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Karpov falls out with FIDE

Anatoly Karpov has decided not to defend his world chess title at the next championships, to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, fro July 29 to August 28.

According to sources, differences between the 48-year-old Karpov and the global governing body FIDE could not be overcome.

Karpov charged that he had not been consulted by FIDE's Russian chapter president Kirzan Ilyumshinov about the scheduling of the event, and that he had previous commitments in August that he could not cancel.

Two weeks ago, while playing in a tournament in Dortmund, Karpov had indicated that he would be willing to defend his title if FIDE would indemnify him for losses. The chess body turned this request down.

Karpov's Swiss lawyer, Alban Brodbeck, said in Lausanne that no problem would have arisen if FIDE had coordinated the schedule with Karpov, as had been earlier agreed, rather than setting the dates on its own after postponing the championships several times.

He pointed out that Karpov, as head of the Russian Peace Foundation and ambassador for UNESCO, had many commitments outside the world of chess.

The championships, which are organised as a knockout event among 100 players, will also be lacking top stars Garry Kasparov, Vishwanthan Anand and Alexi Shirov.