Bent Larsen and Bobby Fischer

With his recent passing, Bent Larsen leaves a chess community saddened by the loss of this accomplished and respected chess player. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife and family.

Larsen was a determined and spirited player who was famous for his unusual openings. Throughout his career, he beat seven world champions: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov.

His accomplishments were admirable and an inspiration to us all.

The chess world has lost a man who is truly respected and admired by his colleagues – not only because of his chess career but for who he was as a person, his values and respect for world chess.

In this day and age, when so much takes precedent over a united chess community and the game of chess, we can find comfort and inspiration in the words of this great chess legend.

“ I am a self-made man. I didn’t have an instructor, and I wasn’t engrossed in chess manuals except the books of Nimzovitch, I just worked a lot playing chess.” Bent Larsen

“I don’t think that it’s useful to complain about your destiny, since you can’t return to the past. I don’t regret anything. Chess gave me many happy moments. Sure, professional chess is a severe and exhausting struggle. Nevertheless, I am not sorry.” Bent Larsen

“Obviously, FIDE has its weak points. However, it’s the sole chess organization that is still held in respect in the world of chess.  I think that Kasparov has to sign a peace treaty with it. I don’t like that every year he creates a new chess structure.“ Bent Larsen

Below you will find quotes from an interview with this grand legend.

This interview is posted on ChessBase – CLICK HERE to READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW

How did you achieve such a great success?

BENT LARSEN: I am a self-made man. I didn’t have an instructor, and I wasn’t engrossed in chess manuals except the books of Nimzovitch, I just worked a lot playing chess.

Was it your talent or your capacity for work that helped you to make a success?

BENT LARSEN: Generally, I don’t know. Probably, it was a combination of the former and the latter.

You said that Nimzovitch, a positional chess player, was your teacher and, at the same time, you usually played very sharp chess. Did you look for the golden mean?

BENT LARSEN: Yes, I did. Sometimes, in the beginning of a game I had to choose either to play the King’s Gambit or the Catalan System! It’s the Nimzovitch style – your play can be too complicated or too easy, but the main thing is that your opponent won’t discover your intentions!

By the way, whom do you call the greatest chess player in the history of chess?

BENT LARSEN: The question is too abstract. However, I have the answer. Undoubtedly, it is Philidor. At the end of the 17th century he formulated the principles that we use even now.

Do you regret that you have devoted yourself to chess?

BENT LARSEN: I don’t think that it’s useful to complain about your destiny, since you can’t return to the past. I don’t regret anything. Chess gave me many happy moments. Sure, professional chess is a severe and exhausting struggle. Nevertheless, I am not sorry.

Did you have any hobby that competed with chess?

BENT LARSEN: Yes. At some moment, I was ready to go in for politics! I found it interesting to politicize. However, later on I decided to continue playing chess…

Why? You were so popular in our country. You could even have become a president, couldn’t you?

BENT LARSEN: This point of view is a bit naive. Finally, I decided that a chess player has to play chess and a politician – to fight against his political opponents.

Bent, what do you think about modern chess? Does it impress you?

BENT LARSEN: On one hand, many interesting chess players have appeared in chess lately. Formerly, chess players didn’t have such serious ambitions. Then Kasparov came into the world of chess, followed by a group of young grandmasters, and they showed us their hunger to fight and to win!

Just look at Shirov, Ivanchuk, and Anand: they are amazing! 

On the other hand, these Kasparov-computer matches exasperate me. And as for advanced chess, it’s simply inadmissible! It’s a road to nowhere.

Chess loses its mysticism. Nobody will consider chess as an art. It’s a pity that it’s the very champion who destroys chess.

What are the FIDE disadvantages?

BENT LARSEN: Obviously, FIDE has its weak points. However, it’s the sole chess organization that is still held in respect in the world of chess.

I think that Kasparov has to sign a peace treaty with it.  I don’t like that every year he creates a new chess structure.

A well-known Lebanese businessman and benefactor Alain Khoueiry, who in particular, became a sponsor of the Lebanese Chess Federation’s premises construction and is one of the organizers of the forthcoming Grand-Prix in Beirut, has stated that Anatoly Karpov’s team is trying to put pressure on him.

Khoueiry said: “ A Beatrice Bord who introduced herself as a member of Anatoly Karpov’s headquarters, offered me to become a member of the team of my friend Kirsan’s opponent”.

She was trying to persuade me: “We know that you are a serious benefactor. And we want to warn you, that you might lose your money which you are now investing in chess”. “She was insisting that Kirsan had no chances to win the elections and continue his work as President. She was promising me the moon.”

It goes without saying that I refused to discuss her proposal. In my opinion it is just silly – to make efforts to “anti-recruit” a person who knows Kirsan for many years and respects him also as a bright politician who promotes popularization and development of chess.

To this she replied: “Think, otherwise you lose everything”.  Besides, there is a letter addressed to me, in Arabic where besides other things, another lie was stated – that Karpov is going to run from Russia”.

It is a great pity that the team of the 12th World Champion is turning a democratic election into a mixture of farce and a detective story.  – Mr. Khoueiry said at the end. – “I would like all the world to learn about the methods and tactics of lies which this team is using to promote their candidate”.

FIDE President has made another entry in his blog on the popular site, Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy: “I Feel Sorry For My Opponent.” President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

So another Rubicon has been crossed.

At the end of last week I made a final decision to give up the possibility of running again for the position of the President of Kalmykia.

I am often asked: How difficult has it been to reach this decision?

It is not common among politicians to freely and voluntarily give up power. The thing is that I have never considered myself or felt myself a politician.  Administrator, crisis-manager, who has the possibility to help his own republic, it’s people, many other people — yes. Politician – not at all.

So, when I made this important decision, I felt an incredible freedom, as if a load came off of my mind. This is the right thing to do at the moment. Period.

What guided me when I made this decision? Of course I was guided by my own personal opinion.  I also share the views of the country’s President who has embarked on a power-updating route.

Imagine what would happen if I was re-appointed for the 5th consecutive term. You would be the first to say: 17 years in one position – this is too much – and I fully agree.  At the same time I am completely confident for the future of the Republic. During all these years we have managed to create a system of self-governing bodies at the local, regional, municipal and republican levels of power and the system works.

In my opinion, with this new system in place, practically one of the Government members, Vice-Premiers, can handle any political situation and finalize all economic projects with his or her eyes closed.

Another frequent question: Has anyone from “the top” pressured me? Do I look like a person who can be influenced in any way?

In a wonderful German movie “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, one of the characters says:  It is stupid to be afraid and I completely share this opinion. I am a Buddhist and I try to think in eternal categories. One life changes another one and the morning sun never lasts a day.  I have lived through a lot of situations, when I had to risk everything.

For example, in 1993 I was walking to the White House in Moscow under fire, but keeping my calm.  I was going there to try to save women and children. I did realize that my life could end with a short burst of a sniper’s bullet. But there was no fear because it was exactly what had to be done at that very moment.  Now, I will have more time for pressing matters related to chess.

It is fundamentally important for me to fulfill all ambitious projects which are being realized in my capacity as FIDE President. I want chess to become part of the school curricula in all 170 countries – members of FIDE. We should take special attention of the preparation of trainers and arbiters as well as CACDEC.

This summer I have been on working visits to many countries, including developing ones.  I have witnessed a huge interest for chess in kids and teenagers who are dreaming of learning this wonderful, intellectual game and they should be assisted in this.

Accordingly, the FIDE budget for these three programs shall increase greatly in the immediate future.

Finally, on my opponent. I have chosen not to make any comments on some of his statements, including the one at this Radio station. If the 12th World Champion insulted anyone, he insulted himself. On the contrary – I feel sorry for Anatoly and even feel pity for him. Such a waste of talent and destruction of his own reputation!

Without going into any details, I do know that he (Karpov) must find himself in a very uneasy situation now and there is nobody to blame but himself. Karpov did cross some lines in terms of what is generally accepted in proper societies.

But he is a chess player, not a politician, so, in the end he is not to be blamed for having such bad advisers.

The elections will be over, the boom around them will also eventually subside, and I will be ready, as on many previous occasions, to help him.

The FIDE Election 2010 is an opportunity for good dedicated and passionate persons to come forward to serve the Chess World with only one aim – Chess – in the spirit of Gens Una Sumus.

Unfortunately, as compared to all previous candidates in previous FIDE elections, today, some candidates have taken the route to divide and destroy the image of not just FIDE, but Chess.

Instead of promoting and explaining in details their manifesto, the Karpov team has continuously used hatred, allegations (not giving evidence whenever challenged) and misleading information.

The (open) letter to Asian Federations penned by my counter-part is distasteful and has no respect for Asian culture and tradition which are non-aggressive.

I urge all federations to deplore these tactics and ask the writer to look himself in the mirror. Ask him what he has done in his very own federation in terms of Chess in Schools, Seminars for Arbiters and Trainers etc … He seemed to have forgotten that his appointments in FIDE events started in 1990 and the opportunities he had gotten to work at higher level events were from 1996 onwards. Just as he did in his campaign for the Asian Elections in 2006, in this same letter to Asia’s Federations, he had to borrow the name of Dato’ Tan Chin Nam.

I refer to two reports published in ChessBase.

In the report on 16th August, Karpov claimed “At the beginning of the campaign [Ignatius] Leong and [Jorge] Vega were threatening people and trying to prevent them from meeting with me.”

As a matter of fact, in Beijing, during the Asian Youth Championships, I took the initiative to walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder and said “Hello, old friend, why aren’t you contacting me since you are coming to Singapore in a few days’ time”. He answered “We must talk. I will find you after the award ceremony”.

I didn’t hear from him.  For the record, he was on transit in Singapore immediately after his 1978 Baguio match.  Twice again, he visited Singapore as reigning world champion; in 1997 and again in 2000 – both at the invitation of my federation.  If his recent trip in July was solely for the promotion of Chess, one wonders why he wouldn’t contact my federation.

In the report on 6th September, I quote – “in the words of one of Singapore’s chess aficionados, this was the best chess event ever held in Singapore.” Unquote.  This chess aficionado is a young parent and was quoted from another report.  Obviously she didn’t witness the two previous Karpov visits which were organized at the highest level – one of which there was a big photo of Karpov autographing a T-shirt which was published on the front page of Singapore’s main daily newspapers.

In the same report on 6th September, the Karpov team wrote that Karpov presided at the award ceremony during the Asian Youth Championships held in July in Beijing. THIS IS A STRONG DISTORTION OF FACT.

There were no less than 10 VIP guests and presenters for the awards. In the introduction during the ceremony, I was named first (as FIDE General Secretary and Senior Adviser for the Championships), followed by Mr Casto Abundo (Deputy President of the Asian Chess Federation) , Mr. Hisham Al-Taher (General Secretary of Asian Chess Federation), Mr. Chu Bo (President of Chinese Chess Association and GM Ye Jiangchuan (General Secretary of Chinese Chess Association).  They were followed by Mr Anatoly Karpov (introduced as former world champion) and the other VIP guests.

I am sure there are many more examples where facts are distorted or misleading information have been given about his visits elsewhere.

My friendship and collaboration with our colleagues in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam were built over decades.  I don’t need to threaten my friends.

In view of the upcoming World Chess Federation “FIDE” Presidential Election, most members of the chess communities, such as players, organizers, arbiters, trainers, teachers, leaders, etc have been facing the  following questions:

Who is the best candidate for FIDE President?, and, What team is best to continue with the development of chess in the world?

As a candidate for the position of FIDE Vice President in Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s ticket my position is clear. Having said this, I was faced with the two aforementioned questions earlier in the election, since I had offers from both tickets, GM Anatoly Karpov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.  I would like to share my decision making process, as well as other facts which may astonish many of you.

My chess background is mostly related with scholastic chess in the United States, although I am also a Women’s International Master and Tournament Organizer.

Beatriz Marinello Playing Chess in New York

New York Times Article, “Chess Official (Beatriz Marinello) Trying to Keep Children in the Chess” (August 2003), http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/nyregion/chess-official-trying-to-keep-children-in-the-game.html

Beatriz Marinello participating in the 2010 U.S. Women’s Championship

From a very early age I came to the realization that I wanted chess to be a very important part of my life and have since dedicated my life to chess for the past 33 years. From the beginning I knew that the opportunities for chess players, especially women in chess were extremely limited. For this reason, I have dedicated most of my life to the development and promotion of chess, acting in different capacities.

Beatriz Marinello in leadership roles…

I was born in Chile and have resided in the USA for about 20 years. I love both countries, but consider myself a citizen of the world.

WIM Beatriz Marinello, Age 14, Chile

My chess career began in 1979 when I started playing chess at Club Chile in the city of Santiago.  The first time I won the Chilean Women’s Championship was in 1981, and I won this championship every year from 1984-1989.

Beatriz Marinello, Chess in Chile

Although, my home Federation is the United States, I have strong ties to Chile, and I remain an active member of the Chilean chess community, as well as other Nations in the American Continent (from Canada to Chile) where in my capacity as the General Secretary of FIDE America, I have the opportunity to assist in many of the chess activities taking place in this part of the world.

Beatriz Marinello Teaching

Most of my involvement in U.S. Chess has been as a chess promoter, scholastic chess and in leadership roles.   I have been instrumental in the development of scholastic chess in the United States, and I worked for the U.S. Chess Federation from 1997-2000 as a National Scholastic Director.

Former USCF President, WIM Beatriz Marinello, on Chess Life Magazine

Eventually, I became President of the U.S. Chess Federation (2003-2005), and I have been a member and currently Co-Chair of the Scholastic Chess Council .  Currently, I am the Zonal President of Zone 2.1. (USA).

In 2008, I was awarded Chess Educator of the Year (UTD), where I also received acknowledgement for my dedication to chess and education. I focused on “chess and the development of social skills for at-risk-children”, which I strongly believe in and is a primary concern for me as I promote chess in the global chess community.

“Marinello has a long list of credits in establishing scholastic chess programs in New York City and has devoted many years to chess education for the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF).  In 2003 she became the first woman president of the USCF after serving as that organization’s National Scholastic Director.”

“She has been important for the USCF not only in chess education but in overall leadership,” said Stallings, Director of the UTD Chess Program. “Ms. Marinello is also quite an accomplished tournament player. In fact, she became National Women’s Champion of Chile when she was 16 years old.”

As I mentioned, I had offers to collaborate with both candidates for FIDE President.  I have great respect for the top players, especially our former World Champions.

I hoped from the beginning that these campaigns would concentrate on presenting the best programs and that they would focus on their contributions for chess development and promotion stressing their position on what each candidate and team could offer.

I do not believe in negative campaigning, and although I am very disappointed with my home federation (USA) for not supporting me, I will not attack or do anything that can damage the U.S. Chess Federation or any other chess organization for that matter.

Resorting to such tactics is against the very thing we are trying to do in the “One World. One Vision.” campaign and it is against everything I have done to promote chess on a National and International level.

I will not stoop to our opponents level by using the methods they have implemented from the beginning of this election which are harmful to the global chess community. I will simply tell my story as it occurred.

The question here is:

Why didn’t the U.S. Chess Federation support my decision to accept the invitation to be part of Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s Presidential Ticket?

I will answer this question matter of factly.

Back in February (2010), I was approached by Mr. Michael Khodarkovsky who is the President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation and a U.S. Chess Federation’s FIDE Delegate. At that time, Michael Khodarkovsky informed me that GM Ron Henley wanted to talk to me about GM Anatoly Karpov running for FIDE President.  He told me that Mr. Henley also asked for a meeting with him. I mentioned to Michael Khodarkovsky that I could not meet with Mr. Henley at the time, but maybe later.   Early in March, I agreed to meet with Mr. Henley since I have known GM Henley for a long time and I always thought he was a nice person.

The same week, I received a letter from FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov inviting me to be part of his electoral ticket. When I meet with Mr. Henley, he offered to appoint me as FIDE Vice President in Mr. Karpov’s Presidential Board and compensation for actively campaigning.

After carefully reviewing the situation, I considered that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the best candidate as FIDE President, and I was highly supportive of his team as well.

I did not think that Former World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, both great players and important members of our community, were the best people to run FIDE.

In the past they were both chess enemies, and I considered how this could create potential issues between them, in case that GM Anatoly Karpov became FIDE President. I also thought, that their motivations were not in the best interest of FIDE and GM Karpov was lacking the necessary experience to run an organization such as FIDE.

Something just didn’t quite fit or feel right about this situation and I held firm in this belief.

Additionally, I also did not wish to divide the Americas, since we have been working for 10 years in building a block in the American Continents.

During this time it also became clear that the Karpov team was going to try to split the continent by dividing the Americas in hopes of gaining ground in that region.

My vision is  for a united chess community, which is best represented by Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s Ticket and his team.

Once I made the decision, I asked the U.S. Chess Federation’s Executive Board for a meeting, innocently I also included Michael Khodarkovsky as FIDE Delegate to join us in a conference call.

Beatriz Marinello and Michael Khodarkovsky

At the conference call, all members of the board (5) were present: President, Jim Berry; Vice President, Ruth Haring; VP of Finances, Randy Bauer; Members at Large, Michael Atkins and Bill Goichberg.

Mr. Goichberg is a former U.S. Chess Federation President and the main tournament organizer in the United States. Mr. Goichberg is very anti-FIDE and especially very anti-Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I presented the situation to the Executive Board, Mr. Bauer got disconnected from the conference call, so he did not hear everything and did not vote.  However, the Board took an unofficial vote.  Mr. Berry and Ms. Haring voted ‘Yes’ to endorse me as a candidate in Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, Mr. Atkin said that he did not know enough, but was initially agreeable to support me, but decided to abstain, and Mr. Goichberg voted ‘No’ to my endorsement.

Acting on Mr. Khodarkovsky’s advice the Board postponed the meeting for two days later.  At the time, I did not know that Mr. Kasparov was the person running the campaign for Mr. Karpov and Mr. Khodarkovsky clearly had a conflict of interest, since he works for the Kasparov Chess Foundation and he is also serving as USA FIDE Delegate.

During those two days, Grandmaster Kasparov and Grandmaster Henley made several phone calls asking the Board members not to endorse me in order to prevent me from joining Kirsan’s ticket and to only support Mr. Karpov. He even called a very influential person in U.S. Chess, who is also a major sponsor of the U.S. Chess Federation.

This whole situation reminded me of the 1994 Presidential FIDE Election, when the U.S. FIDE Delegate was Mr. Fan Adams and in a meeting held prior to the Chess Congress in Moscow, the U.S. Chess Federation decided to support the candidacy of Mr. Kouatly, but then after GM Kasparov’s phone calls to members of the U.S. Chess Federation’s Board, the United States changed their position at the last minute in favor of FIDE President Mr. Campomanes, resulting in the resignation of Mr. Adams.  Back then, many promises were made but nothing happen in the end.

Now, back to March, 2010, two days after we had a conference call, we met again over the phone with the members of the Federation’s Executive Board, Mr. Khodarkovsky and GM Henley. Karpov’s team made a new offer to me in exchange for me not accepting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s invitation to be a member of his electoral ticket.  The offer was an appointment in GM Karpov’s Presidential Board (in the event that he won the election) and full support to become Continental President. In addition they would not require that I campaign on behalf of Mr. Karpov.

I told them that I would not accept the offer.  One hour later, Bill Hall, USCF Executive Director and Ms. Haring called me to tell me that I should accept the offer or else they would not endorse me and that they would even remove me as Zonal President.

By then it became clear that I was dealing with a very undemocratic organization, and the way in which they were pressuring me and trying to force me to accept Karpov’s offer by use of threats, convinced me more than ever that I was making the right decision.

I did not accept the offer, the board did not remove me as Zonal President, but the U.S. Chess Federation sent me a letter denying me the endorsement and making a statement that they would not support anyone who is on Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket.

Fortunately, the National Federations of Chile and Brazil gave me an endorsement since I am also a member of these Federations.

What Do I Think of GM Karpov’s Campaign?

According to Mr. Richard Conn, his team stands for transparency, integrity and fairness.  He also said, in front of the U.S. Delegates, that chess is dying, which is absurd considering that chess is more popular now than ever before, I am talking about scholastic and youth chess.

Let’s talk about the transparency of the GM Karpov Team…

The strategy to influence the votes in Latin America has been based on pressuring Presidents of the Chess Federations through Government officials.

We have been seeing this in Peru and Bolivia, as well as other countries.  In Peru, they made a connection with the Minister of Sport and tried to force the President of the Chess Federation, Mr. Iturry to sign a letter of endorsement, and he refused to do it, since he was not ready to make this decision he was told that he would be removed from his position in 10 days.

Regardless of the fact that the first Latin American Cup was organized in Cuzco, Peru, the President of the Peruvian Chess Federation was removed from office.  The connection there was through a Peruvian businessman who lives in New York City.

Transparency, integrity and fairness does not seem to be part of this story.

Another situation, the President of the Chilean Chess Federation went to play chess at the U.S. Open in California.

Mr. Khodarkovsky invited him over for “coffee“.  Once they met  to have coffee, an attorney for the Karpov campaign joined them to ask questions.

Transparency, integrity and fairness do not seem to be a part of this story either and we can go on and on…

Many more similar stories and situations can be mentioned.

I understand the desire to win this FIDE Presidential Election, but at this point the numbers are speaking loudly, with three more weeks left in the campaign 93 National Federations are supporting our team, and only 25 are supporting GM Karpov’s team.

Despite the negative campaigning from Mr. Karpov’s Team, I remain positive that we will be able to bring everyone together in the end and we will all unite for the common goal of making chess more popular, more prominent and a viable alternative for those who decide to make chess their career.

Gens Una Sumus

WIM Beatriz Marinello
Candidate for FIDE Vice President
“One World. One Vision.”

Earlier last month Canadian Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett commented on his blog on the Karpov Campaign’s tactics…

“It should be embarrassing for Karpov that he would allow such a torrent of verbal garbage to fill the home page of his campaign site.“  Kevin Spraggett

Below you will find the article in question…

“SPRAGGETT ON CHESS”

The Karpov campaign has taken an ugly turn this past week with some nasty articles appearing on the official campaign site (http://www.karpov2010.org/).  First Nigel Freeman’s widely published explanation about FIDE (and especially its finances) was ridiculed and the author went over the line at several points gratuitously calling into question Nigel’s integrity and professionalism.

Accused of ‘fabricating’, misleading and ’spreading rumours’, amongst other things

There has been no response from Nigel so far, and I am hoping that he will not dignify the crap written about him. Freeman’s track record is beyond reproach: there is simply no individual in the chess world who commands the same level of respect and integrity for his work as an organizer and now as FIDE treasurer.  In the financial world Nigel is extremely highly regarded. In fact, at times I find myself wondering about the great stroke of luck that Ilyumzhinov had in getting Nigel on board in the first place!

It should be embarrassing for Karpov that he would allow such a torrent of verbal garbage to fill the home page of his campaign site. It is really nothing but character assassination!

NEXT, today a new recruit for the Karpov team –the Malaysian chess activist Abd Hamid Majid–wrote a colourfully offensive article that he characterized as his personal manifesto.  He described Ilyumzhinov as unsavory; the FIDE executive as villains of ill-reputation; and the practice of charging FIDE member-countries dues as outright looting.

I would not be surprised if the article gets pulled (or at least edited) before the end of the week.   If parts of it are not outright slanderous, then surely this article must represent a low point in the Karpov campaign.

Could it be that Karpov is not aware of what appears on his website, or that he has no control over it?

Link to Original Source: Spraggett on Chess

Israel Supports the "One World. One Vision." Team!

WE WELCOME ISRAEL TO THE ONE FIDE FAMILY!

Following a three hour marathon meeting in the Israeli Chess Federation, it was agreed to support the candidacy of current FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for the forthcoming elections.  President A Bushinski published this announcement in the media.

This brings our tally to 93 countries!

For those people who believe this may be a counting error, we regret to inform that we have removed Argentina from our list of supporters given the political pressure from the Argentinian Government to change their vote.

We refer to the previous statement by Kirsan and his views about political interference but unlike our opposition we respect that Federations have a free will to vote as they may desire. We also respect that we reflect this in our supporters count distinct from Mr Karpov and his team who desperately cling to countries who are not even supporting them.

This is a first in chess election history whereby a Candidate is bypassing Federations without respecting the democratic procedures within the Federation.

This contravenes clearly the principles of independence in sports and is even more shameful when he or his team try and replace a President of a Federation because he or she is not in agreement with them.

If our opposition is ready to undertake such undemocratic actions when not even in power, one worries about what they would do if they were running FIDE.

We would like to thank the 93 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

Interview Originally Published at the ChessReview.com

For almost three years, Prospero Pichay has been the head of the Philippine Chess Federation, and under his leadership chess in the Philippines have been thriving, which is no surprise given Pichay’s strong leadership background and political affluence in the country. He is one of the most respected and popular politicians in the Philippines: he served in Congress and now is a Member of the Board of Local Waterworks and Utilities Administration.

His recent contributions to the development of chess in the Philippines include the 6th Prospero Pichay cup and the Compomanes Memorial — a chess tournament with a staggering $100,000 in prizes and participants from over 100 countries. This September, Mr. Pichay will cast a vote in the FIDE presidential elections in Khanty-Mansiysk on behalf of the Philippine Chess Federation.

The Chess Review met with Prospero Pichay during the Compomanes Memorial Tournament:

You’ve been the head of the Philippine Chess Federation for three years. What did you achieve during this time?

Let me give you the numbers that speak for themselves: the Philippines were on the 44th place in the FIDE Rating, and now we are on the 35th place. Before 2007, for 45 years of the Federation’s existence, there have been only four Grandmasters in the country. Now there are ten. Also – many Asian players got their GM titles at the tournaments organized here. In particular, the winner of the last edition of Prospero Pichay Cup, Anton Filippov from Uzbekistan, has not only won the first prize of $5,000, but also made a GM norm.

How did the idea of organizing the Campomanes Memorial come into existence?

The idea first materialized in April, when the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov came to the Philippines on a working visit. It turned out that we both have been thinking for a while about organizing a tournament to commemorize the former FIDE President and one of the most outstanding Filipinos, Florencio Campomanes. Kirsan gave us an incredible gift — he set up a prize fund of $1 million. In turn, I expressed the idea to take this million further and to share the prize-fund for ten tournaments that shall be organized in the next 10 years. Not only in the Philippines, but in the other Asian countries. The importance of Campo went far beyond the borders of our country – he was the true citizen of the world.

Kirsan liked this idea very much. And after only three months of planning and hard work, the tournament was launched. I would like to express my appreciation of Mr. Ilyumzhinov and the fact that he paid his tribute to the great Campomanes. Everybody knows that it was Campomanes who persuaded Ilyumzhinov to become the FIDE President, and it is clear that the incumbent President is a worthy choice.

What are your memories of the 5th FIDE President?

He is a legend. And he was a blessing for chess. Thanks to Campomanes, this wise game has become popular not only in Russia, but around the world. He also was a true and dear friend. He could understand one’s feelings and was very compassionate. People loved him.

Is is true that he has been keeping his illness a secret until very last moment?

This is true. Campomanes wanted to be remembered as a strong and self-assured person. That’s how he lived his whole life. When Florencio was taken to a hospital, I came to see him and to offer my support. But instead of discussing his illness, we discussed chess and how to make it the most popular game in the Philippines and around the world. This is how he was — chess was his life.

Do you see chess developing in Asia?

I am very optimistic in this respect. Now India and China are among the world’s strongest chess powers. There is an evident chess boom in such countries as Iran, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Philippines, and etc. In five or ten years, we shall catch up with the European countries in terms of development of chess as well as in the number and quality of players.

What can be done in the immediate future to expedite the process?

We discussed this question recently with the FIDE President. I told Kirsan that we should focus our efforts on making chess a part of the TV programming. It is clear that classic chess, which requires hours, would not work on television, but we should develop rapid chess. We should introduce the World Champion title, international ratings system, and focus on the organization of the rapid chess tournaments. The 25-minute games are fit for TV programming. This programming, in turn, will bring hundreds of millions of people into the sport. And I am very happy that Kirsan has a clear plan of how to bring chess onto television.

You have very strong media connections in the Philippines. Why not use them and organize a similar programming in this country?

The project is already in progress. It will launch in 2011.

You actively support Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the upcoming FIDE presidential elections. Why?

During the years of being the FIDE President, Kirsan has proved that he is the true leader of the chess world. He is a world-class politician and his contribution to chess is invaluable. Why should I support his opponent, who does not have any experience whatsoever? It’s one thing to be a chess player, and completely different one – to lead the sport of chess. There is nothing personal in my decision. I respect Mr. Karpov as a player and admire his skills. But it would be much better if he would continue doing what he knows best and what he is great at — playing chess.

Both you and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov are not only prominent members of the chess community, but also working politicians. Does your daily government responsibilities interfere with those in the Chess Federation?

On the contrary. My position helps me to establish contacts with sponsors and supporters. Of course, I am very busy most of the time, but I found a very useful solution: work more and sleep less. And of course, I have learned how to delegate responsibilities and work in a team. I have a very strong team of experts and I count on them.

Do you see high potential in the 16-year old Filipino Wesley So, who is already in the top-100 chess players worldwide?

- Today, Wesley is number 71 and he has unlimited potential. Wesley has a quality which differentiates him from the other players – he does not take any other result than a victory. Some chess palyers try to play for a draw, but he plays only to win. He is also a phenomenally disciplined person. So, if his continues to work this way, in a few years Wesley could become a serious candidate for the World Champion title. He does not have much experience yet, but this is easily remedied.

Are there any other potential chess stars?

Yes, there are, and there are many more who are yet to be discovered. Kirsan is right a hundred times over when he focuses on the development of the “Chess in Schools program”. We recently signed a Memorandum with the Ministry of Education to introduce chess into the school curriculum. I think we will see immediate results.

And another important issue is funding. My friends and I provide financial support to all of the Philippine chess players who play at a certain level. But they can’t progress as fast as the chess players in Europe. The are only four professional chess tournaments in the Philippines per year. In Europe, GM can travel from one tournament to another, earning enough to support themselves. Players in Asia don’t have this luxury. And this means that our task is to establish the relationship with sponsors to be able to organize at least one tournament with $25,000-prize-fund per month.

And now one personal question. You are considered to be one of the top candidates for the Philippine Presidency. Does this resonate with your personal ambitions and plans?

It’s up for God to decide. I served three terms in Congress and and will be running for Senate in 2013. I don’t know where life will take me from there. We shall see.

As the whole chess community is aware, on the 29th of September 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk the FIDE Presidential elections will take place, during the 81st FIDE Congress.

There are two candidates – citizens of Russia – the incumbent FIDE President and ex-World Champion Anatoly Karpov. To date, 93 out of 167 National Federations with voting rights have openly expressed their support to my ticket. At the electoral site of my opponent, only flags of 23 countries can be found.

I would like to stress that I have been always a protagonist of chess being beyond politics, for our National Federations to have full freedom in their activities, based on the principles of democracy.

At the same time, unfortunately, from the very start, the electoral campaign of Anatoly Karpov and leaders of his headquarters Garry Kasparov and Richard Conn, has become a political confrontation. From the very beginning their actions have been destructive, aimed at the schism of the chess world and National Federations to serve their political ambitions, which have nothing to do with chess life.

We have witnessed this in Russia when before the opening of the Russian Chess Federation Congress, 43 Regional federations openly expressed their support to me, while Anatoly Karpov has had only 5 of the regions to support him. Nevertheless, through an open violation of the Federation’s Statutes, demagogy and even open pressure over the Supervisory Board members, they made an effort to paralyze the work of the RCF. The Chairman of the RCF Supervisory Board A. Dvorkovich has twice informed FIDE on the RCF position in respect of support to me as the FIDE Presidential candidate. However, Anatoly Karpov and his headquarters are continuously misinforming the public, stating that it is Karpov who is an official candidate from Russia.

Such destructive tactics, where “any means to an end”, is used by A. Karpov, G. Kasparov and R. Conn in many countries of the world, including those which officially and openly expressed their support at the forthcoming elections.

Especially vividly it is seen in some Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru etc), where G. Kasparov and R. Conn have organised open pressure to the local Federations and their Presidents from the part of state bodies.

There is an extensive campaign in local media, designed to force the Presidents who are not “disagreeable”, to resign. This looks particularly strange, considering the fact that G. Kasparov feels that he is an adherent of democratic principles.

From my side, I would like to assure everyone that National Federations and their respective Presidents will not be left without our support.

For the record, as a Russian citizen, it is not pleasant for me to see and read some interviews of G. Kasparov to foreign media, where he is expressing open aggression towards the country and its leader. Here we mean the country which has provided Mr. Kasparov with shelter and protection during his difficult moments, and which has contributed immensely to his personality growth and professional success.

The inept and destructive actions of G. Kasparov in the political arena hugely damage the international chess movement and Russia’s prestige at the world arena.

In the light of above, it is extremely strange that Anatoly Karpov has picked as his accomplice and is expressing the interests of a person with such a record of destruction of all the organisations and projects where he has taken part.

The chess world does remember his break away from FIDE in the early 90s, creation of Grandmasters Association, his efforts to create alternative World Championships under “Brain Games” patronage etc.

Now Mr. Kasparov once again is trying to split the chess world, bringing chaos and upset into our chess family. As a result, in place of an electoral campaign, aimed at the competiveness of electoral programmes, ideas of future development of our Federation and chess as a whole, we see and hear a set of populist rhetoric and faultfinding. Their entire electoral campaign is reduced to attempts of political pressure, split of National Federations and personal insults.

I would like to remind that FIDE is not a place for political showdown, and, as other International Sports Federations, we shall not allow any direct interference of state bodies into the matters of National Federations.

We shall not allow destruction of our united chess world and we leave a right for ourselves for any appropriate actions!

Gens Una Sumus!
We are one family

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
FIDE President