Nona Says: "No Diamonds on Trophy"

According to a news article at Kiev Post (Kyiv Post.com) no diamonds were stolen off of the Gaprindashvili Cup awarded to the Ukrainian chess teams for their combined performances at the 2008 Chess Olympiad at Dresden. Right from the mouth of the lady whose name is on the Cup, she says "no diamonds," only silver and gilt decorations. Chess prize missing a few pieces upon arrival [Not true - read the article - nothing was missing, but a piece was broken off - see photo - actually, it looks like the piece screws in, so perhaps it wasn't broken off at all, it just came lose!] Yesterday, 20:04 Yuliya Popova, Kyiv Post Staff Writer Chess Olympiad trophy won by combined Ukrainian team arrives in Boryspil airport damaged and short of most valuable features At the Chess Olympiad in Germany, the Ukrainian team edged other nations in combined men’s and women’s results. But German airlines may have put them in check. In Frankfurt, Lufthansa personnel made them sacrifice their knight – a precious cup personifying a female on a male horse – to the main luggage section Nov. 26. In Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport, the Ukrainian Chess Federation received their trophy with a broken head and stripped of decorations. “Absolute negligence,” exclaimed vice president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation, Leonid Tymoshenko, who was transporting the prize. Boarding a flight in Frankfurt, he said that the Lufthansa staff made him check in the trophy due to its heavy appearance. “I told them that it’s a piece of art of global importance but nobody listened to me. I insisted to weigh it as it’s only three kilograms and 200 grams, twice less then was permitted,” complained Tymoshenko. “But they were stubborn and asked me if I wanted to fly or not.” Tymoshenko resigned the prize to the belly of an airplane, the last time he would see the trophy intact. As chess enthusiasts tried later to sort out what happened, Lufthansa employees in Kyiv avoided comment. Airport management blamed luggage handlers for the damage. Tymoshenko insisted on negligence. Boryspil has a bad record of baggage looting. Major air carriers in Ukraine reported more than 11,000 thefts in 2007. The general prosecutor’s office busted a police squad and six handlers for pilfering passenger bags in September. The damaged trophy was named after the first female grandmaster, Nona Gaprindashvili. The legendary chess player from Georgia found out about the incident from the Kyiv Post. “It’s impossible. They shouldn’t have put it with the rest of luggage, it’s unthinkable,” she exclaimed. Gaprindashvili dismissed speculations that the cup was decorated with diamonds. “It’s made of silver and gilded embellishments but it’s a lot more precious than other cups in the [chess] Olympiad.” Tymoshenko said that the cup was insured. Police launched a criminal investigation. The next Chess Olympiad is scheduled to take place in Russia in 2010. The “knight” is transferrable and will have to be repaired by then.

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So - why the report about missing diamonds from the trophy? Did Tymoshenko REALLY says that diamonds had been - I assumed pried - out of the trophy? Where did this report of missing diamonds originate, and why? Is this all traceable back to the initial Russian news report - blaming Georgians for the theft??? The way the incident now sounds, NOTHING WAS STOLEN, the trophy was BROKEN. Clarification - will it ever be forthcoming???