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The Topalov-Kamsky match should take place in Lviv, with a prize fund of US $750,000.
As followers of the official sources (the site FIDE.com) will know, the date for presenting bank guarantees for the prize fund has been extended until 23 April by FIDE President, Kirsan Illumzhinov. But this is what you do not know. Just half an hour ago, I spoke to the manager of Kamsky, Alexander Chernenko, who gave me the precise details of the venue and prize fund. The match will take place in Lvov, in the Ukraine, and the prize fund will be US $750,000. Further details of the regulations, etc will follow.
Addendum: Yury Vassiliev tells us that the US $750,000 prize fund is "clean", i.e. taxes and the 20% fee to FIDE will not be taken out of the prize money. In the meantime friends in the Ukraine have expressed doubts on the reality of the offer. Even top Lviv officials do not know of the match or of private sponsors. "The city of Lviv will not put up the money, this is 1000% sure", our contact told us. We will wait and see. But just in case: here's a short description of the prospective venue.
Lviv – also written L'viv or L'vov in Ukrainian and Russian – is a large city in the western edge of Ukraine, with a population of around 750,000 (coincidentally the prize fund of the Kamsky-Topalov match). Lviv is one of the main cultural centres of the country, with a University, a Polytechnic, a philharmonic orchestra and a Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The city celebrated its 750th anniversary in September 2006. The climate is moderate, with temperatures ranging from an average of +18°C (65 °F) in June and –4°C (27°F) in January.
View of the city of Lviv [Photo: Jan Mehlich]
Main railway station of Lviv, built in 1903 [Photo: Marek Silarski]
The Lviv Opera House [Photo: Jan Mehlich]
Lviv City Hall [Photo: Jan Mehlich]
