Ippolito's World Record Attempt Delayed

A letter from Dean Ippolito

Hello, everyone:

I am writing to let you know that my attempt to break the Guinness World Record has been postponed. My team and I have made this decision after careful consideration and words can't express the depth of my disappointment that this event will have to be rescheduled. We have spent countless man hours, advertising dollars, and put my reputation on the line for this lifetime goal. I'm upset for the vendors and sponsors and hope that the delay will not be a problem.

My concern with Guinness began when we found it extremely difficult to get the official requirements of the records. After numerous attempts to get in touch with them, the next correspondence was one asking if we would like an adjudicator for the event. Adjudicators cost $4,000 per day and there are a lot of extra costs with housing and flight (they require a first class ticket for a long travel). I asked about the requirements for the directors of the events and did get a response this time. Soon after, we became aware of another challenge for the world record from Israel. No one had been aware of this challenge until only a few weeks before the event. The stance that Guinness took is that we were responsible and they did not need to notify us of other challenges.

The record was apparently broken by 23 players, which in itself was not a major problem. The next shock came when it was announced that this record was being investigated as a possible fraud. The reason being was that there were mostly children playing and they were not members of their federation. Israel even paid the fees which I'd estimate to be well over $10,000, and still was having problems. As the Iranian record had mainly children, some as young as 4 competing, there is now the indication that this may also be invalid. When we initially registered for the record, it was explained that players only need to know the legal moves, but nothing of federation membership. It is still not clear exactly what the requirements for the record are.

We are anxiously awaiting clear requirements from Guinness and have had no choice but to delay the event until these requirements are known. I know from past world record holders that Guinness is slow to verify certain things and even slower in their responsiveness. I truly regret any inconvenience that this delay has caused. I am going to be continuing to promote the sponsors, the record, and everyone who helped us promote the event in any way. It is my promise that once we become aware of the exact requirements that we make this event even bigger and better than we had originally planned.

Here is the latest press release regarding the world record.

FLEMINGTON, NJ -- Camp Dean Ippolito was notified on Saturday, November 6th, that due to recent events surrounding the latest Guinness Book of World Records attempt to break the most chess games played simultaneously in Israel, Guinness recommended that all attempts to break the record be suspended.

This dramatic recommendation came as a big surprise to Ippolito who has been training for months to break the world record, which was scheduled to take place at the Health Quest Sports Dome on November 27th.

"I will be ready for the record whenever Guinness comes to terms with the criteria," Ippolito said. "Camp Ippolito is determined to bring the record back to the United States and wants to assure his sponsors Team Capital Bank, PNC, JG Petrucci, Health Quest and Diamond Nation that he will continue to train and hold exhibitions promoting the event until such time as a new date and location can be set."

The latest scandal surrounding the world record came on the heels of Israeli grandmaster Alik Gershon's Guinness attempt and allegations that he used non-rated, non-affiliated chess players with no prior knowledge of the game. The investigation is going to go back to the previous world record attempt of 2009 Iranian grandmaster Morteza Mahjoob.

Ippolito was told by Guinness that a decision would be announced after the first of the year and their application to break the record would be honored once the criteria has been set.

Ippolito wants to thank everyone who signed up to help him break the record and assured them that he will break the record and hopes all who signed up will join him when the new date is announced. Until the next date is announced, Dean will be holding numerous exhibitions to stay fresh for the new date and to help promote and thank his corporate sponsors for their continued support.

For all the latest news, please visit http://chessworldrecord.com/.