Topalov Challenges Kramnik to Rematch

Bulgaria's chess king Vesselin Topalov, who lost the title of world's best chess grandmaster with a narrow defeat against Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, will challenge his rival in Sofia.

Sports: 15 October 2006, Sunday: Bulgaria's chess king Vesselin Topalov, who lost the title of world's best chess grandmaster with a narrow defeat against Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, will insist on a return game, his manager announced in Sofia.

The regulations of the World chess federation (FIDE) allows every former world champion to challenge his opponent should he secure the prize of EUR 1,5 M, Silvio Danailov told journalists on Sunday.

According to Danailov the return match could take place in Sofia, on March 3, 2007.

Danailov suspects Kramnik will not accept the offer, which will force FIDE to strip him of the world's only chess king title.

Kramnik won the title of world's best chess grandmaster defeating Vesselin Topalov on the fourth game of a tiebreak. The title was settled Friday by "rapid-play" and then "blitz" chess - shorter games relying on instinct as much as calculation, which ended 2.5:1.5.

For the past three weeks, chess fans have been gripped by the most dramatic world championship match for the last twenty years. The match was held in Elista, the capital of the Russian republic of Kalmykia.

Topalov and Kramnik inspired reminiscences of Kasparov and Karpov, who first started the schism in the chess world back in 1993.

Source: Sofia News Agency

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