The FIDE Continental President Jorge Vega shared his experience from working visits of the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and expressed his opinion on the electoral campaign of his opponent.
We all know that for some time now political powers have been activated in various Continents in respect of the forthcoming elections, which will be held during the FIDE General Assembly in Khanty – Mansiysk.
These elections will determine the persons who will rule the destiny of world chess for the period 2010 – 2014. The current President, Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and GM Anatoly Karpov are competing for the highest position.
Contrary to what one would think, considering chess as a discipline where education, culture and fair play prevail, this campaign has been marked by the effort of the group of GM Karpov to discredit the figure of his rival, applying the most absurd distortions, accusations without any base or proof, or more severe pressure by government authorities, violating the principle of self-determination of the National Federations which are after all those who elect the President of FIDE.
This policy consisting of not presenting a concrete working plan supported by facts but only of mere campaign promises to be fulfilled during the first term of GM Karpov as President and adding to all this the idea expressed by some of his closest followers to question the democratic principle of “one federation-one-vote”, which is about giving advantage to the decisions of the powerful federations, has had a highly negative effect on the aspirations of GM Karpov to become the next FIDE President. This is also evident from the small number of federations that have expressed their support to him.
Their campaign strategy has not been the best either, concentrating all their efforts initially in America, where they turned their “more significant forces” without any result, while at the same time they neglected other areas which were practically taken over by Ilyumzhinov.
In the very beginning they started their campaign in Central America, where everyone was aware of the position of the President of the Federation of El Salvador, who was totally against Mr. Ilyumzhinov and where they succeeded to endorse only one more Federation. They talked about the “cascade effect” which would mean that they would obtain the whole of Central America and that this would furthermore persuade South America and the Caribbean. The result was counterproductive and their way of conducting the campaign using pressure or promises only consolidates the strength of Ilyumzhinov in the Continent. So it would seem that they did not understand that everything depends on the feeling of the water of the cascade.
After having faced alone in my capacity as the highest representative of the candidacy of Mr. Ilyumnzhinov in the Continent during these two months the entire team of GM Karpov who by the way I repeat, only got one Federation at that time and seeing their failure at the meetings held in Bolivia, Peru, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, Kirsan paid a campaign visit across Bolivia, Peru and Costa Rica during which these federations reaffirmed their support that America had openly declared. I had the opportunity to accompany him on this tour and witness the pressures that the federations had been submitted to by the team of GM Karpov or the false arguments that had mentioned in their effort to get at least a simple letter of support.
I met Kirsan at the airport of La Paz, Bolivia, at 2 AM, (the airport of El Alto owes its name to the fact that it is constructed at an altitude of 4.200 meters). We were both very tired after travelling – Kirsan from Johannesburg and I from Mexico. However at that time we had the first conversation with Mr. Alfonso Ferrufino, President of the Federation of Bolivia, and the Consulate of the Russian Embassy in Bolivia, who accompanied us all the time. The next day we had a private meeting with the President of the Federation during which a series of supporting actions was decided for the development of chess in Bolivia and later there was a meeting with chess players and journalists during which, to a question from someone about who Bolivia will vote for at the FIDE elections the categorical answer was “Kirsan Ilyumzhinov”. Late in the afternoon and always accompanied by the Russian Consulate we met with a Senior Official of the Ministry of Health, (its competence covers sport) where Kirsan explained the plans for the introduction of chess in the school – curriculum and confirmed the granting of educative and chess material for this project. The next morning a group of players was at the airport to wish him goodbye.
The presence of the representative of the Russian Embassy during the entire visit of Kirsan is of great importance and rendered the claims that GM Karpov was the official candidate of Russia meaningless.
The next morning we travelled to Lima, Peru, where we were welcomed at the airport by Dr. Milton Iturry, President of the Federation of Peru. The activities started immediately; Mr. Ilyumzhinov was announced honoris causa as Dr. by the University of Lima. Then, there was a press conference and interview with Mr. Arturo Woodman, President of the Sports Institute of Peru, where he announced the Copa Latina with a personal contribution of 60,000 USD which will take place in Cuzco. I have to say that Mr. Ilyumzhinov at that moment entrusted me with the coordination of this Cup, setting as a condition to have it organised in August, before the elections in order to show that his policy is based on facts and not simple campaign promises like the ones of GM Karpov. Everyone congratulated him on this event which is the first of a series of 5 events which will be organised every year having the same characteristics and different venues.
The following day we went to Cuzco, venue of the first Copa Latina, where we were accepted with honours; we were named Inca and received a “Sceptre” from the Mayor of Cuzco. It is not necessary to mention the interest that the event caused, as the prize fund (50,000 USD) is the biggest that has been granted lately in Americas. Mr. Ilyumzhinov was very interested in the Inca traditions and showed that he was also already familiar with them.
Afterwards, he attended a chess event which was held in the primary school of La Salle de Cuzco, where he exchanged views with the audience and played some games with the children under the applause of the crowd. The summary of the visit was made by one of the persons in the audience who shouted as we were leaving “much better than Karpov”.
During our private dinner with Dr. Iturry he reported the pressures that he was submitted to by Mr. Conn, whose activity was taken into consideration when taking the decision to openly support Kirsan. Dr. Iturry pointed out that he was very satisfied not to have received any pressure by Kirsan or his team that would influence his decision.
The Chief of Commercial Affairs of Russia in Peru was accompanying us all the time, which also dispelled any ideas of Russian support to GM Karpov.
At the final stage of the trip we went to Costa Rica, not without setback as they would not let Kirsan board on the plane because he had not taken the vaccine for yellow fever. It has to be said that Kirsan and the embassy did the impossible and after revaccinating him he embarked on the next flight. Kirsan’s effort to fulfil its commitment in Costa Rica is remarkable, in comparison to a supposed visit of the GM Karpov team to Honduras.
The trip in Costa Rica was also very busy, as the Presidents of Guatemala and Panama, the President of Zone 2.3. and some chess players from Nicaragua who wanted to express their support to Kirsan even if the Chess Federation of Nicaragua was against. All the Federations that were present had private meetings [with Kirsan] where support for the development of chess was requested and granted. At the same time Kirsan announced the celebration of the CACDEC Cup in Trinidad, also in August, for the same reasons previously mentioned, with a personal fund of USD 40,000 and a cycle of 5 years, as contribution to the development of young prospects.
Our activities went on the following day with the visit to the President of the National Olympic Committee and lunch with the Minister of Education, where Kirsan promised to furnish and cover the technical needs of the future office of the Chess Federation which will be opened next year in the new football stadium.
In the evening we had a conference with the players after some blitzs with IM Gonzalez and Castro, during which any subject they wanted was left open for discussion, which caused a very positive reaction of the audience and was summarized by an open letter of Mr. Jorge Ramirez. In the end we attended the Women’s Championship which was being held in the Chess Club of Costa Rica; a blitz game with the national champion. WIM Carolina Muñoz, words of gratefulness to the President, Mr. Luis Padilla and Messrs. Castro and Alvarado and a small break before going back to everyday work.