Kasparov vs Ilyumzhinov: the FIDE Presidency battle begins

[Stewart Reuben]

Roger > If there's an election is it not the case that one or other of the campaigns will offer a "grant" to travel expenses?<

The best example was 1986 where the UAE offered to pay the fares of all federations that would support Campo. 'Why should we help federations that are not our friends?' In those days the voting was public and it remained so until 1994.

Once that was announced the Lucena/Keene ticket had no chance.

FIDE offer financial support to federations to play in the Olympiad where it is perceived the travelling expenses will be an onerous burden. A good example will be The Gambia. This is organised by the Development Commission (I may have the name wrong that used to be CACDEC). Allan Herbert Barbados is chairman and Rupert Jones Papua New Guinea secretary. I see nothing wrong in this. They also provide money for other development projects. This money comes from the FIDE funds. Some of it is raised by fees richer federations, like England, pay. I have never heard anybody question this.

Voting since 1994 has been done by secret ballot and this year electronic devices will be banned from the polling booth. No doubt there will still be ways to get around proving that you had voted in a certain way, or at least innuendos to that effect.
Both parties offer goodies if elected. This is a system familiar to us in the UK parliamentary elections.
It isn't only about money. There is also patronage. 'If I'm elected, then you will be appointed a member of the XXX Commission'.

I think the Kasparov camp has so far been silent on what will happen to its Rating system if he is elected. It may move to Singapore. I think for the Karpov campaign it was said. 'There may be a hiatus for 6 months.' That alone unquestionably cost a few votes.

[Roger de Coverly]

I think the Kasparov camp has so far been silent on what will happen to its Rating system if he is elected. It may move to Singapore. I think for the Karpov campaign it was said. 'There may be a hiatus for 6 months.' That alone unquestionably cost a few votes.

That's something not well known. Kirsan is effectively holding the international rating system hostage. Running it in Elista makes sense from a cost and employment viewpoint, but should be apolitical given the importance of reliable ratings.

[John McKenna]

Thanks, I'll heep hacking away then. The road from here to Tromso will be interesting even though, as a dispassionate bookmaker, I think Kasparov / Leong needs a couple of snookers. It's possible to see where they might come from.

Nick

Can you enlighten us?

I assume the Russian Chess Federation has influence with some other chess federations, but I have no idea how much and how many - the RCF is clearly supporting Kirsan (or anti-Kasparov if you prefer)

Also, how much influence do governments have on chess federations and/or FIDE Delegates? Obviously none in the case of the ECF, but elsewhere?

If I was FIDE Delegate and my PM rang me to say that the Russians were threatening to cut off gas supplies to our country if we voted for Kasparov, I suspect I wouldn't vote for him even if I thought he was the best candidate

Or have I been reading too many novels?

What like - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

I almost hope that Nick Faulks doesn't give the game away too much by saying what exactly those 'snookers' consist of because, once visible, they will be easier to get out of.

Mick Norris asks "How much influence do governments have on chess federations and/or FIDE Delegates? Obviously none in the case of the ECF, but elsewhere?"

I wouldn't say you could be sure that there is never any government influence on the ECF. Should they wish to do so they could just start with a (Chinese) whisper in someone's shell-like ear and I think the message, whatever it was, would probably get through to the right people.

As for others "threatening to cut off gas supplies" elsewhere - a price hike might be more effective in this scenario.

[NickFaulks]

I think the Kasparov camp has so far been silent on what will happen to its Rating system if he is elected. It may move to Singapore. I think for the Karpov campaign it was said. 'There may be a hiatus for 6 months.' That alone unquestionably cost a few votes.

That's something not well known. Kirsan is effectively holding the international rating system hostage. Running it in Elista makes sense from a cost and employment viewpoint, but should be apolitical given the importance of reliable ratings.

The rating system is easily transported, and need not take even six days. The reason for the Karpov campaign's off-the-cuff estimate of six months was that they viewed it as a very low priority. I was able to discuss this briefly with Karpov, and he was clearly puzzled when I made a face at this suggestion. He explained that the system could be maintained for the top players ( but not how! ) and that the rest of the rating list wouldn't really be missed.

Please note, I am not saying that Kasparov / Leong 2014 takes the same view as Karpov / Kasparov 2010.

[Paul McKeown]

The best example was 1986 where the UAE offered to pay the fares of all federations that would support Campo. 'Why should we help federations that are not our friends?' In those days the voting was public and it remained so until 1994.

Once that was announced the Lucena/Keene ticket had no chance.

There were more reasons than that. Widely known ones.

[Andrew Martin]

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fidefacts.html

Some fascinating detail above.

[Roger de Coverly]

New York Times again, this time on the signed Agon "non-contract".

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world ... .html?_r=0

Mr. Paulson said he wanted Mr. Ilyumzhinov to own a stake in the company to assure that the federation would try to work with Agon. “One man’s conflict of interest is another man’s alignment of interest,” he wrote in an email. “If I was going to put a lot of my money into such a speculative venture I wanted to be reassured I wasn’t going to get sheared.”

Perhaps the wrong questions were asked in the ECF election. Those who voted for AP will know, but how much store was set by the point that his only business relationship with the FIDE President was that of necessity between Agon and FIDE? Did anyone ask the question in the form of "Have you ever considered entering into a business partnership with Kirsan?"

(edit) On twitter Nigel is claiming that it's possible to change beneficial ownership of a Jersey company without making the changes public. Understanding of Jersey law no doubt requires accountancy and legal skills of equivalent to GM standard, but is this possible and how would a third party establish that it had, or hadn't happened?
https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/sta ... 7517843456
(/edit)

[JustinHorton]

While it's good to know that Nigel is concerned about things being done on the quiet, has he got a ha'porth of evidence to suggest that this has occurred?

[Angus French]

An interesting piece on the members of the Kasparov ticket and the Kasparov Chess Foundation: http://fidenot4sale.blogspot.co.uk/2014 ... ation.html.

The Ilyumzhinov ticket isn't announced yet, is it?

[David Sedgwick]

The Ilyumzhinov ticket isn't announced yet, is it?

To the best of my knowledge, only one of them has been. The candidate for Treasurer will be Dr Adrian Siegel of Switzerland.

http://www.chessdom.com/dr-adrian-siege ... vs-ticket/

I should perhaps explain that Nigel Freeman, currently FIDE Treasurer and Executive Director, told me during the Candidates Tournament in London last March that he would be stepping down from the first half of his dual role.

[Paolo Casaschi]

The new president of the Russian chess federation explicitly confirmed support for Kirsan:

We have a good working relationship with Kirsan Nikolayevich. He works hard for promotion and development of chess in the whole world. In November 2013 the Russian Chess Federation supported his candidacy. I absolutely agree with this decision of the RCF Supervisory Board. We cooperated successfully with FIDE in the past, Russia was organizer of major tournaments. I look forward to continue in the same direction.

http://www.chessdom.com/interview-with-andrey-filatov/

[Roger de Coverly]

An interesting piece on the members of the Kasparov ticket and the Kasparov Chess Foundation: http://fidenot4sale.blogspot.co.uk/2014 ... ation.html.

Nigel Short makes a very valid point about the irony of the title of that website. Of course FIDE isn't for sale, it's already owned by Kirsan and his supporters. Here and there they even admit it.

https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/sta ... 9429112832

Otherwise the site is basically a "we hate Kasparov" anti-fan club.

I might be wrong and the Kasparov team can match the Kirsan team, bribe for bribe, incentive for incentive, but I fear that any challenge to the FIDE establishment and the Kirsan Presidency for Life is doomed to failure. So the question for the ECF and the ECF Directors is whether to take the moral high ground or be cynical and demand the maximum possible bribe either for abstention or support of Kirsan.

It might be a bit easier to sell this to English players this time, if they can be bothered to try, as compared with 2006 and 2010 since FIDE's Mr Evil as far as amateur players are concerned is actually on the Kasparov ticket.

(edit) Perhaps I should clarify what I mean by maximum possible bribe. It wouldn't be personal cash incentives to ECF Directors, possibly not even invitations to lucrative events, but it might be donations to causes the Directors wished to see supported. If allowed to discuss the issue, I believe that the ECF Articles allow the voting membership to overrule the Directors, so offering incentives is a potentially risky strategy as delivery is uncertain. This contrasts with the Russian Federation where the players or representatives of the players don't seem to be in a position to influence policy (/edit)

[Angus French]

An interesting piece on the members of the Kasparov ticket and the Kasparov Chess Foundation: http://fidenot4sale.blogspot.co.uk/2014 ... ation.html.

Nigel Short makes a very valid point about the irony of the title of that website. Of course FIDE isn't for sale, it's already owned by Kirsan and his supporters. Here and there they even admit it.

https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/sta ... 9429112832

Otherwise the site is basically a "we hate Kasparov" anti-fan club.

It's funny: Nigel tweeted 'Of course @FIDENot4Sale . It has already been bought.' and earlier he'd tweeted (https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/sta ... 2262729728): 'For the first time ever Kirsan will be outspent during an election and now he hypocritically complains about "votes for sale" '

Let's have a response from the Kasparov campaign team to the specific points made in the FIDENot4Sale article linked to above.

[Chris Rice]

An update on that web site shows Mr Leong in a bad light....

http://fidenot4sale.blogspot.de

[Roger de Coverly]

An update on that web site shows Mr Leong in a bad light....

It dates back to a period when he was a senior member of Kirsan's FIDE administration.

In the previous entry the blog also states

One should look further back with Leong and see that his funding was always at the generosity of those such as Campo and Ilyumzhinov.

It's hardly news that FIDE elections have operated for thirty years with votes as a tradeable commodity, even if the novelty in 2014 is that both sides are doing it.

To spell it out for the apologists, having funding at the generosity of FIDE Presidents is part of what the critics are referring to, when they say that elections are for sale.