[lang_nl]Deze week stonden de schaakmedia vol van het bod op de match Kamsky-Topalov, die georganiseerd zou gaan worden in Lviv (Oekra?ɬØne) met een prijzenfonds van US $750,000. Dit nieuws is tot dusver echter nogal onnauwkeurig naar voren gebracht. ChessBase citeert Chesspro dat het bod 'bevestigd' is maar dit klopt niet.[/lang_nl][lang_en]This week the chess media were full of the bid for the match Kamsky-Topalov, to be organized in Lviv, Ukraine with a prize fund of US $750,000. However, so far this news has been covered highly inaccurately. Quoting Chesspro, Chessbase inaccurately reports that the bid has been ?¢‚Ǩ?ìconfirmed?¢‚Ǩ?.[/lang_nl]

[lang_nl]Afgelopen donderdag publiceerde FIDE het bod van Kamsky's manager Oleksandr Chernenko, dat de volgende details omvatte:

Dit nieuws werd snel opgepakt door de schaakmedia, bijvoorbeeld Chesspro (die Chernenko interviewden) en Chessbase (die dit interview klakkeloos overnamen). De algemene boodschap was: het bod is bevestigd, we gaan naar Lviv.

Iedereen sprak iedereen na, behalve Macauley Peterson, die gisteren een goed stuk schreef voor Chess Life Online. Chessbase (Vasiliev) deed de uitspraak dat "de bankgaranties inmiddels door FIDE zijn ontvangen op hun Zwitserse rekening" maar Macauley maakt duidelijk dat zowel Chernenko als FIDE dit tegenspreken.

I reached Chernenko by phone in Accra, Ghana, who in fact stated that a wire transfer to a FIDE account in Lausanne, Switzerland, was initiated yesterday, but that the funds would not arrive until at least Monday afternoon.

"I don't know all [the] details, because I am in Africa," said Chernenko on Friday, "but it is definitely in the system."

George Mastrokoukos, a FIDE official reached by phone in Athens, said that FIDE had received no information to confirm the details of the bid. "The only person we have been speaking to is Mr. Chernenko -- I mean not myself personally, but the President [Kirsan Ilyumzhinov]," he said, adding, "These companies that are listed in their bid, we have not reached a point to check this because first of all we are waiting for the original documents and the bank transfer." FIDE also does not know the name of the bank originating the funds transfer. According to Mastrokoukos, "the only information we have is that in two business days, the money will appear in our bank account."

Veselin Topalovs manager, Silvio Danailov, die aangeboden heeft de match in Sofia te houden, is skeptisch over het hele verhaal. "Ik moet nog maar zien of dat geld er is," zei hij donderdagavond in onderstaand interview voor ICC's Chess.FM. Hij noemde de nieuwe vertraging "een grap" en "bluf".

This news was quickly picked up by the chess media, e.g. Chesspro (interviewing Chernenko) and Chessbase (quoting this interview). The general message: the Lviv bid has been confirmed.

Everybody was quoting everybody here, except for Macauley Peterson, who has written an excellent piece for Chess Life Online. Macauley makes clear that both Chernenko and FIDE rebut Chessbase's (Vasiliev's) account that "the financial guarantees have now been received by FIDE, at their Swiss bank account."

I reached Chernenko by phone in Accra, Ghana, who in fact stated that a wire transfer to a FIDE account in Lausanne, Switzerland, was initiated yesterday, but that the funds would not arrive until at least Monday afternoon.

"I don't know all [the] details, because I am in Africa," said Chernenko on Friday, "but it is definitely in the system."

George Mastrokoukos, a FIDE official reached by phone in Athens, said that FIDE had received no information to confirm the details of the bid. "The only person we have been speaking to is Mr. Chernenko -- I mean not myself personally, but the President [Kirsan Ilyumzhinov]," he said, adding, "These companies that are listed in their bid, we have not reached a point to check this because first of all we are waiting for the original documents and the bank transfer." FIDE also does not know the name of the bank originating the funds transfer. According to Mastrokoukos, "the only information we have is that in two business days, the money will appear in our bank account."

Veselin Topalov's manager, Silvio Danailov, who has offered to organize the match in Sofia, has been skeptical that the funding for an alternative bid would materialize. In an interview Thursday evening for ICC's Chess.FM, he called the additional delay, "a joke," and "a bluff."