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LXKORPNG

Persona non grata

147 Seiten, kartoniert, Thinkers' Press, 1981

9,95 €
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Foreword:

"Grey opens and wins" - this was the title given by one chess columnist to his report on the match between Karpov and Kortchnoi, or rather the match between Kortchnoi and the Soviet Union together with its numerous friends. The House of Freedom in America once produced a map of the world on which the totalitarian countries and those with dictatorships were coloured black whilst the free countries were left white. Unfortunately, this optimistic black-and-white view of the world is no longer accurate. After ten years of gradual surrender, called detante, the dominant colour on the map is grey: the grey areas of Soviet influence. How could the apolitical figure of Viktor Kortchnoi have known he would land in the thick of this struggle when he chose the distant "non-aligned" country of the Philippines?
Viktor Kortchnoi's new book is not so much about the match for the World Chess Championship as about the sorry State of the contemporary world, at least three quarters of which is by now dependent on the USSR. Is there anything surprising about this? The concept of "fair play" simply has no meaning in the USSR, where everything is political - be it science, art, or sport. Every achievement is proof of the advantages of socialism. Every defeat is a blow to its prestige. Anyone who tries to preserve his independence in any sphere, in any matter whatsoever, is inevitably declared to be an enemy of the whole regime. The entire might of the Soviet Union, the entire State machinery, is immediate-ly mobilized to combat this desperate dare-devil. And from the very beginning, he is up against the unequal struggle of one man against the whole System. Any means are justified as long as the Opposition is crushed. There is no room for "fair play."
In the last seven to ten years, many famous dancers, scientists, writers, mu-sicians, artists, sculptors, and sportsmen have left the USSR by one means or another. The majority of them have stated that the reasons for their action were not political. They were "simply" not allowed to practice their professions. They were "simply" tired of constantly lying, pretending, and going against their consciences. This is now regarded as the gravest political crime in the Soviet Union, where "politics" is purely a matter of the authorities seeking to make everyone a pawn in their vast game.
In this sense, the World Championship in the Philippines was an ex-traordinary and unique symbolic occasion. Just as it was impossible for Kortchto preserve his independence without becoming the political Opponent of the Soviet regime, so was it impossible for Karpov not to collaborate in Soviet crimes. Karpov is a central Propaganda figure in the USSR, the Führer of Com-munist youth and a member öf the Central Committee of the Komsomol, as well as a personal friend of the Kremlin executioners. He (like the cosmonauts) was hand-picked from a huge number of candidates before being moulded into a champion. He must be an example of Soviet morality, an embodiment of the idea of Communism and as invincible as the Soviet regime itself. His biographical data must be irreproachable. Russian, naturally (and not some suspicious Jew); from a "proletarian family," naturally, with a spotlessly clean background. He cannot lose; he is not allowed to. Behind him Stands the whole System with its billions of rubles and spies, diplomats and foreign Communist party members. Whole armies of "greys" through out the world. The grotesque scene of the arrival in the Philippines of the Soviet "chess delegation," consist-ing of almost twenty KGB men, magicians, and karate specialists, and led by KGB Colonel Baturinsky, was worthy of the pen of Bulgakov.
On the other side, Kortchnoi was not just a "renegade," "defector," and "traitor," whose name it is forbidden to mention in the USSR, but also a man who dared to try to claim his human rights. Even before the Start of the game, he was deprived of several pieces. His family is being held hostage in the Soviet Union; his son is in prison. It is a joke even to talk about legal parity between the two sides. Under pressure from the "Soviet side," he was deprived of even the symbolic protection of the Swiss flag. Not a Single country in the world defends his interests. The "Free World" will be grateful if Kortchnoi succeeds in liberating it from the Soviet dominion (if only in chess), but will not risk lift-ing a finger to achieve this.
Kortchnoi's struggle is the struggle of one man against the pitiless System of repression which has ensnared the world, transferred by a whim of fate from the torture chambers of Soviet concentration camps to the chessboard in the Philippines. But little has changed bacause of this. Here, as in far-offMoscow, KGB men are the uncrowned rulers, whose hate-filled Stares are turned on Kortchnoi every single day.
It was striking how this match reflected in microcosm the impotence of the Free World in the face of Soviet blackmail, bribery, and violence. Impotence and disorder are displayed in every conflict with the USSR. We often rack our brains as to why the UN has not once condemned the violation of human rights in the USSR; as to why the World Council of Churches has not once conthe persecution of believers. We cannot understand why the whole world is so eager to supply the USSR with technology, credits, machines and tools, even with bread and butter. We are amazed that the Soviets are doing ex-actly the same in Angola and Ethiopia, South Yemen and Afghanistan. And why, as soon as the Soviets go too far and find themselves in a tight spot, does the whole world eagerly rush to help them "save face," as if the Free World had no other cares?
Viktor Kortchnoi's book gives a surprisingly simple answer to these ques-tions. Like the infamous championship jury, the world is prepared to do any-thing, in the end, for a quiet life. The world is prepared to make any concession to satisfy the appetite of the world band«, as long as it calms down eventually. For the world is made of people like Keene, Campomanes, Filip, and Marcos. At the best, people like Euwe... And they don't give a damn that in the mean time the "greys" are opening and winning one country after another with extraordinary ease.
Now, when the Free World is preparing to betray its pnnciples yet again by holding the Olympic Games in Moscow at the price of the freedom of many honest people in the USSR, it is very important that everyone should read this book: those who unthinkingly repeat Lord Killanin's foolish and dangerous words about sport "outside politics," as well as those who find it so important to jump and run in Moscow. Do they want the "greys" to win these games, too?

Vladimir Bukovsky
March 6th, 1980
Cambridge, England
Vorwort:

"Grey opens and wins" - this was the title given by one chess columnist to his report on the match between Karpov and Kortchnoi, or rather the match between Kortchnoi and the Soviet Union together with its numerous friends. The House of Freedom in America once produced a map of the world on which the totalitarian countries and those with dictatorships were coloured black whilst the free countries were left white. Unfortunately, this optimistic black-and-white view of the world is no longer accurate. After ten years of gradual surrender, called detante, the dominant colour on the map is grey: the grey areas of Soviet influence. How could the apolitical figure of Viktor Kortchnoi have known he would land in the thick of this struggle when he chose the distant "non-aligned" country of the Philippines?
Viktor Kortchnoi's new book is not so much about the match for the World Chess Championship as about the sorry State of the contemporary world, at least three quarters of which is by now dependent on the USSR. Is there anything surprising about this? The concept of "fair play" simply has no meaning in the USSR, where everything is political - be it science, art, or sport. Every achievement is proof of the advantages of socialism. Every defeat is a blow to its prestige. Anyone who tries to preserve his independence in any sphere, in any matter whatsoever, is inevitably declared to be an enemy of the whole regime. The entire might of the Soviet Union, the entire State machinery, is immediate-ly mobilized to combat this desperate dare-devil. And from the very beginning, he is up against the unequal struggle of one man against the whole System. Any means are justified as long as the Opposition is crushed. There is no room for "fair play."
In the last seven to ten years, many famous dancers, scientists, writers, mu-sicians, artists, sculptors, and sportsmen have left the USSR by one means or another. The majority of them have stated that the reasons for their action were not political. They were "simply" not allowed to practice their professions. They were "simply" tired of constantly lying, pretending, and going against their consciences. This is now regarded as the gravest political crime in the Soviet Union, where "politics" is purely a matter of the authorities seeking to make everyone a pawn in their vast game.
In this sense, the World Championship in the Philippines was an ex-traordinary and unique symbolic occasion. Just as it was impossible for Kortchto preserve his independence without becoming the political Opponent of the Soviet regime, so was it impossible for Karpov not to collaborate in Soviet crimes. Karpov is a central Propaganda figure in the USSR, the Führer of Com-munist youth and a member öf the Central Committee of the Komsomol, as well as a personal friend of the Kremlin executioners. He (like the cosmonauts) was hand-picked from a huge number of candidates before being moulded into a champion. He must be an example of Soviet morality, an embodiment of the idea of Communism and as invincible as the Soviet regime itself. His biographical data must be irreproachable. Russian, naturally (and not some suspicious Jew); from a "proletarian family," naturally, with a spotlessly clean background. He cannot lose; he is not allowed to. Behind him Stands the whole System with its billions of rubles and spies, diplomats and foreign Communist party members. Whole armies of "greys" through out the world. The grotesque scene of the arrival in the Philippines of the Soviet "chess delegation," consist-ing of almost twenty KGB men, magicians, and karate specialists, and led by KGB Colonel Baturinsky, was worthy of the pen of Bulgakov.
On the other side, Kortchnoi was not just a "renegade," "defector," and "traitor," whose name it is forbidden to mention in the USSR, but also a man who dared to try to claim his human rights. Even before the Start of the game, he was deprived of several pieces. His family is being held hostage in the Soviet Union; his son is in prison. It is a joke even to talk about legal parity between the two sides. Under pressure from the "Soviet side," he was deprived of even the symbolic protection of the Swiss flag. Not a Single country in the world defends his interests. The "Free World" will be grateful if Kortchnoi succeeds in liberating it from the Soviet dominion (if only in chess), but will not risk lift-ing a finger to achieve this.
Kortchnoi's struggle is the struggle of one man against the pitiless System of repression which has ensnared the world, transferred by a whim of fate from the torture chambers of Soviet concentration camps to the chessboard in the Philippines. But little has changed bacause of this. Here, as in far-offMoscow, KGB men are the uncrowned rulers, whose hate-filled Stares are turned on Kortchnoi every single day.
It was striking how this match reflected in microcosm the impotence of the Free World in the face of Soviet blackmail, bribery, and violence. Impotence and disorder are displayed in every conflict with the USSR. We often rack our brains as to why the UN has not once condemned the violation of human rights in the USSR; as to why the World Council of Churches has not once conthe persecution of believers. We cannot understand why the whole world is so eager to supply the USSR with technology, credits, machines and tools, even with bread and butter. We are amazed that the Soviets are doing ex-actly the same in Angola and Ethiopia, South Yemen and Afghanistan. And why, as soon as the Soviets go too far and find themselves in a tight spot, does the whole world eagerly rush to help them "save face," as if the Free World had no other cares?
Viktor Kortchnoi's book gives a surprisingly simple answer to these ques-tions. Like the infamous championship jury, the world is prepared to do any-thing, in the end, for a quiet life. The world is prepared to make any concession to satisfy the appetite of the world band«, as long as it calms down eventually. For the world is made of people like Keene, Campomanes, Filip, and Marcos. At the best, people like Euwe... And they don't give a damn that in the mean time the "greys" are opening and winning one country after another with extraordinary ease.
Now, when the Free World is preparing to betray its pnnciples yet again by holding the Olympic Games in Moscow at the price of the freedom of many honest people in the USSR, it is very important that everyone should read this book: those who unthinkingly repeat Lord Killanin's foolish and dangerous words about sport "outside politics," as well as those who find it so important to jump and run in Moscow. Do they want the "greys" to win these games, too?

Vladimir Bukovsky
March 6th, 1980
Cambridge, England
Weitere Informationen
EAN 0938650157
Gewicht 230 g
Hersteller Thinkers' Press
Breite 14 cm
Höhe 21,2 cm
Medium Buch
Erscheinungsjahr 1981
Autor Viktor KortschnoiLenny Cavallaro
Sprache Englisch
ISBN-10 0938650157
Seiten 147
Einband kartoniert
i Foreword
iv Introduction
viii Acknowledgments

002 Chapter One: Preparations ... Prehistory of the Match
011 Chapter Two: On the Eve of the Match
021 Chapter Three: The First Direct Confrontation
030 Chapter Four: Start of the Match ... First Surprises
038 Chapter Five: The Situation Intensifies
050 Chapter Six: The Match Draws to a Close...Interval
061 Chapter Seven: The Strängest of Miracles
078 Chapter Eight: The Last Round
088 Chapter Nine: Conclusion
091 Chapter Ten: Updates

Appendices:
093 (a) Afterwords
095 (b) Dr. Zukhar
099 (c) Know How To Lose
101 (d) Chess Match In The Philippines Is Not A Training Ground For Cold War
103 (e) Why The Margis Were Banned
105 (f) Match Of Miracles
110 (g) Letter To A. Karpov
112 (h) Games
146 (i) Subscribers
147 (j) Book Design