Not Purely Sporting wrote:
Avocado's Number wrote:
MVL's team "appeals" the selection of Alekseenko. Unfortunately, it just sounds pathetic at this point.
I agree this is on the lame side (the "appeal" is to the RCF to change their minds, when actually it's the Yekaterinburg organizers who are "sovereign" in the end IIUC).
A Russian site had the best take: Want to improve chess justice? Ensure clean money in Chess. (maybe not the sharpest translation)
IMO though, the new "rules" for the wildcard at least saved us from Putin's friend Karjakin again.
Although Karjakin seems like a nice enough guy, I'm also glad that he wasn't able to advance. And from what little I've seen of Alekseenko, he plays pretty interesting chess. He also deserves credit for defeating Karjakin in the penultimate round of the Swiss Grand Prix in October, effectively taking Sergei out of the running for the Candidates Tournament.