New Delhi: The feud between the International Chess Federation – FIDE and the organisers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour continues to grow. A day after FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky accused the organisers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour of trying to create a split in the chess world by creating another ‘World Championship’ of their own, Jan Henric Buettner, the CEO of the tournament has responded.
In an open letter, Buettner, a German businessman, who has invested in world no.1 Magnus Carlsen-backed Chess Grand Slam Tour, hit back at Sutovsky and FIDE. The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is a tournament launched by the Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) which was co-founded by Carlsen and Buettner. Buettner is currently serving as the CEO of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
In his open letter, Buettner said the FIDE is trying to sanction players unnecessarily for taking part in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and also made some serious allegations against the governing body of world chess. He alleged that FIDE demanded an ‘unjustifiable sum’ of $500,000 (Approx Rs 4.33 crore) to give their ‘blessings’ to the tournament.
Buettner revealed the organisers of the tournament agreed to pay $100,000 (Approx Rs 86.64 lakh) annually to FIDE as a gesture of ‘goodwill’ and to avoid further harassment from the global body ensuring a smooth conduct of the tournament. However, FIDE refused their offer and instead demanded five times the sum.
“Despite Freestyle’s willingness to offer $100,000 annually to FIDE, purely as a gesture of goodwill and to avoid harassment — this has been rebuffed. FIDE’s demand for $5,00,000, an unjustifiable sum for a format it has no involvement in, suggests that monetary gain is the primary driver. Our sponsors, many of whom prefer to avoid association with FIDE altogether, support our decision to remain independent,” Buettner wrote in the open letter, slamming FIDE.
“FIDE’s recent actions, such as threatening players with sanctions and demanding they sign agreements under undue pressure and without legal counsel, are deeply troubling. This is neither ethical nor professional. FIDE is attempting to exploit its dominant market position to strong-arm players into submission. Such tactics are unacceptable, and Freestyle will continue to defend the players’ interests against these abuses of power,” he added.
Jan Henric Buettner, the CEO of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has hit back at Emil Sutovsky after the FIDE CEO said he is ready for a war in a long post on Twitter on Tuesday. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
