Which Candidate Should the ECF Support in the FIDE Presidential Election?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I'm not inclined to place even a preliminary vote until the tickets are announced. It will then be a minimum requirement of mine that all names must be of people who actually exist. I'm picky like that.

People who actually exist. And presumably are not called Glen Stark. I presume that is who Nick was referring to. Roger was the first person to explicitly mention him on this forum, and then Leonard, and now it seems everyone knows about this mysterious person (except who he actually is). Bizarre.

[David Robertson]

do you have the remotest idea of what you're talking about?

Yes, of course I do

how many employees do you believe FIDE has?

Quite irrelevant how many I believe FIDE has. It's only relevant how many FIDE believes it has. Judging only from its website, FIDE employs or appears to employ about two dozen office staff. I don't think anyone is gunning for them, minor functionaries in the main.

But elsewhere in that ghastly Stalin-era bureaucracy called FIDE, it's a different matter. All those VPs, assistant VPs to the President; endless clutter of titles and self-importance signifying little, doing less. And the Commissions - 26 of them! Good grief, there's even a Commission on Commissions, every one chock full of blokes flown in from around the world for ponderous brain-deadening days of waffle. Utterly hopeless; a zombie organisation, the walking dead of chess. Just read back through Alex's post above to get some idea of the ridiculous paraphernalia involved.

If any candidate promised to detonate a nuclear bomb under this lot, the only question we would need to ask is: will it be on YouTube?

[Roger de Coverly]

and now it seems everyone knows about this mysterious person (except who he actually is). Bizarre.

Variously at the FIDE site in meeting minutes and at Kirsan's own site, he was announced as being the head of a supposed Kirsan Foundation in the USA. The problem being that if his CV is correct, it would have left a footprint of searchable references.

Kirsan did however visit Wales last year.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/genera ... t-our-club

So if you've ever played Alex Bullen, you are one handshake away from Kirsan.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Possibly not the best use of a person's time to fret about Nigel abolishing the stalemate rule when Nigel has promised to abolish so much more, starting with that tottering pile of secrecy, incompetence and self-reproducing bureaucracy called FIDE. He's called for the dismissal of the entire Kirsan-era Nomenklatura and a reorganisation of the FIDE Apparat. He deserves to win a landslide. If players voted, he would

Why not? That would ruin chess far more effectively than the absolute worst Kirsan and his pals could possibly muster.

[Leonard Barden]

It's getting worse for Kirsan......
http://www.chessdom.com/glen-stark-gary ... irsangate/

[Roger de Coverly]

It's getting worse for Kirsan......

or should that be K.I.R.S.An as in

Key Investment Resources and Strategic Alliances Fund LLC ?

I don't think "my company works inc" as mentioned by chessdom has much to do with it, being a mechanism for the creation of new US Companies.

The new name is Igor Shinder.

[NickFaulks]

http://www.chessdom.com/glen-stark-gary ... irsangate/

Silvio Danailov has tweeted that he knows Glen Stark personally. You really couldn't make this up.

[Alex Holowczak]

But elsewhere in that ghastly Stalin-era bureaucracy called FIDE, it's a different matter. All those VPs, assistant VPs to the President; endless clutter of titles and self-importance signifying little, doing less. And the Commissions - 26 of them! Good grief, there's even a Commission on Commissions, every one chock full of blokes flown in from around the world for ponderous brain-deadening days of waffle. Utterly hopeless; a zombie organisation, the walking dead of chess. Just read back through Alex's post above to get some idea of the ridiculous paraphernalia involved.

If any candidate promised to detonate a nuclear bomb under this lot, the only question we would need to ask is: will it be on YouTube?

For what it's worth, I think the Commissions in general do a good job in my experience of them at FIDE Congresses, but some of the Commission meetings are very poor.

The Central Board of Commissions is a good idea to get everyone singing from the same hymnsheet, but there are some Commissions doing what, to a detached observer like me, appears to be other Commissions' work.

You may be amused to note that at the last Congress, David Jarrett explained that he'd done quite a bit of work a few years ago to cut down on the number of Commissions, only for them to have more now than they had when he did the work.

[NickFaulks]

every one chock full of blokes flown in from around the world for ponderous brain-deadening days of waffle.

Which particular Commission meetings have you sat through which struck you in this way?

[Michael Farthing]

Oh! I've just discovered you can change your vote on these polls!

Not necessarily, Michael.

When I started this thread and created the poll, I found out that the creator has the option to allow or disallow the changing of votes.

As I recall, David, you should have made it possible for an individual to change nine votes or should that be

[J T Melsom]

Surely proxies should be allowed

[Gary Senior]

I am very supportive of Nigel’s candidacy. I know he can be controversial - but for that reason I think his columns are excellent - but he has the good of chess at heart. FIDE has not been good for chess for many years. It will only change when an outsider wins the presidency. Malcolm Pein would also be an excellent candidate.

[JustinHorton]

He mostly has the good of Nigel Short at heart, if we're looking for a common thread in his actions throughout his career.

[Kevin Thurlow]

The trouble with being a former competitor on "Countdown" is that I notice that "Glen Stark" is an anagram of "Strangle K", which should either worry Kirsan or me...

[JustinHorton]

Heh