Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Re-elected as World Chess Federation President – New York Times

September 29, 2010, 9:21 am

Find the Original Article Here:  http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/kirsan-ilyumzhinov-re-elected-as-world-chess-federation-president/

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Re-elected as World Chess Federation President

By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was re-elected as president of the World Chess Federation on Wednesday, according to Chessdom, a chess news Web site.

Mr. Ilyumzhinov reportedly defeated Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion, by a vote of 95 to 55. Each country in the federation, which is also known by the acronym FIDE (for Fédération Internationale des Échecs), had one vote.

Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s new term runs to 2014; he has been president of FIDE since 1995.

The election was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, where the biennial Chess Olympiad is also being played.

As part of Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, Georgios Makropoulos of Greece was re-elected deputy president; Lewis Ncube of Zambia and Beatriz Marinello, a United States resident, were elected vice presidents; Ignatius Leong of Singapore was elected general secretary; and Nigel Freeman of Bermuda was re-elected treasurer.

The election capped a long and nasty campaign in which both sides traded accusations and heated words.

Mr. Karpov’s election chances may have been hurt by the aide of his long-time rival, Garry Kasparov, who some people might have feared would have undue influence if Mr. Karpov was elected — a fear that Mr. Ilyuzmhinov fanned on his campaign Web site.

Mr. Kasparov has acknowledged in the past that there are many people in the chess world who do not like him and would never vote for him if he ran for the presidency of FIDE.

The election came two days after a lawsuit by Mr. Karpov and five federations to have Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket disqualified was dismissed in the Court of Arbritration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr. Ilyumzhinov, who recently announced that he was stepping down as the head of Kalmykia, a republic in southern Russia that he has run since 1993, was re-elected despite his odd public persona, which includes his assertion that he was once abducted by aliens and, most recently, that chess comes from outer space.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Wins the Voting 95-55 – Chessdom.com

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov re-elected for FIDE President!

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov wins the voting 95-55

Find the original article here: http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2010/fide-elections-2010-ilyumzhinov-karpov

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is re-elected for FIDE President!

As per 14:30 CET on September 29th, the results are in. Ilyumzhinov wins with 95-55. Thus Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will be President of FIDE in the period 2010 – 2014.

The election day started in Khanty Mansyisk early in the morning. In a hall packed with members of federations the electoral process began.

As with every important election worldwide, a scandal is normal to take place. This time to no surprise it came from Kasparov, who questioned the proxy list and procedures for the current elections. The proxy list included 56 countries that have entrusted the their right to vote (without change of position) to other member states participating. More about this situation later.

The actual election in the booths started at 12:00 CET and continued for two hours. Election results were announced, with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov winning 95-55 This is loss for Anatloy Karpov and Gary Kasparov is comparable to the result of Bassel Kok team four years ago, when the result of the ballots was 54-96.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will be heading FIDE for one more term until 2014.

Here is more on the candidates and all events during the electoral campaigns.

Stay tuned for more updates on Chessdom.com!

Tickets for the 2010 FIDE elections

FIDE elections take place every 4 years during the Chess Olympiad, the largest national teams chess event. The 2010 FIDE elections in Khanty-Mansiysk were scheduled for September.

The FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has announced that he will seek re-election for the term 2010-2014. The other candidate, former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, has also announced that he will run for the office of FIDE President. No other applications were received until the deadline in June and the following presidential tickets were submitted.

I.Presidential ticket of Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov:

1.President – Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov nominated by Russia, Argentina and Mexico,
2.Deputy President – Mr. Georgios Makropoulos nominated by Greece,
3.Vice President – Mr. Lewis Ncube nominated by Zambia,
4.Vice President – Mrs. Beatriz Marinello nominated by Chile and Brazil,
5.General Secretary – Mr. Ignatius Leong nominated by Singapore,
6.Treasurer – Mr. Nigel Freeman nominated by Bermuda.

II.Presidential ticket of Mr. Anatoly Karpov:

1.President – Mr. Anatoly Karpov nominated by France, Germany and Switzerland,
2.Deputy President – Mr. Richard Conn Jr nominated by USA,
3.Vice President – Dr. Aguinaldo Jaime nominated by Angola,
4.Vice President – Prof. Dr. Alisa Maric nominated by Serbia,
5.General Secretary – Mr. Abd Hamid Majid nominated by Malaysia,
6.Treasurer – Mr. Viktor Kapustin nominated by Ukraine.

Pre election battles

The elections started with the Russian Chess Federation endorsing Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Some of the board members protested against the news, despite the fact the head of the board members Dvorkovich confirmed it. All this led to the Ilyumzhinov opposition calling a meeting on May 14th, in Moscow. At the Council were present 17 (some sources claim 18) out of the 32 delegates, and Kasparov as guest. Kasparov pointed to the previous decision as “non legitimate” and the delegates elected Karpov as candidate of the Russian Chess Federation.

On their turn, the Ilyumzhinov supporters claimed the election is non legitimate because despite having quorum, the meeting did not feature the head of the board of members Dvorkovich.

Dvorkovich himself explained the situation for Gazeta.ru, “Both meetings were not legitimate. At one of them there was no quorum, on the second there was no President of the Board.” (more from Dvorkovich here and here). FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov did not attend any of the meetings and lamented the situation, comparing it to the FIDE and PCA schism, but this time at internal Federation level.

Finally, the Russian endorsement went to Ilyumzhinov and as TWIC reported, it virtually ended the chances of Karpov for the FIDE race.

Although Karpov announced 20 countries supporting him early on, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov surpassed him in numbers only a few weeks after claiming the support of 35 countries.

Soon the support for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov grew to 50 countries and at that time Ilyumzhinov launched his most secure bid for winning the elections – he proved that he will continue investing in chess as done in previous years. A $500,000 USD sponsorship package was provided for the organization of two new tournaments – Caribbean Cup and Latin American Cup. $1 million was provided for a series of Campomanes Memorial tournaments. Ten $100,000 tournaments were created in the 10-member ASEAN nations starting with the Campomanes Memorial tournament this August in Manila, Philippines and then in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei.

The countries support for Ilyumzhinov started rolling one after the other, including whole chess zones as India, and the Olympic champions of Armenia

After the joining of 16 more nations from the Arab world, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov secured a winning number of votes

The last days of the campaign for Anatoly Karpov seemed desperate. First, the news of Kasparov and Karpov team members pressuring different federations for their support surfaced out (examples as Lebanon, Cyprus, and Peru)

Step by step Karpov’s tactics started resembling a political campaign of Kasparov, and that was noted by several sources.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov himself criticized the destructive tactics of his opponent in an open statement a few days before the Olympiad.

The last blow for Karpov came from the Russian media itself, where Rossiskaia Gazeta called the campaign of the ex world champion a chaos

Kevin Spraggett commented, “Rather than throw in the towel, Karpov and Kasparov began a campaign of character assassination of internationally respected chess personalities who would not join or support their campaign; they systematically worked to undermine democratically elected chess officials in Peru and Argentina by using the tremendous influence that they wielded by way of their cult personalities, and celebrity status to gain easy access to political figures who were ignorant of chess affairs and of chess politics. These campaign tactics were nasty, abusive and unprecedented in FIDE’s long history. It is very likely that the damage to Karpov’s reputation is irreparable.”

The last attempt of the Karpov – Kasparov duo was to sue FIDE, but it failed both on jurisdiction of Karpov Inc and on cross examining. Court of arbitration for sport (CAS) issued its decision in the arbitration opposing FIDE to Karpov 2010 Inc. and to five national federations (Federation Française Des Echecs, Deutscher Schachbund, Schweizerischer Schachbund, Federatsiya Shakiv Ukrainy and United States Chess Federation). It dismissed the case of Anatoly Karpov and has confirmed Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s candidature for FIDE President is valid.

The first day of the hearing of the FIDE Presidential elections case in the CAS sports court in Lausanne was held last week and seems to have been the key to the final decision as well. As it is usual in such proceedings day 1 was about jurisdiction. Karpov Inc., the entity filing the lawsuit and backed by several federations, was not given jurisdiction, as it is not part of FIDE, but a private one.

This did not end the case, but put it in rather strange situation – no jurisdiction to Karpov Inc, and all the costs for the case were to be transferred to the national federations that continued the dispute, something that until then was supposed to be covered by Karpov Inc.

The case continued with hearings of both sides, after which the claims filed by Federation Française Des Echecs, Deutscher Schachbund, Schweizerischer Schachbund, Federatsiya Shakiv Ukrainy and United States Chess Federation are dismissed. “For the sake of completeness, the Panel added that the withdrawal by the Argentinian of its endorsement of the Ilymuzhinov ticket does not affect the nomination filed by it prior to the applicable deadline,” commented FIDE.com official report.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the “One World. One Vision.” Team Wins the 2010 FIDE Elections!

A Staggering 95 National Federations Voted for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his Team!

A GLORIOUS VICTORY FOR KIRSAN!

We would like to thank ALL OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATIONS WHO SUPPORTED US and helped us WIN THIS ELECTION!

The “One World. One Vision.” Team CRUSHED Anatoly Karpov and his team with a sweeping defeat!

THE FINAL VOTE COUNT WAS 95-55!

Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s new term runs until 2014; he has been president of FIDE since 1995.

It is a great victory for the team, which includes:

  • Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President
  • Georgios Makropoulos (Greece), Deputy President
  • Lewis Ncube (Zambia), Vice President
  • Beatriz Marinello (Chile/Brazil), Vice President
  • Ignatius Leong (Singapore), General Secretary
  • Nigel Freeman (Bermuda), Treasurer

From the Press

From the New York Times -

Mr. Karpov’s election chances may have been hurt by the aide of his long-time rival, Garry Kasparov, who some people might have feared would have undue influence if Mr. Karpov was elected — a fear that Mr. Ilyumzhinov fanned on his campaign Web site. Mr. Kasparov has acknowledged in the past that there are many people in the chess world who do not like him and would never vote for him if he ran for the presidency of FIDE.” (CLICK HERE to Read the NY Times Article)

Two Victories for the “One World. One Vision.” Team


This victory follows yet another victory against Mr. Karpov and his team, when a lawsuit by Karpov and five federations (United States, France, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine) which sought to disqualify Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, was dismissed in the Court of Arbritration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“Now, it’s time to move on and focus on the positive aspects of promoting and developing chess, which I have dedicated my whole life to,” said Beatriz Marinello, who is now Vice President of FIDE.

“Our team has worked hard these last few months and the judgement was a vindication of all that we have been saying,” added another member of the campaign.

There is no doubt, as is obvious from the number of National Federations that voted for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his team, that the world chess community believes in this team’s capacity to unite the global chess community for a greater good.

Stay tuned for more details and statements from Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the “One World. One Vision.” Team!

Gens Una Sumus

“One World. One Vision.” Team

A Staggering 102 National Federations Openly Support Kirsan and His Team!

The “One World. One Vision.” family grows again to a staggering 102 National Federations openly expressing their support for Kirsan and his team!

Countries who believe in the future of FIDE based on concrete proposals and successful past experience rather than unfounded accusations and insults.

On the eve of the elections the campaign is ready to bear fruit with another 8 countries joining the family and openly supporting Kirsan and his team for re-election.

We welcome the National Federations of:

  • Algeria
  • Bahamas
  • Chile
  • Ethiopia
  • Iran
  • Mauritius
  • Pakistan
  • United Arab Emirates

This does not include the large number of other countries who have expressed their desire to support and vote for Kirsan and his team but wish to remain unknown due to the heavy pressure and threats they have been receiving from our ever-desperate opposition.

We will provide you with more updates as they become available!

Gens una sumus

“One World. One Vision.” Campaign

We Won – Case Dismissed!

The lawsuit filed by the Presidential Campaign of Anatoly Karpov and several National Federations (United States, France, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, SwitzerlandHAS BEEN DISMISSED, thereby confirming Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s nomination for President in the forthcoming election.

“The court in Lausanne confirmed legitimacy of my nomination to the post of the President of FIDE by the Russian Chess Federation,” said Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

“I am very happy that the court confirmed that my nominations are valid and I am very thankful for the Federations and people who have been there for me every step of the way. Now, it’s time to move on and focus on the positive aspects of promoting and developing chess, which I have dedicated my whole life to,” said Beatriz Marinello.

The legitimacy of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s nominations for President and Beatriz Marinello’s nominations for Vice President on Ilyumzhinov’s slate ARE VALID.

Our team has worked hard these last few months and the judgement is a vindication of all that we have been saying.

The lawsuit, which was filed by White & Case, a Manhattan firm, sought to have the ticket of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov disqualified. BUT…JUSTICE PREVAILED.


It has been a testing time for the “One World. One Vision.” Team. We have had to face countless attacks by the Karpov Team.  We have had to defend ourselves in court, we have had to defend ourselves against malicious rumors and verbal attacks, we have had to face enormous pressure – but….AGAIN…WE PREVAILED.

We have succeeded in the face of adversity and with 94 National Federations supporting us so far, WE WILL WIN!

Stay tuned for more details.

Gens una sumus

“One World. One Vision.” Campaign

“Order Versus Chaos”: Revealing Article in Rossiskaya Gazeta

The Russian Federation supports only Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s Ticket as do 93 other National Federations.

Karpov and his team continue to wreak havoc on the global chess community. They seem to revel in the destruction of the chess community when it benefits them, which goes to show how much Karpov’s Team really cares about chess and those who have dedicated their lives to support this wonderful sport.

  • How can they seem so overjoyed when another member of the Global Chess Community faces challenges just because that member supports our team?
  • How can they continue to lie and say that the Russian Chess Federation supports them?
  • How can they disrespect the National Federations that support us by trying to find other means of support from that country to overshadow and undermine that National Federation’s supports for us?

These are serious questions….ones whose answers paint a sad picture of the level to which Karpov’s team is willing to stoop.

If Anatoly Karpov is still having illusory hopes regarding the support of his candidature in Russia, it would be useful for him to get acquainted with the article published in the official Russian Government Newspaper“Rossiskaya Gazeta”.


ORDER VERSUS CHAOS

Will the two “K”s be able to break the chess world on the eve of the FIDE Presidential Elections?

The FIDE Presidential Elections will be held during the 39th World Chess Olympiad which started in Khanty-Mansiysk on September 20, 2010.

Let us remind you that there are two candidates for the post of the “Chess King” – the current President of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the 12th World Chess Champion, Anatoly Karpov.

The candidature of Ilyumzhinov is supported by the Russian Chess Federation, and the National Chess Federations of France and Germany support the candidature of Kasparov. (Interesting point – even for a professional journalist it seems unclear who is really running for the FIDE President’s post, Karpov or Kasparov-  remark from www.onefide.com).

The Presidential Campaign is increasingly capturing the attention of the front page news.  Unfortunately Dvorkovich’s efforts  to avoid scandals in the great game of chess were useless.

The headquarters of Anatoly Karpov, who is supported by almost 20 countries (the current FIDE President is supported by almost 100 National Federations) from approximately 164 voting countries, is still resorting to terrible accusations as well as direct threats to their opponent (Kirsan Ilyumzhinov).

It is clear that with such a huge difference in the amount of supporters each candidate has,  the outcome of the elections is obvious.

However, Karpov (or Kasparov, who is really managing the pre-election campaign) is using a different strategy.

The day before the most well-known Chess Benefactor, Alain Khoueiry, who is from Lebanon and one of the organizers of the upcoming Grand Prix in Beirut, declared that the members of the 12th World Chess Champion’s team were trying to put pressure on him.

“I received a phone call from a woman, who introduced herself as the member of Anatoly Karpov’s headquarters”, said Alan Khoueiry , – “She proposed to me to become a part of their team. She was insisting on the fact that the current FIDE President does not have any chances to win these elections. She was promising me the moon. Obviously, I refused to discuss her proposal.”  In return she said ” Think it over, otherwise you will lose everything”.

“After this, I received a letter in Arabic addressed to me where besides other things another lie was stated – that Karpov is going to run for Russia.”

We want to underline that this false information is published on the pre-election site of Karpov.

By the way, there is another lie on Karpov’s website, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is openly supporting Karpov-Kasparov’s team!  It looks even more ironic, given the efforts of the American sponsors to support a “true democrat”, Kasparov.

One cannot cheat the chess world: The chess world is aware and remembers very well Gary Kasparov’s reputation  -

  • the destructive power his projects had on all organizations he had anything to do with,
  • the World Grandmaster Association followed by the break-up with its sponsor,
  • the match against Deep Blue followed by a scandal with the corporation that created it,
  • leaving FIDE,
  • the organization of alternative championships that broke the chess world and created damage that has lasted more than 20 years.

And now when the chess world has finally gained some peace and unity, the tandem of these two chess players, who with the help of another PR project, are confusing and destroying the chess world that was united by Ilyumzhinov.

This tandem is applying the same tactics everywhere. For example, they managed to arrange pressure of the government on the National Chess Federation of Argentina. The situation was even worse in Peru – that Chess Federation’s President was removed from his post. The same threats were received by the Presidents of the National Federations of Bolivia, Singapore and Zambia.

Needless to say, that in any other sport such flagrant infringement on a Sports Federation faces long suspensions.

Alas, it seems that for the headquarters of this presidential candidate, these “little things” do not matter.

You can find the original article here – http://www.rg.ru/2010/09/15/chess.html

FIDE President, in Khanty-Mansiysk

Currently, the FIDE President is in Khanty-Mansiysk which is hosting the 39th World Chess Olympiad.

Ilyumzhinov is of a great popularity: Every day the FIDE President is surrounded by numerous fans wishing to take photos with the President and get his autograph.

Meanwhile his working schedule is full of meetings with chess players and organizers where they discuss various issues on popularization and development of chess in the world.

Kirsan Pleased That The FIDE Presidential Elections Will Be Held In A Friendly Atmosphere.

Ilyumzhinov May Withdraw His Claim Against Karpov

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is ready to withdraw the claim he filed in defense of his honor and dignity against Anatoly Karpov since the latter admitted that he “did not express any kind of information of a defamatory nature in respect of Ilyumzhinov.”, according to the document received from the Savelovsky Court in Moscow.

As you all may recall, on April 16, 2010, the FIDE President sued Anatoly Karpov for one million rubles for the “Information discrediting his honor and professional reputation” expressed by Ex-Champion in his interview to “Parlamentskaya Gazeta”.

Today after having read Karpov’s declaration, Ilyumzhinov stated: “I am satisfied that Anatoly Karpov officially admitted that he did not address any kind of defamatory information in my respect. I am also very glad that the FIDE Presidential Elections, which are scheduled for September, will be held in a friendly atmosphere.”

Cuba Makes It 94!

We Are Pleased to Welcome Cuba to the “One World. One Vision.” Family!

94 National Federations Now Support the “One World. One Vision.” Team!

Cuba has a rich tradition in chess and is one of the strongest chess nations in the Americas.

Undoubtedly, their support for the “ONE WORLD. ONE VISION.” Team is another stamp of approval and indicative of the positive environment that has been developed and sustained these last years in the Americas.

Chess champions José Raúl Capablanca (left) and Emanuel Lasker.

We would like to thank the 94 National Federations who have come forth to support Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the “One World. One Vision.” Team!

We will provide you with more updates on the National Federations supporting our team as they become available!

Gens una sumus
“One World. One Vision.” Campaign

“Kasparov said…in case of victory he would be the actual President of FIDE and Karpov will be his PUPPET.”

During his lobbying in Sarajevo, Kasparov tells of his plans for Karpov…

DNEVNI AVAZ (Bosnia’s Biggest Daily Newspaper) Reports:

“Former World Champions Ask for the Disqualification of Ilyumzhinov”

“Elections for the new president of FIDE will be held on the 29th of September in Khanty-Mansiysk, during the time of the Olympics. As shown by all polls, the current FIDE President, Kirsan will win, because he has 93 votes, and his rival, Karpov has the support of only 23 members of FIDE.
When this fact became clear, Karpov and his main ally Kasparov are now trying to use their last trump.
They took their case to the International Sports Court in Lausanne, where together with the Federations of USA, France, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine, have applied for the disqualification of Ilyumzhinov from the presidential race, claiming that he illegally stated his candidacy.
Representatives of Ilyumzhinov did everything to delay the consideration of this request, but the Court in Lausanne decided to hear the case and announced that they would will decide about the request next week.

This is the only chance for Karpov and Kasparov, who during a stay and lobbying in Sarajevo said – that in case of victory he would be the actual president of FIDE, and Karpov will be his puppet.”