“The actual venue has yet to be announced although the organisers say they have several short-listed options. The prize fund is the world body Fide’s minimum of $1m, which could yet present a problem if Fabiano Caruana wins the eight-man candidates in Berlin in March. In that case the billionaire Rex Sinquefield, who has made his home city of St Louis into a global chess capital and who could easily fund a much larger purse, may try to have the match switched to the US.”
theguardian.com/sport/2017/ … le-defence
The word out on the internet is that the 2018 World Championship match will be in London. Once it is officially announced [not done yet, as per OP], it is almost certain that it will not be changes.
Larry S. Cohen
Mr. Barden, writing from London, makes an interesting point in the event Caruana is the challenger. FIDE/Agon are in not great financial shape and have only come up with the minimum prize fund required. Given all the difficulties they had finding a site and sponsors in NYC, one has to think Barden may be privy to information that we don’t have. Barden isn’t known for rash speculation.
BTW, the match has been announced for London. The precise venue in London has not be announced, presumably because it hasn’t yet be found. Deja vu all over again…
en.chessbase.com/post/world-cha … -in-london
london2018.worldchess.com/
If there is a Russian finalist for the World Championship, do not be too surprised if the venue is magically changed to Sochi or some city in eastern Russia with a prize fund offered by an oligarch. There once was a time when the geographical preferences of the players were given more weight. London is a time zone and latitude very appealing to Carlsen and to most of the avid European chess fans. As a major financial center, London is a good locus for seeking funding.
The battle of the oligarchs…Rex or Ivan?
I don’t think of Mr. S as an oligarch. He started with nothing and earned it all.
The Russians tend to be kleptocrats. Buddies of Putin got to steal it all - and if you get a falling out with Putin you end up in jail or worse.
Most Russian oligarchs started with nothing, many of them under the Soviet system. I can think of a few people who would argue that people in Rex’s class are Kleptocrats. What varies between the systems is the extent to which property is protected by the rule of law which some, including me, will claim is being steadily eroded in our country.
Your friends are far more liberal than are mine.
The Russians with wealth generally stole it by being in favored positions with the government when the old Soviet system broke apart and connected folks took over government monopolies.
Getting paid for a new and innovative service is not at all the same thing.
I think your view or how wealth here in the US is accumulated is a wee bit naive. 
I think your view is far too cynical. I work with folks all the time who work hard, live on less than they make, save and invest, and achieve success. Some achieve remarkable success by supplying the market something new or better.
But none of this has anything to do with chess, so I’m done with the thread.
To bring it back to chess, I hope a) that Caruana is the challenger in 2018, b) that Rex offers a nice tidy sum, like $5 million plus venue and expenses for both players, to hold the match in St. Louis, with c) free daily access for the public to the match. There is likely something to it as Leonard Barden noted it in his Guardian column.