Chess match held up over toilet demands

It's been a rough decade in the world of professional chess. First, Garry Kasparov, the best chess player in history, broke away from the international chess federation (FIDE) and took his world champion title with him. Then in 2000, Vladimir Kramnik defeated Kasparov to take the title, but he refused to defend his title in a FIDE match for the next six years. FIDE has held their own championship tournaments, with Veselin Topalov winning the 2005 title. At long last, Kramnik has agreed to defend his title against the FIDE champion. So the fact that there is a world championship match between Kramnik and Topalov is huge news.

Last week, however, there was a discouraging turn of events. Kramnik, who suffers from a form of arthritis, kept getting up from his chair and going to the bathroom -- dozens of times each game. Topalov, understandably, thought this was a little suspicious, and his team filed a complaint. In the ensuing uproar over who could use which bathroom, Kramnik refused to start game 5. So this match, which was supposed to be this great "reunification" match, might end up being remembered for a dispute over toilets.