwork would be finalized.[21] However, the situation dragged into mid-July, at which time Agon seemed unsure of a venue (citing difficulties of a month-long arrangement in New York City), but insisted that sponsors were in line, proposing 3-4 more weeks before an announcement would occur.[22] This time the comments came from Agon’s press attaché (Andrew Murray-Watson) rather than Merenzon directly, and the comments were repeated to Leonard Barden and in the English Chess Forum.[35]
Throughout the process, Karjakin saw no reason to hide the fact that he would rather play in Russia,[34] and that anywhere in Europe would be superior to the USA.[36] According to career information at Chessgames.com, it appears that Karjakin has never previously played chess in the USA.[37]” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Che … Candidates
Someday the world championship might be contested online with one player sitting in his bathrobe in his home staring at a computer screen while his opponent sits half a world away in his bathtub with a laptop perched on the edge. Both will have their comforts, snacks, and teddy bears to hold onto while they play for the world championship.
Word is floating about that the match may have to be held in a neutral venue other than the US. My suggestion would be Cambodia. Cambodia’s #1 ranked player could make the ceremonial first move to open the event.
On a more serious note, Iceland is being suggested by some. That should be palatable to Carlsen’s people. Spassky could make the opening move. They could put Bobby and Lenin on display, Bobby being a stand in for Tzara.*
Hommage to The Posthuman Dada Guide; Tzara and Lenin Play Chess by Andrei Codrescu
The players will compete in a soundproof glass room, in front of 300 spectators plus VIPs, who will have a lounge area. Regular tickets will cost up to $50.
Maybe. There are some issues to be addressed. First, the building is not yet open. It reportedly has two tenants at the moment, iPic and The Tuck Tavern. iPic has just announced that it will open on 10/6 or 10/7 depending on the source one goes to. The Tuck Tavern has no announced opening date at present on its web site. It’s not clear from the computer generated renderings whether the match is to be held in the iPic area of the building or in the tavern area. Attempts to obtain current real photos of the building site have proved unsuccessful, but continue. Lastly, one hopes that the owner of the building, Hughs Corp. out of Chicago, has done their due diligence regarding Kirsan, the Treasury Dept. sanctions against him and any possible financial involvements between Kirsan and AGON, Ltd. I’m not making travel plans to NYC just yet. If the venue isn’t ready in time, my suggestion is to move the match to The White Horse Tavern using the table at which Dylan Thomas drank himself to death.
I was the director of his section that summer. He was completely exhausted after the event and told me that he would never play again. Told him I was the token liberal on staff and it is now good to see him write about chess and not some nutty right “thing.”
While in Medical school in 1975, he was severely injured in a car accident and has been paralyzed from the chest down since then but it didn’t stop him from finishing Med School and becoming a board certified Psychiatrist in 1984, By that time he was a political commentator for a number of magazines. His paralysis made it quite taxing to actually play in a tournament.
