FIDE Board Meeting - Video Highlights & Interviews with Azmaiparashvili, Makropoulos, Danailov & Leong

Interviews with Azmaiparashvili, Makropoulos, Danailov & Leong 

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Ilyumzhinov Flees Sofia to Fight Karpov

Remarkable breaking news. Ilyumzhinov has apparently left Sofia before the first game in order to rush back to Moscow to try and secure the nomination of the Russian Federation. This means he left Sofia without announcing his presidential ticket. The RCF's Dvorkovich has admitted that the letter nominating Ilyumzhinov was not correctly authorized and they are now trying to track down technical chairman Alexander Bakh to get his signature. It seems like they were trying to take advantage of the chaotic state of the RCF since the reorg in February. Dvorkovich claims to the Russian paper Vedemosti that the charter "doesn't say who can approve such a decision." Which is basically what Karpov said in his protest letter and why he is insisting they have the planned debate and vote at the May 14 meeting of the supervisory board. Karpov may have already refuted the Dvorkovich-Ilyumzhinov Gambit over the board. Or they may dig Bakh out of the spiderhole he's hiding in and get him to sign. Stay tuned!
Update: The Karpov campaign has released the latest news from Russia. Apparently it wasn't signed and it's not at all clear if anyone has the authority to do it! The new charter was only arranged two months ago and the proper channels haven't been set up. So Dvorkovich tried to run with it on his own. This may turn out to be a technicality, if an awkward one. But it was enough to cause Ilyumzhinov to leave in a hurry, so he's clearly worried about something. It's not clear what happens if Dvorkovich sticks to his guns on this.

Article Source : Daily Dirt Chess Blog

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Karpov to Fight the System?

The shenanigans have started early in this year's election for FIDE president. Although he has ignored my advice to go with "Karpov: No Aliens" as a slogan in favor of the Obamavich "A Champion  of Change," which has a cute double meaning but fails to address the key issue of the current leadership of FIDE being totally bonkers. (Anyone else catch David Kaplan's Russian interview, in which he says that 1) every language has words for "mother," "sex," and "chess" and 2) FIDE is coming, any day now, with a big social networking platform. Oh yeah, can't wait. And he's supposed to be the sane one, the businessman brought in to shape things up. Doing a heckuva job, Kappy.)
But the real news is that there's a big battle going in Russia for the nomination of the federation for FIDE president. It's been at full boil for a while now and a meeting was scheduled for mid-May for the RCF's supervisory council to hash it out and vote, or find a legal way to remain neutral and allow both Ilyumzhinov and Karpov to run. Meanwhile, both candidates had backup plans. Karpov has already been nominated by various federations, including France and Germany. Since he was a member of teams in those countries he is part of those federations. A loophole, but at least one that favors someone actually playing chess. You know, chess. Ilyumzhinov was preparing his own loophole of having current FIDE Presidential Board nominate him, which is attractively syllogistic.
Suddenly today, RCF head Arkady Dvorkovich, who just took over in a big reorg last February, pops up with a letter and a news conference saying they are endorsing Kirsan. Eh? What about the big meeting and the vote? He said he "talked to several council members on the phone," which doesn't exactly fill the requirements described in the new RCF charter. So from what I was hearing before the Russians went to bed, this is a sneaky move from Ilyumzhinov (who is apparently buddy-buddy with Dvorkovich) to preempt the RCF vote and try to win without a fight. Of course Karpov could likely still run anyway, using the aforementioned loophole, but obviously if he can fight this on the proverbial Russian front, he should.
Wow, a FIDE election with sneakiness and shenanigans, who would have imagined? I hope Karpov has the bottle, as the Brits say, for the street-fighting necessary to take this to the end. We know he's a hell of a competitor, but going up against his own federation isn't really his style. (And Dvorkovich is also an adviser to Medvedev.) I hope he does, because from what his website says he's putting together the resources to fight the sort of battle Bessel Kok couldn't afford to fight last time. You know that type of battle, the one in which 20 boxes of sets and clocks and 40 business class tickets spread out in the developing world is enough to match the votes of all of Western Europe and a million players. I honestly don't blame the barely-existent federations for grabbing a little something the only time anyone ever pays any attention to them. It's changing that, and actually working with them and developing them year in year out, that is why Ilyumzhinov needs to go. And the sponsorship. And the time controls. But mostly the aliens.

Article Source: Daily Dirt Chess Blog
 

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Silvio Danailov: Lawyers to take FIDE to court

"The decision to delay the match by one day to me is illegal and disrespectful to the Organising Committee – said Silvio Danailov, manager of Veselin Topalov. Lawyers have already investigated the matter, and we reserve the right to file a case against the International Federation (FIDE) for lost profits." Such was the unwanted gift Danailov received on his birthday yesterday, he was strongly opposed to the postponement due to late arrival of the world champion Viswanathan Anand.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, match organiser Silvio Danailov

The Organizing Committee of the match took the same view, but the game supervisor George Makropoulos decided otherwise. The games are to be played on two consecutive days, with a rest day to follow, and a one-day shift of the entire match schedule.

Source: Trud

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FIDE Elections: Karpov's Mission Statement

 After a lifetime dedicated to playing and promoting the game of chess, 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov is running for the office of President of the International Chess Federation." This is the beginning of a formal announcement, released by Karpov's New York campaign headquarters. It outlines the main goals and themes of the campaign and is available in Russian, English and Spanish.

A CHAMPION OF CHANGE
Anatoly Karpov Launches Global Campaign for FIDE President

After a lifetime dedicated to playing and promoting the game of chess, 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov is running for the office of President of the International Chess Federation. Below are the main goals and themes of his campaign.

ANATOLY KARPOV FOR FIDE PRESIDENT

• A new direction requires new leadership International chess needs a new direction and this can only happen under new leadership. Mr. Karpov wants to lead a program of unity and positive change. His great experience as a chess champion and UNICEF Ambassador make him the ideal leader to return the sport to prominence on the global stage.
• International support at every level Mr. Karpov’s status and dedication will allow him to be an agent for unity in the chess world. He has already attracted support worldwide as well as a leadership team and advisory panel of unmatched experience and international character.
• Ending the crisis with a return to FIDE’s roots Chess is in crisis today because FIDE has become disconnected from its foundations: the federations and the players. Mr. Karpov believes that support for our new direction must come from below, to benefit the many, not from above to benefit the few.
• Turn chess into a modern, professional sport Chess has great potential as a commercially viable sport. It has lagged in this development because the current FIDE administration has harmed the reputation of the sport and shown no interest or aptitude for modernization and professionalization. Mr. Karpov believes chess requires leadership that understands why professionalization is essential and how to build a team to achieve it.
• The ability to unite and mobilize the community Chess has limitless potential and great resources among its millions of supporters and players around the world. Mr. Karpov has the unique capacity to attract and lead these human resources for the benefit of chess federations and players throughout the world.

GOALS FOR A NEW FIDE

• UNITY. The FIDE motto Gens Una Sumus, “We are one family” must be taken seriously. This can be done by providing channels of communication and community among federations and players using modern technology and by keeping the FIDE leadership’s doors wide open to feedback and new ideas. FIDE cannot afford to once again ignore the needs of its members the day after the election.
• TRANSPARENCY AND INTEGRITY. Without these elements there is no trust from potential business partners or from member federations and players. These crucial relationships cannot be built without new leadership at the top in FIDE.
• RESPONSIVENESS. This campaign and Mr. Karpov’s administration will emphasize
  communication and responsiveness with the global chess community we serve. We want to know what the federations and their members want and need from FIDE and to create a continuous and open dialogue.
• COMMERCIALIZATION AND SPONSORSHIP. Art, science, and sport, chess is also a hugely marketable commodity. FIDE’s current administration has failed to exploit this to the benefit of member federations and players. No one knows better than Mr. Karpov the great potential for chess as a professional sport. For nearly three decades he battled for the world championship in many of the world’s great capitals. FIDE must professionalize its operations in order to develop mutually beneficial ties with commercial sponsors around the world.
• GRASSROOTS GROWTH AND CONNECTIVITY. The elite events we all enjoy cannot be sustained without growth and support from the grassroots in every corner of the globe. That worldwide involvement is our most precious resource and it has been squandered for too long by FIDE’s administration. The international federation’s resources should be put to work bringing member organizations and members together to better promote the game.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• We have an ambitious agenda and we need your help to make it happen. Get involved! Individuals do not vote in the election, but you can make your voice heard to your federation to let them know why you think Anatoly Karpov should be the next FIDE President. Our official campaign website will launch in a few days and it is a great place to start:
  
  
  • See the directory to get in touch with your federation.
  • Contact our offices to share your thoughts on how we are doing and what you would like to see happen once Mr. Karpov is President.
  • We welcome your letters and support and encourage you to share our positive message as widely as you can with other players and organizers.

Links

• Karpov's mission statement in PDF (English)
• Original mission statement in PDF (Russian)
• Karpov's mission statement in PDF (Spanish)

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