Check-mates

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 11:36 a.m.

Chess match schedule

Today, opening ceremonies begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Circus Maximus Showroom at Caesars Palace.

Play begins at about 3 p.m. Saturday.

Finals begin Aug. 22; final tie-breaker set for Aug. 29

$3 million purse: champion to receive $660,000; losers to receive purses ranging from $6,000 for first-round losers to $396,000 for the second-round loser.

Online coverage is available at http://www.uschess.org or at http://www.worldfide.com.

Chess and Las Vegas may be a perfect match for the World Chess Federation.

Organizers of the month-long World Chess Championship tournament that begins Saturday at Caesars Palace want to have a major event here every year.

"Something like the Las Vegas Crown, which would be like Wimbledon is for tennis," Artiom Tarasov said. "We want it to be one of the most prestigious events in the world."

Tarasov is president of FIDE Commerce, the merchandising arm of the Federation -- popularly known by the French acronym FIDE.

If Tarasov and his followers have their way, chess will no longer be just a game -- it will be an event driven by money.

Money can be made from merchandising products such as T-shirts, chess sets, instructional videos, books, chess software and sale of TV rights.

But first a demand must be created, which requires money.

And so FIDE has increased the size of the purse, which increases the interest.

This year's purse is $3 million, with the winner to receive $660,000 as well as the championship crown.

And it has increased the frequency a champion must defend his or her title -- from every two years to every year.

And it has geared up its publicity machine -- more than 50 journalists from around the world have registered for the championship tournament this year.

"We're making it an event, like tennis," said Arnold Ferolito, executive vice president of FIDE Commerce. "Our concept is to change directions. This is one of the oldest games in existence. But it's never been a money maker. We've always depended on private funding sources.

"Right now, we're being treated like a convention, but in the future this will be an event."

Chess is taking on a new look -- and Tarasov believes the most well-known city in the world is the place to show it off.

No longer will it be just an intellectual game played in public parks or a private living room.

This year's tournament will be seen by people all over the world, thanks to a number of international television production companies who will be here to provide a mixture of taped and live coverage -- and thanks to the Internet.

The FIDE web page, worldfide.com, will provide on-line coverage of the tournament from the Trevi Room, where a bank of computers has been set up and where commentators will analyze the games.

Electronic chess boards used by 100 of the top players in the world not only will record moves for the website but also will show the moves on a giant screen in the Emperor's Ballroom, where games will be played and spectators will be allowed to watch -- at a distance. Spectators will be able to rent headsets to listen to commentators discussing moves shown on the screen.

Also adding to the interest in the game is the style of play -- knock-out chess played the way tournament tennis is played, with losers going home and winners advancing to the next level.

Tie-breakers, and there are expected to be a number of ties (known as draws), will include games that have severe time restrictions, 25-minute, 15-minute and sudden death.

Norman Harvey, an avid Las Vegas chess player, said the new system takes a game that can be boring to watch to one filled with excitement -- especially if you are playing for thousands of dollars and must make a move within a few seconds.

"The expectation is that for tie-breaker days, we may have standing room only," said Harvey, one of about a dozen local volunteers helping out at the tournament.

The pressure adds to the commercial appeal.

Viewers like to see players sweat, and organizers say when a lot of money is riding on a game that must be completed within a few minutes, you will see a lot of sweat.

Willy Iclicki, a committee chairman with FIDE, said the decision was made to go commercial about 1995, when a controversial new president -- Kirsan Ilyumzhinov -- took over the federation.

Some have called Ilyumzhinov a dictator who plays by his own rules.

Reigning champion Anatoly Karpov refuses to play in the tournament, alleging a breach of contract he had with FIDE to defend his title every two years, not every year.

Karpov is taking FIDE to court in Lausanne, Switzerland, to have his contract enforced. He says if he wins he will play the winner of the Las Vegas tournament.

At one point he threatened to file a suit to stop the tournament, but then agreed to let the court in Switzerland settle the dispute.

This world championship was scheduled for October 1998. That date was canceled in an attempt to accommodate Karpov.

The next world championship is tentatively scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in December 2000.

Iclicki takes Karpov's complaints in stride.

"Chess players are very intelligent and temperamental," he said.

The controversy took on a new look when Karpov's agent, Shiloh Quinn, bought one hour of radio air-time each weekday throughout the tournament to spend talking about the problems with FIDE. He said his show will air Mondays through Fridays from 1 to 2 p.m. on KLAV 1230-AM.

Iclicki believes the conflict may actually be helping to promote the match and increase interest -- which translates into more hits on the Website and more dollars.

Also helping spread the word of chess is its acceptance as a sport by the International Olympic Committee.

The first Olympic chess games are set to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2000.

The U.S. Chess Federation, hosting the FIDE event this year, has done its part in increasing the popularity of chess in this country.

Michael Cavallo, executive director of the organization, said 4,300 kids turned out for one of the USCF's events in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1997.

The nonprofit federation spends a large part of its time organizing chess events and starting chess clubs in school. It has a group within its organization that donates chess sets to the needy.

Barbara DeMaro said youth membership has increased 11 times over the past 10 years.

"There are chess clubs in schools all over the United States," she said.

Iclicki said it is just a matter of time before interest in chess takes off in the United States, the way it did when American Bobby Fischer won the world championship in 1972.

"America is waiting for a new champion," Iclicki said.