KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV

President of World Chess Federation (Since November 1995)
President and Head of Republic of Kalmykia (from Oct. 2005)
Born: April 5, 1962. Ethnic background: Kalmyk
Education: Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations (MGIMO)

Degrees and Titles

• Honored Academician of Interregional Science of Science Academy of Russian Federation
• Honored Doctor of National Academy of Applied Sciences of Russian Federation
• Full Member of Russian Social Sciences Academy
• Full Member of New York Academy of Sciences

Awards

• Gold Medal of Peace for Humanitarian Activities
• Medal “300 Years of Russian Navy”
• F. Plevako Gold Medal
• Order of Friendship
• Order of St. Nicolas
• Order of Dignity St. George with sword
• Triumphal Crown of the National Academy of Applied Sciences
• Honored Citizen of Elista
• Pierre Obrie Sign (France)

Elections

• Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of Russian Federative Republic,
• Member of the Federation Council of Russian Federation
• Honored Deputy of Elista Municipal Board,
• President of Russian Chamber of Entrepreneurs

Career history

• 1979-1980 Mechanic-fitter at Zvezda plant, Elista
• 1980-1982 Military Service
• 1982-1983 Mechanic at Zvezda plant, Elista
• 1983-1989 Student at Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations
• 1989-1990 Manager of Soviet-Japanese Company “Liko-Raduga”, Moscow
• 1990-1993 President of SAN Corporation, Moscow
• April 1993 – present President, Head (since Oct.2005) of the Republic of Kalmykia
• November 1995 – present President of World Chess Federation (FIDE)

Personal Quotation

“All new attempts to split the Chess World are doomed to failure.”

Sponsor and/or Organiser of Major Chess Events:

• 1996 World Chess Championship Karpov-Kamsky, Elista, Russia
• 1998 President’s Cup (International Super tournament), Elista, Russia
• 1998 33rd Chess Olympiad with 110 men’s and 73 women’s teams, Elista, Russia
• 1998-1999 World Chess Championship, Groningen-Lausanne
• 1999 Lausanne Young Masters Tournament, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 1999 World Chess Championship, Las Vegas.
• 2000 World Chess Championship, New Delhi-Teheran
• 2001-2002 World Chess Championship, Moscow
• 2004 World Women’s Chess Championship, Elista, Russia
• 2004 Botvinnik’s Chess Memorial, Moscow, Russia
• 2006 World Chess Championship match V. Kramnik vs. Topalov

During all these years Kirsan and his FIDE team also regularly organized the annual World Youth Championships and World U-20 Championships. Since 1999, World Children’s Chess Olympiads are running under FIDE Patronage.

Apart from this Kirsan did organize 6 Russian Championships and 8 Russian Women’s Championships.

GEORGIOS MAKROPOULOS

FIDE Deputy President
Born: September, 29, 1953
Ethnic background: Greek
Degrees and Titles: International Master (IM), Grandmaster (GM) norm in Banco di Roma 1980

Career history

• Since 1976: journalist for the Athens-based newspaper «Eleftherotypia»
• 1971-1985: 7 times champion of Greece
• 1971-1989: Member of the Greek National Team
• 1982-present: President of the Greek Chess Federation
• 1986-1990: FIDE Vice President
• 1990-1996: FIDE General Secretary
• 1996-present: FIDE Deputy President

Under his leadership, the Greek Chess Federation hosted numerous FIDE events:

• 26th Chess Olympiad (Thessaloniki, 1984)
• 28th Chess Olympiad (Thessaloniki, 1988)
• Zonal Tournament 1.5 of World Chess Championship (Mati, 1990)
• European Youth Championships for Boys and Girls U18 (Hania, Crete, 1994)
• Zonal Tournament 1.5 of World Chess Championship (Panormo, Crete, 1998)
• European Youth Championships (Litohoro, 1999)
• European Junior Championships (Patra, 1999)
• European Youth Championships (Halkidiki, 2000)
• World Junior Championships (Athens, 2001)
• European Junior Championships (Patra, 2001)
• European Club Cup (Rethymno, Crete 2001)
• European Youth Championships (Halkidiki, 2001)
• European Club Cup (Halkidiki, 2002)
• World Youth Championships (Heraklio, Crete, 2002)
• European Rapid & Blitz Championships (Rethymno, Crete 2002)
• European Club Cup (Rethymno, Crete, 2003)
• World Youth Championships (Halkidiki 2003)
• 28th World Congress of Chess Composition (Halkidiki, 2004)
• World Youth Championships (Heraklio, Crete 2004)
• 1st World School Championships (Halkidiki, 2005)
• World Women’s Blind Championship (Eretria 2005)
• World Women’s Blind Championship (Eretria, 2005)
• World Junior’s Blind Championship (Eretria 2005)
• World Cup of National Teams Blind (Eretria, 2005)
• 29th World Congress of Chess Composition (Eretria 2005)
• the European Team Championships (Heraklio, Crete 2007)
• the European School Championships (Halkidiki 2008)
• the World Amateur Championship (Halkidiki 2008)
• the Chess Olympiad for the Blind (Heraklio Crete, 2008)
• the European Seniors Championship (Thessaloniki 2010)

General Secretary: IGNATIUS LEONG

Titles: Commonwealth Chess Association President
Asean Chess Confederation President
Commonwealth Chess Association President
Singapore Chess Federation President

Biography Facts

• organized his first local open tournament at age 17;
• was elected Honorary General Secretary of Singapore Chess Federation at age 21
• organised hundreds of local and international tournaments including numerous in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
• played initiative role for the inclusion of Chess in the South East Asian Games in Vietnam 2003 and Philippines 2005
• established a tri-lateral funding assistance programme by Asian Chess Academy for Laos-Vietnam 2006-2009
• Sponsored several international events in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore

Career History

• FIDE General Secretary 2005 to present
• FIDE Calendar Administrator 2008 to present
• FIDE Vice-President 2002 to 2006
• Zonal President 1998 to 2002
• FIDE Central Committee member 1990 to 1994
• FIDE Qualification member 1988 to 1990
• Commonwealth Chess Association President 2008 to present
• Asean Chess Confederation President 2000 to present
• Singapore Chess Federation President 2007 to present

Technical Director at:

• Southeast Asian Games – Vietnam 2003 and Philippines 2005
• Asian Indoor Games – Macau 2007 and Vietnam 2009,
• World Mind Sport Games – China 2008
• Asian Games – Qatar 2006 and China 2010
• and World Youth Championships Vietnam 2008 – deemed the best organised in the entire series

Chief Arbiter at:

• Chess Olympiads – Calvia 2004 and Dresden 2008
• Women’s World Team Championship – Ekaterinburg 2007 and Ningbo 2009
• Women’s World Championship Match Xie Jun v Alisa Galliamova – Kazan & Shenyang 1999
• World Championship Candidates Match Gata Kamsky v Veselin Topalov – Sofia 2009

Besides technical matters, among his contributions to FIDE and world chess are these landmark proposals:

• 1993 – Proposal to allow extra participants into official events – the growth in the number of participants in especially youth events today
• 2002 – Proposal to have additional 3 Vice-Presidents elected and 2 Vice-Presidents nominated by the President – allowing individuals to contest FIDE Elections
• 2003 – Proposal to add one more player for the women’s teams in Chess Olympiads starting 2008 – record entries in Dresden 2008
• 2003 – Proposal to charge federations for transfer of players – new revenue for FIDE
• 2004 – Proposal to award titles for trainers and seminar fees – recognition of Trainers and new revenue for FIDE
• 2007 – Proposal to organise the Women’s World Team Championship once every two years – more events for women
• 2008 – Implementation of “Zero-Tolerance” in World Mind Sport Games Beijing
• 2008 and Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008
• 2009 – Proposal to add one more member on the Presidential Ticket and that the ticket must have at least one woman – elected woman on the Presidential Board
• 2009 – Proposal to maintain and regulate an Annual Calendar Planner with effect 2012
• 2009 – Proposal to charge federations which “import” players – compensates previous federations of transferred players
• Played at the Olympiads – Dubai 1986, Thessaloniki 1988 and Elista 1998
• Awarded the titles of International Arbiter (1979), International Organiser
• (1995) and FIDE Senior Trainer (2004).

Treasurer: Nigel Freeman

President of the Bermuda Chess Association
FIDE Treasurer Since 2006
Born: Aylesbury, UK, in 1954.
Education: Harrow School, Cambridge University, M.A. in History.

Career History

From university, he joined the Hong Kong Bank Group (now HSBC) and worked in the United Arab Emirates (Sharjah, Ajman & Umm al Quwain), Hong Kong and Amman, Jordan.

He has subsequently worked for the Bank of Montreal in London, the Royal Bank of Canada and Acceptor Enterprises, a corporate management company, in Hong Kong. He then became General Manager of Jupiter Tyndall International (Bermuda) Limited, a fund investment and administration company.

He subsequently left them and set up his own company, Cadilly Consultants Limited, which specializes in corporate administration, investment banking and other financial services. He sits on the boards of several public and private corporations, mutual funds and investment trusts.

He has been President of the Bermuda Chess Association since 1990 and plays for Bermuda in Chess Olympiads. He is also the Organizer of the Bermuda International Chess Tournaments, as well as being the Organizer of the famous Bermuda Party at the Chess Olympiads.

Beatriz Marinello

Candidate for FIDE Vice President
General Secretary FIDE Americas
Woman International Master (WIM)
Born: May 14, 1964
Ethnic background: Latin American (Born in Chile, Based in the United States)

Degrees and Titles

• Woman International Master (WIM)
• US Chess Federation Life Master
• Zonal President
• General Secretary FIDE Americas
• Former U.S. Chess Federation President
• Former Member FIDE Verification Commission
• Member of the U.S. Scholastic Council
• Member of the U.S. Life Members Assets Committee
• Member of the U.S. Chess Trust
• Certified Public Accountant

Awards

• 2009 Distinguished Service Award, US Chess Federation
• 2009 Harold Dondis Service Award, US Chess Trust
• 2008 Chess Educator of the Year, University of Texas at Dallas
• 2002 Meritorious Services Award, US Chess Federation
• 2001 Scholastic Service Award, US Chess Federation

Chess Career History

• 1979-1988 Seven times Women’s Champion of Chile
• 1985-1989 Chess journalist “Diario La Nacion” Chile
• 1983-1987 Director of Public Relations, Chilean Chess Federation
• 1991 Represented the USA in the Women’s Interzonal, Former Yugoslavia
• 1993 Represented the USA in the Women’s Interzonal, Indonesia
• 1994 Player and Captain of the USA Women’s Chess Team, Russia
• 1997-2000 Scholastic Director, U.S. Chess Federation
• 2001-2003, 2005-Current Member of the U.S. Scholastic Council
• 2002-Current General Secretary FIDE Americas
• 2003-2005 Elected U.S. Chess Federation President and became the U.S. Chess Federation’s first (and only) woman president.
• 2005-Current Member of the U.S. Life Members Assets Committee
• 2006-2010 Member FIDE Verification Commission
• 2008-Current Member of the U.S. Chess Trust
• 2009 – Current Zonal President
• 1991-Present Promoting chess and education.

Personal Quote: “No one is bigger than chess.” Beatriz Marinello

Vice President: Lewis Ncube

Born: February, 22, 1958 in the Zambian Capital City of Lusaka.

Education: Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (U.M.I.S.T) in the United Kingdom, postgraduate qualifications in the petroleum and energy sectors from Italy and the United Kingdom.

Titles

• Zonal President on FIDE Zone 4.3
• Member of the Chess in Schools Committee
• Member of the Committee for Assistance to Chess Developing Countries (CACDEC)
• Vice President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Career History

Started his working life as a Process Engineer in Zambia’s major copper mining company at the time, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited; then jointly owned by the Zambian Government and the multinational, Anglo American Corporation.

Whilst rising to head the Solvent Extraction Unit of the major division of company’s operations, he was instrumental in making chess development one of the priority areas of the firm’s Community Services Departmental budget.

He then joined the Zambian subsidiary of the international oil marketing conglomerate, Agip Petroli; the Refining and Marketing Division of the Italian energy giant ENI.

Rising from the position of Lubricants Engineer to heading the Marketing and Distribution Department of the Company, Ncube eventually ended up as a Management Consultant at the Head Office. He has over 15 years experience in technical, commercial and administrative competence in the petroleum sector at senior executive level.

Since taking over the reins of the Presidency of the Chess Federation of Zambia in 2000, he has built a young dynamic team that has presided over the most successful period in Zambian chess.

He has over thirty four year’s involvement in chess starting off as a national junior player in his home country through to playing overseas and ending up as a sponsor and chess organizer in the Southern Africa region; as Zonal President.

The successful hosting of the 2001 and 2004 African Junior Championships as well as the 2005 African Individual Championships in the Zambian Capital City of Lusaka is testimony to the organizational strengths developed in the Zambian Federation under the leadership of Lewis Ncube.

He currently combines his chess organizing responsibilities with running his own energy consulting firm and the family poultry business.