Reports | July 28, 2010 16:00

Arkadij Naiditsch: "Why the German A-team will not participate in the Olympiad"

Due to financial problems and organizational failure by the German Chess Federation, the four German top players won't play at the upcoming Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. This is what Arkadij Naiditsch tries to make clear in an angry open letter which he sent to ChessVibes. The German top grandmaster doesn't mince words.

Open letter by GM Arkadij Naiditsch

Why the German A-team will not participate in the 2010 Olympiad

Cc: Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker

This letter is not addressed to anybody directly. As a player of the German National team I would like to make some things clear about my hard working Federation and its President, Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker.
Let’s start with the fact that nobody from the German A-team is going to participate in the Chess Olympiad this year. These players are Georg Meier, Jan Gustafsson, Daniel Fridman and me, Arkadij Naiditsch. Why? The easy answer is that the biggest chess federation in Europe, about 100,000 active members, couldn’t manage to find money to pay the players.

So, the next question is “how could this happen”? This question is easy to answer as well: nobody in the federation has been doing anything for at least five years. The German Chess Federation has no sponsors at the moment, so the money is only coming from their members. Generally, even this should be enough to have a great and lazy life, but the main problem is the meetings attended by huge amounts of hungry officials that are being held almost monthly in expensive hotels.

Let me now become a bit more direct, because I would like to single out a few people with whom I have had to deal with personally.

1) Mr. U. Bönsch - National Coach
The first Olympiad that I played in was in Turin, 2006. I played on the first board for the German team and Mr. Bönsch was already an experienced and well-respected trainer. But the strange thing was, all he ever did was distribute the line-up for the next match and make a great black tea that we drank together every evening. Not once did he make the slightest effort to help anybody from the team chess wise.

So, year after year, the chess help from Mr. Bönsch remained the same: nothing but tea. In my opinion, our national trainer could be a hero in any teahouse!

2) Mr. Klaus Deventer - responsible for finding and distributing money for the national team. In German: Leistungssportreferent.
With regard to finding money there isn’t much to say. I think Mr. Deventer in his crushing career in the Chess Federation never even gave it a try.

In distributing money for the national team he has clear methods and opinions. That is, the national team should play for free!! By the way, to be clearer, Mr. Deventer is the individual who is responsible for fighting for us to get money. So, from a 110,000 Euro budget he manages for “top chess” in Germany, less than a quarter is left for the Olympiad for male and female teams combined.

Strangely, Mr. Deventer is a very important man in the federation. Personally, I could never understand what he is actually doing. And I think after many years of deep thinking, I finally got a little clue about his function; it is to try to stop anybody from being a professional chess player in Germany. Mr. Deventer really hates this. Rarely it is possible to meet somebody as unpleasant as Mr. Deventer.

3) Mr. Ralph Alt - Tournament Director
Mr. Alt is a famous public prosecutor in Germany. He is the organizer of many official tournaments in Germany, such as the National Individual Championship.


Update October 30, 2010: following a request from Arkadij Naiditsch we decided to remove part of his letter, which is about Mr Alt and the scheduling of chess tournaments.

So nobody participated in it from the A-team and the young German player Niclas Huschenbeth managed to win the title. Congrats to him as he showed great fighting spirit in the tournament.

My last German Championship was in 2007. In that year Mr. Alt showed absolute class. He found a city in Germany that has no train or bus (or anything else) connection. So taxi was the only way to reach it. Respect for Mr. Alt!! This is really not so easy to do. Give it a try. ;-)

4) Mr. Jörg Schulz - fifteen different positions!!
Personally, I didn’t have much to do with Mr. Schulz as he has always been responsible for the German Youth Chess Federation. (Deutsche Schach Jugend). Slowly, over the years he took over about fifteen different positions within the federation and is almost completely in charge of the whole money flow now. Bravo to Mr. Schulz!

For example, he created a chess company that is paying the players for participating in the European Team Championships as well as Olympiads. The company is making no money but paying us. Wow, really great job by Mr. Schulz.

That’s all from the main German Federation Crushers! There might be few more that I don’t know, but they are probably in hiding.

About Mr. Prof. Dr. Robert von Weizsäcker I will write a bit down below. First you will have to read his great letter that he wrote to the four of us (German A-team). For other people in the Federation, there are so many that deserve a few choice words, but I think it wouldn’t be fair to the few people who are trying to do something for German chess. Anyway, my many thanks to these few.

Dear readers, I hope you now have a bit of an overview of what is going on in my Federation.

This year, the A-team has said that we will not play for the funny money they are offering and asked for conditions. It drove almost all the guys in the Federation completely crazy! How is it possible that we will not play?? Do we have to cancel now a few dinners? No way we gonna do that!!”

Mr. Deventer immediately wrote a very long and boring letter, where he is comparing us with soccer players and asking us to play almost for free because the German National Soccer team is also not getting their normal salary for going to Africa. Funny, no? I guess then we have to compare Mr. Deventer to a Russian oligarch and ask him to support us from his own budget?!

Afterwards, we half-heartedly attempted to find sponsors ourselves, which didn’t work out. So the result was, of course, that the German A-team is not going to play the 2010 Chess Olympiad.

This is when Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker is coming into the game (he has been the German Chess President for the last two years).

So far, according to the words of Jan Gustafsson (all the contact was going through him) our President supported us, the players.

But on June 29th we received a letter from Prof. Dr. Robert von Weizsäcker that completely shocked me. Up to that point my opinion of our President was quite positive; he seemed to be a man with an understanding of chess players.

Here is the letter [translated into English by CV - German version in PDF here]:

Concerning: Chess Olympiad Khanty-Mansiysk

Dear members of the men's national team, dear chess friends,

In answer to my letter of May 19th, 2010 Mr Gustafsson answered by email on June 10th, 2010 that, on the given conditions you are not willing to play in Khanty-Mansiysk. Besides, he has started an initiative to find a sponsor as soon as possible, something that was clearly supported by me. To my knowledge this initiative hasn't had the desired effect.

If no last-minute sponsor will contact Mr Gustafsson soon, this means the German Chess Federation won't be able to send you to the Chess Olympiad. I wouldn't only regret this terribly, but I'd be personally disappointed as well.

I can only partly understand that you keep on insisting on demands that, despite great efforts, couldn't be fulfilled by either the German Chess Federation or the company.

Therefore I would personally like to ask you to reconsider your position and accept the same terms as two years ago. In case you're still prepared to accept this, please declare this to the team captain not later than July 2nd 2010. After that he will be forced to nominate other players. I would have liked to push this deadline up front, if there wasn't a deadline set by FIDE to enter the team.

At this weekend's meeting of the Top Sport Commission it was decided that your status as selected players would become inactive for the time being, if you're not prepared to play the upcoming Olympiad under the current conditions.

This would imply that any course of action to support you as top players would become impossible. Furthermore, for the year 2011 the team captain was requested to check whether the criteria for future support, i.e. the willingness of all players to cooperate with the federation, are still being met. I fully support this decision because in my opinion we cannot simply move on.

Support by the German Chess Federation, which partly involves a longer period of time, is naturally associated with the expectation to engage in an appropriate manner and in a responsible way for German chess.

On the other hand the German Chess Federation doesn't want to close all doors. In any case it would be useful to have a meeting after the Olympiad, to which our Top Sport Coordinator will invite you, to discuss the situation. Still I hope that all these considerations won't be necessary. The decision is yours.

Best regards,
Yours truly,

Robert von Weizsäcker.

Cool, no? Let me clarify a few things:

Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker found 0 Euros in two years of being the President of the German Chess Federation. (Maybe he simply has no time, being a Professor at a few universities?) The huge support he is threatening to cancel is this: for myself as German number one (my current ELO rating is 2684), the German Federation covers about half of my expenses for playing in exactly one tournament, the European Championship. That amounts to about 800 Euros a year, nothing more.
Now, of course, their direct threat to cancel all that help is making me sleep badly and giving me nightmares. Next time, maybe if I cover the coffee bill I hope Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker and my hard working Chess Federation will not cancel the important support for me?! We will see in the future if they have any mercy.

As we know, Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker is running his campaign for the ECU Presidency, and many European countries are giving their support to him. Now, the logical conclusion would be since he could do absolutely nothing for chess in his own country in two years, or again had no time for it, which, of course, led to the same result, can he do something for Europe? I would say probably not. So here comes the idea. Maybe we could open a charity foundation for the German Chess Federation and for Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker? Many people are sending small amounts for “saving the forest” so maybe it could work with my dear Federation and Prof. Dr. Von Weizsäcker, too? It is hard to find anybody coming across as more poor and helpless than the German Federation.

Hope you enjoyed reading my statement. And please don’t get the idea that I have exaggerated. I really did my best to stay as close to the facts as possible. :-)

Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch

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Editors's picture
Author: Editors


Thomas's picture

There is of course a translation error in Weizsäcker's letter, one key phrase should read "your status as selected players would become inactive for the time being, if you’re NOT prepared to play the upcoming Olympiad under the current conditions."

Peter Doggers's picture

Thx, dear proof reader Thomas! ;-) Corrected.

Faraday's picture

Can this really happen in Germany? What a shame!!!

steven's picture

If this is indeed not exaggerated then anyone voting for Von Weizsäcker in the ECU-elections would be even weaker and more incompetent as Von Weizsäcker himself.
I don't like Danailov as a person but i hope he will be elected because at least he's a pro in terms of finding money and sponsors, organizing events and coming up with new ideas.
Great letter by GM Arkadij Naiditsch with a lot of spirit and sense of humour.

steven's picture

It's quite possible that Von Weizsäcker is a puppet on a string of people who dislike Danailov.
He can't do a shit for his own country and now he has the ambition to become president of the ECU ?!?

NBC's picture

I'd take an incompetent puppet any day over morally corrupted people such as Danailov.

Thomas's picture

@Peter: You're welcome, no big deal ... I was obviously puzzled by the "first version" of von Weizsäcker's letter and could check the German original.

@steven: As ECU president, von Weizsäcker would be head of a team - and Naiditsch's complaints are still primarily about other federation officials. And Danailov? Yes, he succeeded in finding money ... for Topalov (hence himself) and a few others. Even if there weren't any issues with his character, like openly hating another top player, his presidency would be problematic because he is very closely associated with one top player.

john's picture

this is a disgrace, the people mentioned in this letter by a top GM should hang their heads in shame. what a pathetic bunch of incompetent jumped up idiots!

Poek's picture

Too bad Naiditsch doesn't mention the conditions offered by the federation. The main point of the article is that it wasn't enough: so why doesn't he want to tell how much it is?

ChessGirl's picture

As we say in Spanish, "no ha dejado títere con cabeza"! (He didn´t leave a single puppet with its head on). Thumbs up for demanding good working conditions.

Arne Moll's picture

He does kind of mention it, Poek:


It doesn't sound like much, especially if all expenses have to be paid from this as well.

Standardbenutzer's picture

Ralph Alt is a judge, not a prosecutor. He is right right now busy with Ivan Demjanjuk.

guitarspider's picture

Hilarious letter. I really hope it gets some things moving, our players deserve better than that.

Chess fan's picture

I am one of the 100,000 active members of the German Chess Federation as Arkadij mentioned.
And I would like to thank our Number One for this Open Letter. I hope, this will turn out to be very positive for my country.

Thank you, Arkadij!

marpada's picture

I could have never imagined that this situation could happen in Germany, one of the biggest chess federations in the world.

My sincere congratulations to Mr. Naiditsch's for his brave letter, if only there were more professional players with the stones to condemn publicly the corruption and incompetence of politicians.

Serdal's picture

There is one notion inside the German Chess Federation that has been criticised for many years now (and I think rightly so), that the federation should promote chess as a game for all people, i.e. a great deal of support does not go to the professionals but a little bit to many amateurs. This is one of the reasons why the largest chess federation in Europe hasn't produced a top ten chess players for roughly 25 years.
Most officials disapprove on a professional chess career but advice young players to rather pick up a 'proper' profession.
And there's a rule that the money for national team players may not be taken from the members' fees but has to come from an external sponsor.
Nothing will change, though.

iLane's picture


It seems that they were offered with the same conditions as 2 years ago. Do I miss something in the story?

patzer's picture

No worries Mr Naiditsch In Belgium it is even worse .... last year the Belgian chess federation's treasurer was caught for stealing 100 000€ from the federation which left them bankrupt ! and so now they cannot even afford to send a team to the olympiad (which only gets its travel expenses paid anyway) so we probably won't even have a team

Dr. Wolfgang Berghorn's picture

What a horrible story about the German Chess Federation and their officials!
What a great and brave letter written by GM A. Naiditsch!
What a shame for Germany!

Jon's picture

If there is a German principle that the national team, of any sport, should get external sponsors, you cannot realy blame Weiszäcker and the chess federation.

However, the letter of GM Naiditch illustrates a general problem: officials, administrators, politicians, etc, are using to much of the money that should be used on people who are directly involved with "doing the work", including chess players.

Stephen's picture

It seems that there are two separate arguments in GM Naiditch's letter. The first is a legitimate point, that he believes that the German Chess Federation has some management issues and is not going to put forward the strongest national team that it possibly can.

The second is just a moan, that the German Federation won't pay him what he demands. Tough luck. Like professionals in other fields, if he feels that the offer (the same as two years ago) from the client is unsatisfactory then he should take his services elsewhere. Go play in a sponsored tournament or a match.

KingTal's picture

And people are always complaining about the Russian Chess Federation. As you can see there are problems of different kinds in Germany and Belgium and who knows whereelse too. Maybe Naiditsch will play for Latvia next year or maybe he will flee to the USA... haha... let´s wait for Weizsäckers reaction. The chess game gets more and more unpopular these days but it doesn´t surprise that our society produces such uglyness if you watch our values and what the media educating us.

Colin McGourty's picture

In light of Naiditsch's comments it's interesting to see what the top Polish player, Wojtaszek, had to say about the Polish Chess Federation:

"Well, nothing’s changed in that regard for many years – the resources that we get for development are very small. At the European Team Championships and the Olympiad the players take part for nothing, which is inconceivable in other countries. So it’s hard to be surprised when some people withdraw from the team [...] No doubt it’s a bit strange that as the number one on the ranking list and a second for the World Champion I don’t get support from the federation, but as I said before – it’s nothing new to me and I’ve already got used to it."

But I recommend reading the interview not for the politics but for a glimpse at the life of one of Anand's seconds at a World Championship match!

Serdal's picture

To be fair to Naiditsch and his colleagues, the players made it clear after the last Olympiad that they would not play again for this money.
Plus, the fact that they need sponsors to pay the players is not really an excuse for the officials whose job it is to find them. But the players on the team generally don't feel supported by the federation, it's not solely about money.
In my opinion I don't think von Weizsäcker is a good choice as ECU president, because he never ceases to highlight his lack of time and I don't know if he's the right person to get things done. Apart from that I think he is a respectable person and it might bring some credibility into chess management as far as federations are concerned.

silvakov's picture

That's something I never understood entirely in sports in general: how does it work when your country asks for your services?
In chess, it's like any other tournament or deal with a particular: the country has to pay (and generally speaking, it means pay very well). Is it the same in sports like tennis?

Rajesh's picture

Dear friends,

I am very saddened after reading the article.

I am from India, still a developing country and relatively poor than Germany.

But still never heard of such a thing in my own country where we have lot of sponsors and govt help and support to chess players

It is a real shame for that a player like Arkadij and his team, hailing from one of the richest country in the world has to go through this.

Arkadij, we are with you.

noyb's picture

My sincerest sypmathies to Mr. Naiditsch. Things are even worse here in the U.S.A. If it weren't for the patronage of wealthy individuals like Mr. Rex Sinquefield, who foots the bill for the U.S. Championships, we'd have the same problems here.

It's a pity that Chess isn't more popular and that it doesn't enjoy more support world-wide. And yet everyone is supporting Kirsan?! What has he done and how has chess improved under his leadership? Sadly, if Dr. Robert von Weizsäcker is representative of what we could expect from Karpov2010, it doesn't sound like there is any hope for chess as a viable game/sport in the near future...

Colin McGourty's picture

In a way I'm not sure the problem with team competitions is that exclusive to chess e.g. in football, players usually get relatively little, or sometimes nothing, for representing their country. There's often a win bonus, which is incidentally something the Russian chess team are going to try out - they'll only get paid if they win a medal at the Olympiad!

The huge difference, of course, is that the top players are earning a fortune all-year-round playing for their club sides in football, so that the money for internationals doesn't really matter. For chess players, especially those a bit lower down the pecking order, it must be hard to accept taking a break from earning and possibly even having to meet some expenses.

test's picture

I think many other players from different federations recognize this situation. (See examples above.) It is symptomatic of the chess world. No wonder chess has a hard time making it big.

I had no idea it was this bad in the German federation considering it is one if not the strongest in Europe.

>> I am from India, ... where we have lot of sponsors and govt help and support to chess players

But not everything is as rosy as it seems according to these accounts from GM Koneru Humpy:
World number two female player protests
Sundar: Imagination and half truths
Humpy replies to Sundar – issues open challenge
Chess Players Association urges compromise

Thomas's picture

To add on Colin's post: Ironically, the Olympiad may be more attractive for some players who struggle even more. If they play well, they might "earn" a spot in team competitions that DO offer money - at club level in the German Bundesliga and some other leagues. This could be the case for the Belgian, maybe also the Polish team - while Naiditsch and colleagues no longer need such publicity ... .

Septimus's picture

Wow! Just wow! Naiditsch ripped the Federation a new one.

Shocking state of affairs. The old Soviet system of government patronage is looking better and better every day. Can anybody clue us in on the number and salaries of these top officials? I bet the mofos would be pulling something like this-->

Arne Moll's picture

I agree, Colin, the money aspect is the least spectacular of the letter. But in exposing the Federation board members and their motives (if true), it is one of a kind! The only thing I'm wondering is what Naiditsch would do if the federation somehow came up with money after all. You'd think he would still refuse to play for these people.

Daniel's picture


The US Chess Federation is 100000 times worse. Though I understand your plight. I pity chess does not get the attention and money it deserves. Anyways it saddens me to hear German Chess is not the paradise described to us unfortunate USA players.

@NBC could not agree more!

test's picture

>> "in football, players usually get relatively little, or sometimes nothing, for representing their country"

Some Google results for earnings in the recent soccer world cup.
How much do top England players earn?
"Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney can take some consolation in the fact they will each pick up £500,000 for just two days' work at a gladiatoresque skills competition next month." ( Which is about 600 thousand Euros each.)
Ghana’s World Cup Players To Earn 115,000 Dollars Each On Reaching 2nd Round
"The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million"
Brazil downplays prize money at World Cup
"The prize money is unlikely to make a lot of difference to most players in this year’s squad. Nearly all of them already have multimillion-dollar contracts with European clubs and are set financially."
World Cup 2010: Top 10 highest-paid players now a little less rich
"Take Lionel Messi, dubbed the world's best-paid footballer by France Football, which pegged his annual earnings at 33 million euros, including endorsements."
Soundoff: Should Players Receive Big Bonus Payments for Winning the World Cup?
"Apparently Spain’s players will each receive €600,000 (about £495,206 or $716,825 US) if they win the World Cup in South Africa. And – predictably? – the peasants are revolting."
Top 10 Highest Paid Footballers In South Africa
Bonuses at stake for World Cup players

All of the above is just prize money. I don't think any professional soccer player has ever had to pay his own expenses.
In every sport players will complain about prize money, but in soccer they are bickering over millions, in chess over hundreds. Not an insignificant difference I would say. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but clearly the scales are hugely different. How often have you seen players or teams refusing to play over money in soccer? In chess it happens all the time.

test's picture

In short: in soccer they do not have to pay their own expenses (and they stay in luxury resorts), get paid a hefty amount for participating in team competitions and on top of that they get huge bonuses for every win.

Colin McGourty's picture

I'm certainly not arguing top football players have any financial problems! But relative to their normal wages any money they get for playing for the national team tends to be small. The World Cup is a bit of an exception, though even that Spanish bonus for winning it - not something to bank on - is still only a few weeks wages for their star players. What I was more thinking about was when the national teams play friendlies or qualifying competitions. In that case club sides often complain (bitterly) that they're paying the wages and have to suffer the consequences if a player gets injured while playing for the national team.

Anyway, I guess that's all a bit off topic :) Arne, I agree Naiditsch's comments are hard to match for the personal attacks on board members, but I've seen e.g. some interviews about the Polish Chess Federation where the criticism's just as brutal (just not directed at named individuals). Wojtaszek is very mild-mannered in comparison.

Naiditsch's comments seem to be aimed at taking advantage of the FIDE elections and the enormous embarrassment he can cause Weizsäcker - though going quite so far looks like burning bridges to me. Though as he pointed out, and this seems to be the same situation in lots of federations, you don't need to fear losing next to nothing...

Goendi's picture

@patzer: That is not correct. It is not because 100.000€ is missing under the mandate of the former Belgian treasurer, that there were no funds to get a team to the olympiad. Also, the Belgian chess federation is not bankrupt. Please don't put rumours on a public stage, if you have no idea what you are talking about.

xy's picture

"The old Soviet system of government patronage is looking better and better every day."

true , also maybe it's because in capitalist societies , any sport or activity that do not generate enough money and interest from the masses and medias will always be overlooked .

Some posts here compare with soccer , but soccer will never have any problem to find sponsors and get the money flowing . Chess was etremely popular in Soviet Union . Today in our globalized world , many other entertainments/sports/activities are way ahead of chess

I see only 3 solutions to this problem . One is to teach chess at school , the other is to bring chess to the mass medias (tv) at all costs , the third is if some very rich AND honest benefactors come to rescue it and inject more money in the game .

kees's picture

The problem is the bureaucrats. If they don't do their job they should be fired.
Unfortunately this won't happen because the bureaucrats cover eachothers' backs.

Spectator's picture

Interesting letter and discussion in the comments.
I am not familiar with the reality of German chess
and now only 'know' what is written in the open letter.

Doe anybody know:

Where - besides non existent sponsoring - does the money of the federation come from? The 100.000 members? Do they pay an annual fee? How much?
Does the German government support the federation? How much overhead does the federation have? A bureau? Where? How big and how many people? What is the total budget of the German federation? Are the administrators being paid or do they work (or do nothing as the open letter suggests) as volunteers?

Septimus's picture

Playing for you country should be an honor, but it is also the government's responsibility to ensure that the name of the country is upheld in the best possible way. Asking players to fend for themselves when they represent the nation is just stupid. Perhaps the German government should step in and fire every single person in management positions.

Arne Moll's picture

Kees, I think It's not so much bureaucracy as simple incompetence that's the issue here. These people obviously have no clue as to what they're doing and why. They also clearly have no incentive to change things or find creative solutions. Bureaucracy has to do with an abundance of regulations and procedures - don't think that's the case here.

George Jones's picture

Every time I go to Germany, I can always get 3 (or more!) monthly chess mags at the train stations (Rochade, Schach Desutche Schachzeitung, Schach-magazin, Kaissiber, plus another kids-only mag, and English-language New In Chess). Opposed to this, finding Europe Echecs in France is 50/50 at best. So chess I surmise is decently popular at the grassroots level in Germany. As with other cases, the politicos have overtaken the system. Laughy that the suggestions are to increase the government influence, that would multiply the parasites!

Spectator's picture

Ohne jemanden in Schutz nehmen zu wollen:

Ich habe selbst schon Landessportverbände anderer Sportarten steuerlich betreut.
Der DSB ist genauso wie z.B. der DFB ein gemeinnütziger Verein.
Jeder Verein hat die 4 Bereiche "Ideeller Bereich" (hier spielen sich auch die Mitgliedsbeiträge oder Spenden ab), "Vermögensverwaltung", "Zweckbetrieb" und "wirtschaftlicher Geschäftsbetrieb" (hier ist meist das Sponsoring anzusiedeln).

Alles was ein gemeinnütziger Verein im ideellen Bereich macht unterliegt einem strengen Blick des Finanzamts. Die hier erwirtschafteten Mittel dürfen nicht zur Finanzierung von Spielerhonoraren verwendet werden ohne die Gemeinnützigkeit des Vereins zu riskieren.
Solche Honorare müssen aus einem wirtschaftlichen Geschäftsbetrieb stammen.

Hier hat der DSB allerdings hauptsächlich nur seine Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH zu bieten, da es in Sachen Sponsoring mau aussieht. Nur die hier erwirtschafteten Gewinnen können eingesetzt werden - unabhängig davon wieviel Kohle der DSB an Mitgliedsbeiträgen oder Spenden einnimmt.

Da man einfach etwas die Zeichen der Zeit verschlafen hat fristet die Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH eher ein Schattendasein. Mögliche Märkte haben sich längst CB und divsere Schachversande aufgeteilt. Das Problem wird somit sicherlich in Zukunft kaum besser werden, wenn man nicht lernt, die Akquise von Sponsoren etwas professioneller anzugehen.

Ron's picture

Playing for your country is an honour, its a disgrace that Naiditsch and others are always complaining about money.

Charly's picture

I try to translate a german saying: You cannot eat honour! (Ehre kann man nicht essen!)

Dude's picture

What about: 'honour doesn't pay the bills'?

domino's picture

You can add England to the list of countries with incompetent and corrupt Federation officials.

The English Federation were unwilling to offer the number 1 player (Adams) any sensible conditions to play in the forthcoming Olympiad. His participation was only secured at the last moment when a private individual agreed to pay his fee.

This is despite the Federation recently receiving about 1 million Euros as a result of a wealthy individual dying and leaving some money in his will. Not a penny of this money has been spent on professional chess. Instead, officials enjoy frequent pointless meetings and travelling the world on expenses.

ChessGirl's picture

@ Ron:
I assume then, that whatever your work is you would be willing to do it for free for your country? That is, let us say that you are the best lawyer in your country, so the High Court calls you to work for them, what an honour, of course you will do it for free, you will go home and your family will be starving, but this will not matter because working for your country "is an honour", right????
Get a grip.

Ron's picture

@Chessgirl, its not about work, its about playing for your country. If you see that as work, don't play (!).


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