Is It a Spoof - or Isn't It?
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:21 am
The Daily Telegraph has a live compilation of this year's best April Fools' Day spoofs at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -live.html.
From a section on their own hoaxes:
"And last but not least, buried in the chess section, is the revelation that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has revealed an ambition organise a chess match between children from North and South Korea on the 38th parallel, in the cause of peace.
It's clearly an in-joke for the chess community but for those who don't know, Ilyumzhinov is the notoriously eccentric head of world chess who once claimed he was abducted by aliens. Fancy having to explain your own jokes.."
From Malcolm Pein's column itself at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/ches ... chief.html:
"The FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, revealed today his ambition to organise a chess match between children from North and South Korea on the 38th parallel, in the cause of peace.
Given his previous engagements with notorious dictators, an agreement from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un may not be so far-fetched.
I recently met Ilyumzhinov in my capacity as the English Chess Federation’s delegate to FIDE, along with ECF president Dominic Lawson and chief executive Phil Ehr.
He countered my concerns that his dalliances with Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar Assad, as well as his claim of meeting aliens, had not been beneficial to efforts in Western countries to secure commercial sponsorship for the game.
He was at pains to point out that everything he did was designed to further world peace.
I wish the president the best of luck when he goes to Korea to navigate what may be a diplomatic minefield."
Ilyumzhinov's recent visit to England has been discussed on this Forum. Moreover, he has also recently been to South Korea; please see http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... seoul.html.
From a section on their own hoaxes:
"And last but not least, buried in the chess section, is the revelation that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has revealed an ambition organise a chess match between children from North and South Korea on the 38th parallel, in the cause of peace.
It's clearly an in-joke for the chess community but for those who don't know, Ilyumzhinov is the notoriously eccentric head of world chess who once claimed he was abducted by aliens. Fancy having to explain your own jokes.."
From Malcolm Pein's column itself at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/ches ... chief.html:
"The FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, revealed today his ambition to organise a chess match between children from North and South Korea on the 38th parallel, in the cause of peace.
Given his previous engagements with notorious dictators, an agreement from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un may not be so far-fetched.
I recently met Ilyumzhinov in my capacity as the English Chess Federation’s delegate to FIDE, along with ECF president Dominic Lawson and chief executive Phil Ehr.
He countered my concerns that his dalliances with Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar Assad, as well as his claim of meeting aliens, had not been beneficial to efforts in Western countries to secure commercial sponsorship for the game.
He was at pains to point out that everything he did was designed to further world peace.
I wish the president the best of luck when he goes to Korea to navigate what may be a diplomatic minefield."
Ilyumzhinov's recent visit to England has been discussed on this Forum. Moreover, he has also recently been to South Korea; please see http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... seoul.html.
