The Chess World Championship match between top ranked Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik was thrown in jeopardy in Elista, Russia on Friday for a bizarre reason -- the frequent toilet breaks taken by the Russian.
The breaks gave rise to suspicion that Kramnik was cheating because the toilet is the only area where there is no video surveillance.
Following the allegation, the resumption of the match, which is a part of a long awaited reunification of the chess world, has been delayed indefinitely.
To protest against the allegation, Kramnik has stationed himself before his bathroom, saying he will not play until he is allowed access to it.
In the 12-game match, four games are already over with Kramnik leading 3-1 and needs just 3.5 points more in the remaining eight games to be crowned the new world champion.
The problem began when Kramnik excessively used the toilet during the games following which Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov wrote a protest letter to appeals committee of the match demanding that the players use the public toilet and be accompanied by an assistant arbiter.
Danailov also said the usage of rest rooms should also be banned for both players, lest "we would seriously reconsider the participation of Topalov in this match".
The appeals committee, comprising Georgious Makropoulous, Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Jorge Vega, decided that both the players will have access to one common toilet and rejected other demands, which could not satisfy Danailov.
"The ruling in its present form is not satisfactory to us since it practically does not result in any change. Mr. Kramnik will be able to visit the new bathroom an unlimited number of times without being subject to further control," Danailov said in another letter.
"World champion Veselin Topalov is outraged by the suspicious behavior of his opponent Mr. Vladimir Kramnik who in actual fact takes his most significant decisions in the bathroom," he alleged.
"Despite the above, in the name of the chess game and out of respect to FIDE, to Kalmikia and the millions of chess lovers, Veselin Topalov is willing to continue his participation in the match provided that measures to guarantee fair play are taken," he added.
Kramnik's team reacted by describing the allegations as "utterly disgraceful".
"The protests of the Topalov team into the direction of Mr. Kramnik and the suspicions in the press release of Mr. Topalov are utterly disgraceful and are touching Mr. Kramnik's privacy," Kramnik's manager Carstel Hansen said.
It also threatened to "stop playing this match as long as FIDE is not ready to respect Mr. Kramnik's rights, in this case to use the toilet of his own restroom whenever he wishes to do so".
The letter from Kramnik's team also alleged a "bias" by the appeals committee in giving their judgement on the issue and also demanded that "they [committee] should be changed".
On the charge of Kramnik's frequent visits to bathroom, Hansen said, "the reasons that Mr. Kramnik is entering his own bathroom often is simple: The restroom is small and Mr. Kramnik likes to walk and therefore uses the space of the bathroom as well".
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