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Kramnik getting ready for Leko match

Chennai Sept. 9. World classical chess champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia has said in a press release that he is preparing for the match against Hungarian challenger Peter Leko, with the negotiations for the game entering the final phase.

Kramnik, ranked No. 2 in the world, said that he had served a termination document to Einstein Group PLC following its failure to fulfil the main contract obligation to organise the World championship by June 30, 2003.

"At the moment I do not have any contractual relations either with the Einstein Group or FIDE. I also did not authorise these organisations to hold negotiations on my behalf. All the announcements concerning my match with Peter Leko in Buenos Aires are far from true."

Mentioning the other side of the reunification match, Kramnik says, "I regret that the match between Ruslan Ponomariov (FIDE World champion) and Garry Kasparov (FIDE challenger) will not take place. All this leads to a halt of the chess world reunion that was initiated by the Prague unity agreement. I ask all the people who are in charge of the situation to find a reasonable solution and to put maximum effort in order to resolve the crisis."

The Prague agreement made in May 2002 never got to the implementation stage and the Kasparov-Ponomariov game is yet to take place. Following Ponomariov's reluctance to play Kasparov even in his own home country Ukraine, FIDE announced a fresh FIDE World championship with the winner to play Kasparov. Players are awaiting the dates and venues for this event and have kept December free.

The Kramnik-Leko match did not happen as planned in July as the Einstein Group expressed its ability to find a suitable sponsor.

With FIDE and the Prague Agreement suffering a setback, Kramnik has more time to play against Leko. The winner of the Kramnik-Leko encounter will face the winner of the Kasparov-new FIDE World champion, which will be the unified World champion. — Our Chess Correspondent

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