Friday, September 1, 2017

New Departures

The 7th Chess World Cup, a 128-player knockout tournament, is about to start in Tbilisi, Georgia, and it will last until September 28. FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov proudly claimed the importance of the big money prize (US$1.6 million) up for grabs, and, maybe a bit forcefully, he ascribed the extraordinary participation of 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to his personal preference for the knockout system: “Carlsen admitted that the World Cup’s knockout system is the most honest and democratic way to determine the best player”, Ilyumzhinov told TASS on Wednesday. “This is why he decided to come to Tbilisi and participate in the tournament”.
As Herbert Marcuse said, “democracy would appear to be the most efficient system of domination”.

Artwork © Gambargin

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