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

[Roger de Coverly]

Not sure what Malcolm Pein is doing in this company. Holding his nose, I imagine

As to whether the ECF Board will consult the membership is last year's news. They won't because they don't have to. It becomes a case of "not in my name" but you are powerless outside of this forum to influence it.

But there's a vocal minority of Nigel haters, so that's not a no risk option either.

Presumably there's no separation of powers that prevents Malcolm from being both a voter and a candidate.

[Roger Lancaster]

As to whether the ECF Board will consult the membership is last year's news. They won't because they don't have to. It becomes a case of "not in my name" but you are powerless outside of this forum to influence it.

In fairness, the ECF Board might also consider that "consulting the membership" boils down to obtaining the opinions of a small vocal minority, many of whom already express their opinions quite forcefully through this forum, which is no more representative of the wider membership than the Board itself, with the vast majority of the membership being blissfully unaware of the imminent FIDE elections and therefore having no opinion.

[Roger de Coverly]

the vast majority of the membership being blissfully unaware of the imminent FIDE elections

To the extent that the paper magazines still have any influence or readership, the June issues form a contrast.

Absolute silence in Chess, front page news in BCM
https://twitter.com/BCMChess/status/1003728096439275521

[Mick Norris]

As to whether the ECF Board will consult the membership is last year's news. They won't because they don't have to. It becomes a case of "not in my name" but you are powerless outside of this forum to influence it.

In fairness, the ECF Board might also consider that "consulting the membership" boils down to obtaining the opinions of a small vocal minority, many of whom already express their opinions quite forcefully through this forum, which is no more representative of the wider membership than the Board itself, with the vast majority of the membership being blissfully unaware of the imminent FIDE elections and therefore having no opinion.

It might do, but the Member reps could consult their various constituencies by email and find out whether there is much response

[JustinHorton]

the vast majority of the membership being blissfully unaware of the imminent FIDE elections

To the extent that the paper magazines still have any influence or readership, the June issues form a contrast.

Absolute silence in Chess, front page news in BCM
https://twitter.com/BCMChess/status/1003728096439275521

I trust that interview upholds that magazine's long tradition of putting tough questions to leading figures in British chess

[Michael Farthing]

As to whether the ECF Board will consult the membership is last year's news. They won't because they don't have to. It becomes a case of "not in my name" but you are powerless outside of this forum to influence it.

In fairness, the ECF Board might also consider that "consulting the membership" boils down to obtaining the opinions of a small vocal minority, many of whom already express their opinions quite forcefully through this forum, which is no more representative of the wider membership than the Board itself, with the vast majority of the membership being blissfully unaware of the imminent FIDE elections and therefore having no opinion.

It might do, but the Member reps could consult their various constituencies by email and find out whether there is much response

They could do, but this one has no plans in that direction.
We send out two letters asking for opinions on Council matters and two response letters saying what members told us, how we voted and what decisions were made. Some members are very appreciative, some (probably a substantial majority) do not read the emails and a few complain and ask to be removed from the mailing list. At four a year I reckon we keep most on side. Going much higher and I think we'd start to irritate.

We also have to consider the burden we put on the ECF office. Rightly, we don't have direct access to the email list.

However, if someone can persuade me otherwise....

[Jonathan Bryant]

Not sure what Malcolm Pein is doing in this company. Holding his nose, I imagine

There's been quite a bit of action on twitter re: MP these past 24 hours. Not entirely sure why it all suddenly kicked off given that Malc's involvement with Makro has been in public domain for a while

[Stewart Reuben]

Roger >Presumably there's no separation of powers that prevents Malcolm from being both a voter and a candidate.<

Not in the past. I cannot speak with authority about the present.
Some time in 1994-6 a member of the BCF Board asked about instructing the FIDE Delegate how to vote on the forthcoming elections. I advised against this as the situation in FIDE would probably be too fluid. We would be better off leaving it in the hands of our FIDE Delegate.
e.g. In 1994 Campo was not a candidate for FIDE President. The General Assembly overruled the statutes and allowed him to stand. He was elected.
e.g. In 1995 there was to be no election. But Campo stood down. The Deputy President, Ghobash was ignored. Ilyumzhinov was nominated by Campo and duly elected Presy.
e.g. in 1996 Kirsan was not a candidate as he had stood down in a huff. He wanted back in. So he broke Sunye Netos' ticket and new tickets had to be formed. The day I I became Chairman of the BCF in my absence. At about 2am that night, David Jarrett - our FIDE Delegate - phoned me and said he had been offered the post of Treasurer on Kirsan's ticket. Would he have the blessing of the BCF? Eventually I said that the BCF would not stand in his way. On the day of the vote, David asked me which way he should cast his BCF vote.

The ECF Board would be perfectly entitled to instruct Malcolm to vote for Nigel's ticket, even though Malcolm is a member of Makro's ticket. The voting is by secret ballot, but why should that concerned anybody?


When David Anderton became a Member of the FIDE Executive Board, he stood down as the BCF Delegate.
When David Jarrett became treasurer of FIDE on Kirsan's ticket, he stood down as the BCF Delegate.


It would be silly to consult the membership, and be bound by their decision, on such complex issues.

[Angus French]

Not sure what Malcolm Pein is doing in this company. Holding his nose, I imagine

There's been quite a bit of action on twitter re: MP these past 24 hours. Not entirely sure why it all suddenly kicked off given that Malc's involvement with Makro has been in public domain for a while

Niggled Nigel

[NickFaulks]

Following the announcement of the Makro ticket I have voted for it. I see that I am not alone, although Makro / Pein still lags far behind Short / xxx.

I'm far from happy about this, and the compelling reason for the decision is simply that the other two are beyond the pale. My main concern is that Makro's dictatorial tendencies may become quite unstoppable when he adds the title of President to the power he has already held for years.

With a docile ticket I might have been tempted by the unhelpful "none of the above". However, Pein and Sundar are pugnacious characters and will certainly not be frightened to stand up if they disagree with him. Of course, if all three of them do agree on something then you can abandon hope for anyone who tries to stand in their way.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Nick, what do you know about Jaime Aguinaldo and Martha Fierro? The chessbase article says that Aguinaldo was Governor of the Angolan Central Bank. I presume that he is this person?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguinaldo_Jaime

Malcolm Pein has a Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Pein

As does Martha Fierro:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Fierro

Nothing on Wikipedia for the others, though that might change if Makropoulos is elected.

[LawrenceCooper]

Nick, what do you know about Jaime Aguinaldo and Martha Fierro? T

As does Martha Fierro:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Fierro

Nothing on Wikipedia for the others, though that might change if Makropoulos is elected.

I know Martha from the 90s and 00s from various tournaments and she also played in the Wroxham international I organised as well as in the Hilsmark Kingfisher team in the 4NCL. I was also in contact with her whilst I was on FIDE's women's commission, until it was decided that it should be females only

[Chris Rice]

Not sure what Malcolm Pein is doing in this company. Holding his nose, I imagine

There's been quite a bit of action on twitter re: MP these past 24 hours. Not entirely sure why it all suddenly kicked off given that Malc's involvement with Makro has been in public domain for a while

Niggled Nigel

Malcolm doesn't hold back in an interview with Peter Doggers. Makro looks a shoo-in to me as picking Malcolm as a running mate is a big step towards respectibility.

[Roger Lancaster]

I'm no Mystic Meg but Makro looks a near-certainty to me. What I confess to not having realised was that Makro had publicly announced his intention to stand as a one-term candidate. That must enhance his chances as a considerable constituency within FIDE surely not only wants to see the back of Kirsan (as a top priority!) but would like Makro, due to his long association with Kirsan, to follow him as soon as practical. They would probably settle for 2022 since the only way of eliminating both in 2018 would see Nigel topping the ballot. Of course, there's always the possibility of Makro having a memory lapse nearer 2022 but in that case one suspects that his deputy, Malcolm, would mount a strong challenge. I'm sorry to sound dismissive of Nigel's chances but I simply doubt that the undoubted goodwill of many of his compatriots is matched in sufficient numbers elsewhere.

[Brian Towers]

Malcolm doesn't hold back in an interview with Peter Doggers. Makro looks a shoo-in to me as picking Malcolm as a running mate is a big step towards respectability.

Indeed. Impressive stuff from Malcolm.

PD: What do you think of Short's candidacy?

MP: We have very similar ideas, and agree on almost everything, except his suitability for a leadership position. He has a lack of experience in crucial areas such as organising and in, let's say, political affairs. He also lacks diplomacy, as you can see from his writings.

Diplomatically put.
The last time Nigel had a FIDE administrative position, one of Malcolm's predecessors as ECF FIDE rep, he took it seriously only until he had to attend some meetings which interfered with his chess playing and then that was it.

PD: What do you think of the current situation, with FIDE's money being in trust funds in Switzerland and Hong Kong?

MP: I am perfectly content with the arrangement.

PD: Don't you think the delegates should be better informed, especially about the reliability of the Hong Kong fund?

MP: As the English delegate, I feel sufficiently informed. I might be better informed than other delegates; if they feel the need for more information they should ask.

Presumably much better informed than Nigel.