Kasparov vs Ilyumzhinov: the FIDE Presidency battle begins

[Richard James]

From the Sunday Times today (copied as it's behind a paywall):



HE HAS played out some of the most epic clashes in chess, but now the former grandmaster Garry Kasparov is facing perhaps his greatest challenge as he seeks to gain control of the sport he once dominated.

His opponent this time is not his fellow Russian chess genius Anatoly Karpov but Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, former president of a Russian republic, who believes chess was invented by extraterrestrials.

Their battle for the presidency of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) reads like the plot of an espionage novel with secret memoranda, multimillion-pound deals and even an appearance by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

At the centre of the clash is the unlikely figure of Andrew Paulson, the American head of the English Chess Federation, and the man who was once seen as the game’s kingmaker.

Initially Paulson was brought in by Ilyumzhinov to broaden chess’s appeal and in doing so turn it into a money-making machine.

Now Paulson has found himself trapped between the two rival camps.

Kasparov claims documents leaked to him show that Paulson and Ilyumzhinov were negotiating a deal in which Ilyumzhinov would fund the company secretly run by Ilyumzhinov, which controls the rights to run chess tournaments around the world.

Ilyumzhinov would have a majority share in it while Paulson would be its public face and ostensibly its sole owner.

Ilyumzhinov is a colourful and controversial figure who is loathed by many in the chess world. Until 2010 he was president of Kalmykia, where he ruled with Kremlin support.

“I am creating around the republic a kind of extrasensory field and it helps us a lot in our projects,” he once said.

After ceasing to run Kalmykia, running chess was his consolation prize. When the Russian Chess Federation tried to back Karpov as candidate in 2010, the Kremlin sent security men to persuade it otherwise. Two of Ilyumzhinov’s aides were convicted of murdering a journalist in 1998.

Supporters of Kasparov argue that Ilyumzhinov, who believes he was abducted by aliens in yellow suits and taken to their spaceship, cannot attract the kind of corporate backing that chess needs to grow.

In the memorandum seen by The Sunday Times, Paulson offered Illyumzhinov a 51% stake in a company that was subsequently awarded an 11- year contract to promote chess and organise its top tournaments. The document, typed in Russian and initialled by Paulson and Illyumzhinov, further stated that in return for a share of the profits from events and sponsorship Ilyumzhinov would provide the company with its start-up capital.

Paulson asked for a salary of €240,000 (£198,000) a year.

The company was founded a few weeks later but by this time the terms of the deal appear to have changed.

Paulson said the agreement had been an early proposal and that he was the firm’s sole shareholder.

Ilyumzhinov did not respond to questions. Georgios Makropoulos, Ilyumzhinov’s deputy at FIDE, said on his behalf: “Kirsan finally decided not to be involved in the ownership of Agon, although he loves to support chess and has spent millions of dollars to encourage similar projects without receiving anything back.”

In a move worthy of any grandmaster, when Paulson was asked about the secret memorandum by The Sunday Times, he circulated another document — this time about Kasparov. The player, who became the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22, is an outspoken critic of Putin, Ilyumzhinov’s ally.

The document that Paulson circulated appeared to show that Kasparov had offered Ignatius Leong, general secretary of FIDE and a supporter of Ilyumzhinov, $500,000 (£303,000) to switch sides.

According to the document,Kasparov promised Leong, who lives in Singapore, an office for him to run. He also said that if he was elected, the Kasparov Chess Foundation would pay $1m over four years to the Asean Chess Academy, a teaching organisation owned by Leong.

“This is only shocking for those who thought Garry was in some way better than Kirsan [Illyumzhinov],” said Paulson in his covering note.

Kasparov’s lawyer said that the document was authentic but had been superseded by a contract in which all money would go to chess development and none to individuals. The hostilities come at a promising moment for chess as a new world champion, Magnus Carlsen from Norway, brings a sexier image to the sport.

At 23, Carlsen has also been a fashion model for G-Star Raw, a clothing brand popular with students.

Some players are in despair at the way chess is run. The audited accounts for Paulson’s company Agon, which is based in Jersey, are reported only to two external individuals, Makropoulos and Nigel Freeman, its treasurer. Delegates from the 177 countries that rely on FIDE for chess funds chess have no access to the accounts.

A chastened Paulson declared: “I want them both to be disqualified [from the election].

“That’s my strategy.”

[Mick Norris]

Kasparov's press conference is available here:
http://www.chessvibes.com/aronian-saric ... d-to-spare

[David Robertson]

Jesus wept! To repeat:

'Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind

[NickFaulks]

"A chastened Paulson declared: “I want them both to be disqualified""


I wonder whether he really said that. If so, it would set a new standard for biting the hand that feeds you.

[Paolo Casaschi]

From the Sunday Times today (copied as it's behind a paywall)

I thought the idea of the paywall was to allow only subscribers to read their articles.

[Richard James]

From the Sunday Times today (copied as it's behind a paywall)

I thought the idea of the paywall was to allow only subscribers to read their articles.

Quite probably. The admins may wish to remove my post if they consider it to be breach of copyright.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Goodness. It's almost as if that Paulson chappie isn't entirely to be trusted.

I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you.

[Paolo Casaschi]

From the Sunday Times today (copied as it's behind a paywall)

I thought the idea of the paywall was to allow only subscribers to read their articles.

Quite probably. The admins may wish to remove my post if they consider it to be breach of copyright.

I guess for admins to decide.

If you can tell, who wrote the article? Is an author mentioned or is just anonymous from the Sunday Times's editors?

[Richard James]

If you can tell, who wrote the article? Is an author mentioned or is just anonymous from the Sunday Times's editors?

The author is Tim Rayment.

[NickFaulks]

I'm listening through the Kasparov press conference.

He complains that FIDE head office is dictatorial and tells federations what to do, not listening to their justifiable reservations. There is truth in that, but why has he taken the primary developer and enforcer of that policy as his right hand man? Of course, nobody asked that.

He wants every game of chess played on the planet, right down to internet blitz, to be included in a single official rating list. The Kirsan team has also jumped on this bandwagon. Which of them can be relied upon to drop this nutty idea as soon as the election is over?

He says that it is the Norwegian government which is paying for Olympiad players' travel costs, not FIDE. Well, yes, but this simply means that FIDE has for once negotiated a decent deal with the hosts. I would criticise FIDE for allowing players to be treated appallingly in recent Olympiads, not for apparently doing better this time.

Not much on the leaked contract with Leong. He's obviously not going to get any awkward questions here.

He complains about the FIDE website being used as a campaign tool. An easy hit, everyone hates the site being a Kirsan travelogue, which is probably counter-productive, but there are some things that the man simply cannot be told.

[Roger de Coverly]

There is truth in that, but why has he taken the primary developer and enforcer of that policy as his right hand man?

Presumably for the cynical reason that it delivers votes that would otherwise go to Kirsan. What do the ten or more Federations, their Delegates or Presidents whose votes are "being delivered" get out of this?

He wants every game of chess played on the planet, right down to internet blitz, to be included in a single official rating list. The Kirsan team has also jumped on this bandwagon. Which of them can be relied upon to drop this nutty idea as soon as the election is over?

The idea is impractical provided servers continue to allow players anonymity in their handles. As to rating every single game, it was FIDE who stated that a game couldn't be rated unless a fee paying arbiter was present, so that policy at least would have to be reversed as a pre-condition.

According to the Sunday Times, there is a second leaked draft contract, this one between Andrew Paulson and Kirsan. As Chris Rice points out above, using a fide email address isn't likely to be the most secure way of discussing confidential or potentially embarrassing issues, assuming that's the source of the Agon related leak.

[Angus French]

Nigel Short has just tweeted on the alleged Paulson-Ilyumzhinov deal reported (exclusively?) in the Sunday Times. See https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess.

The Sunday Times story indicated that the alleged deal didn't go through but Nigel hasn't made that clear.

Nigel has also claimed that AGON owes FIDE $500,000. I wonder how he knows that.

[NickFaulks]

Whether the upper echelons of FIDE actually got to see this email is unknown. It could easily have been copied by an IT administrator and sent to the New York Times to make a few dollars.

I have just noticed this, and it annoys me, although Chris will probably not understand why. I have worked with both the upper and lower echelons of FIDE for some years, and have not always found the former to be as scrupulous as one might wish. Until the other day, Ignatius Leong somehow remained among that number, which I consider reflects equally badly on him and on those who allowed him to stay.

On the other hand, I have nothing but admiration for the "lower echelons", a small band who do an excellent job. There is only one IT administrator, Vladimir Kukaev, and he is a thoroughly honest individual. The casual comment quoted above is a most unpleasant slur on the character of a person about whom the writer knows nothing.

Could the password have been used by someone else, perhaps one of the politicians? I cannot rule that out, and I believe that if you know what you're doing, tracks can be erased, so we may never be sure. My bet would be that, if the truth ever can be established, the source is elsewhere.

[Roger de Coverly]

Nigel has also claimed that AGON owes FIDE $500,000. I wonder how he knows that.

I don't know about the exact amount, but is it not public that FIDE have "sold" the "rights" to world chess to Agon and that Agon have yet to pay anything to FIDE? The general public doesn't know what the contract says, it's possible there's some contingency that Agon doesn't owe anything to FIDE unless or until it gets some sponsorship in its own name. If that were the case, nothing would yet be owed.

[Roger de Coverly]

Could the password have been used by someone else, perhaps one of the politicians? I cannot rule that out, and I believe that if you know what you're doing, tracks can be erased, so we may never be sure. My bet would be that, if the truth ever can be established, the source is elsewhere.

A number of chess journalists state that they received the draft contract, but except for the New York Times declined to immediately publish unless they could establish the source. It is reported that the tone of the accompanying email was hostile to the Kasparov campaign.

As the current trial in London demonstrates, email and voicemail are usually only as secure as the password used to access the server containing the messages.