Short wants GM titles abolished

Former world number two chess player Nigel Short on Saturday called for the abolition of the titles in chess like Grand Masters and International Masters which he says serve no purpose except leading to corrupt practices by several players who are not averse to buying these titles.

"My personal opinion is to do away with these titles in chess. I know several instances of tournaments being fixed in order to help players attain the required norms and then get the GM titles. There have been instances of players throwing away matches for money to enable their opponents get these titles," GM Short said in Mumbai on Saturday.

Short, who is in Mumbai to play in the November 20-29 Commonwealth Chess Championship as well as in his capacity as the president of the Commonwealth Chess Association, minced no words in saying the world body FIDE has done little to stamp out these malpractices and, on the contrary, even encourage them.

"To me rankings are sufficient to gauge a player's worth. There are over 1000 players -- both past and present -- who are holding GM titles. The titles are not the same as they were twenty years ago," said Short who explained how the lowering of the qualifying standards deliberately by FIDE has devalued the titles.

"In olden days if a person had to get a norm after a 13-round tournament, he or she had to play extremely well throughout, but currently they can play well for nine rounds and play like fools in the last four but still get the norms," Short elaborated.

Short, however, said that despite these corrupt practices that have lowered the game's image, the standards have remained high thanks to the advent of laptop computers.

"The standards have remained high due to the ubiquitous laptops which help the players maintain their high levels," said Short who will to travel to Doha for the December 1-15 Asian Games as the coach of the Iranian team.

Short, who has been coaching Indian prodigy Parimarjan Negi, predicted a bright future for the 13-year-old talent, but said he still has a long way to go and cannot be compared to Viswanathan Anand immediately.

"Negi is a very diligent and hard working player. He is very talented, but still has a long way to go. He cannot be compared to Vishy Anand. The very fact that he's in the top 300 players in the world at 13 years of age show how good he is," the British GM said.

Short said that Negi can expect tough challenge from slightly older rivals like Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ukraine's Sergei Karjaikin in the future.

"Sergei is a fantastic player and is already right up there among the very best in the world. He and Magnus will be the challenge to Parimarjan," the British chess great said.