He's not playing
MVL replacement according to FIDE
And from Wang Hao:It is not correct, I have no personal reasons to withdraw from the tournament. I will come up very soon with the statement and with letters that were sent to FIDE and their answers.
I believe that all the big events (not just chess) should be postponed for now. For example, FIDE is taking a big risk to hold the World Seniors now. [...] I just saw the news about the withdrawal of Radjabov. I think that it’s a decent decision, probably he just wants to stay at home to avoid all the possible risks. No one can blame him if it’s the reason.
Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:39 amThere is more at those links.
Radjabov said:
The link is from his Instagram accountIt is not correct, I have no personal reasons to withdraw from the tournament. I will come up very soon with the statement and with letters that were sent to FIDE and their answers.
Radjabov's statement has now been posted on AzeriSport.com. Here it is translated into English:
"From March 15 to April 5, 2020, I was supposed to participate in the Candidates Tournament in Russia in the city of Yekaterinburg. As you know, there is currently an increase in the epidemic of the coronavirus worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the highest epidemic - red. Many competitions and significant events in the world are canceled or postponed to a later date, based on the development of the situation.
"The International Chess Federation has implemented a number of preventative measures [against the coronavirus - PD] but not all. It was stated that the Chinese players, their coaches and accompanying persons will be quarantined for 14 days in Russia. One of the Chinese chess players [Ding - PD], coaches and the delegation are indeed quarantined. However, the second participant from China [Wang - PD] will not be quarantined and will arrive at the beginning of the tournament from a country where the epidemic of coronavirus is growing every day [Japan - PD].
"In addition, there is no explanation from FIDE how the tournament will proceed in the event that any participant or coaches or accompanying persons, journalists, interviewers, arbiters have signs of a cold or influenza, or, God forbid, a coronavirus is determined. Will participants will be quarantined, how much time and steps are needed to analyze and determine the exact presence or absence of the virus?
"The Candidates Tournament is a chess marathon, consisting of 14 rounds over 22 days. Nobody will explain how the tournament will develop in the conditions of the global epidemic, what measures will be taken in case of detection of the virus and what measures will be taken in relation to the sick participant, no one explains. Due to the complexity of all these points, I turned to FIDE with a proposal to postpone the tournament to a later date. I was refused this offer of mine. In connection with the above, I considered that such conditions can greatly affect the necessary level of concentration and mood required for the maximum level of play in such an important competition as the Candidates Tournament, and a possible health hazard. As a result, I was replaced with another participant."
This may well be right, but is this a personal judgment or something you're getting from somewhere else?Chris Rice wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:16 pm. However, there are also a large number of chess players who completely agree with what Radjabov wrote for Azeri Sport and are none too pleased about MVL taking advantage.
It's not my opinion but gleaned from the two feeds I mentioned earlier. We're going to need some more information on the chain of events from FIDE, Radjabov and MVL before we can come to any conclusions about what has happened.JustinHorton wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:29 pmThis may well be right, but is this a personal judgment or something you're getting from somewhere else?Chris Rice wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:16 pm. However, there are also a large number of chess players who completely agree with what Radjabov wrote for Azeri Sport and are none too pleased about MVL taking advantage.
I've no idea whether Radjabov is right to withdraw, but MVL is the reserve, so if the Candidates is going ahead, he's not taking advantage by accepting the invitation; maybe like Denmark in the football Euro 1992, he'll go on and winChris Rice wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:16 pmCheers Mick, its not clear to me from that whether Radjabov has withdrawn or whether he's been thrown out of the tournament. The discussion on the FIDE and Sutovsky's feeds run along the lines that FIDE have a Medical Commission who recommended a course of action and its not really up to Radjabov to dictate policy. However, there are also a large number of chess players who completely agree with what Radjabov wrote for Azeri Sport and are none too pleased about MVL taking advantage.
It’s certainly unfortunately phrased where the Chinese players are concerned. Quite why the Chinese players should be subject to pre tournament quarantine but other players shouldn’t is nonsensical.John McKenna wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:18 pmAnyone think Radjabov's statement the least bit racist?