Mr Sloan,
you are absolutely correct. I think this is just like 1975 all over
again.
It is time to move on, if Ponomariov does not want to play, then
Kasparov should win by default.
Also good luck to you in defeating Tim Hanke and the other members of
the Redman gang in your USCF championship match.



(Sam Sloan) wrote in message ...
Have you read the demands of Ponomariov?

Among other things, he is demanding to be paid $150,000 "damages" by
FIDE because his match in Argentina was cancelled when the sponsors
could not raise the money.

Never in chess history has a player demanded to be paid so much for a
match which was never played.

He also demands that his match with Kasparov be deemed a semi-final
match, not a match for the World Championship. What this means is that
even if he looses the match to Kasparov, he will still be World
Champion.

Who ever heard of such a thing? What sponsor will pay such a large
amount of money if the match is not for the World Chess Championship?

Remember that Ponomariov was also demanding draw odds from Kasparov.

If it were me in charge of FIDE, I would just ignore the crazy demands
of Ponomariov and forget about him.

Ponomariov seems to think that the title of World Chess Champion is
his personal property, not a title awarded by an international
sporting organization.

Sam Sloan