"Losing Our Credibility"

Saturday, a Grand Prix tournament for women starts in Istanbul, Turkey. The participants include Koneru Humpy of India, the No. 2 ranked woman in the world; Hou Yifan of China, No. 3; Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, a former women’s world champion, who is No. 4; Pia Cramling of Sweden, No. 5; Marie Sebag of France, No. 7; and Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia, another former champion, who is No. 9.
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But there is another problem with the Istanbul Grand Prix: It conflicts with another major women’s event, the European Women’s Championship in St. Petersburg, Russia. It also starts Saturday.

Full article on the New York Times Chess Blog

It is amazing how poor is the communication between the two biggest chess associations. Moreover, Kirsan Ilymzhinov and Boris Kutin are sharing the table in the FIDE Presidential Board for the last ten years, and they have probably seen each other at the opening of the Kamsky-Topalov match. Letter by Boris Kutin.