Kasparov vs Ilyumzhinov: the FIDE Presidency battle begins

[Roger de Coverly]

Media: Kasparov and his EU Allies Intend to Turn FIDE into an Anti-Russian Propaganda Tool

Isn't it the case that Kirsan is running FIDE as a pro-Russian Propaganda Tool? Taking Russian diplomats to meetings with national chess presidents and sports and education ministers and offering sports scholarships.

[Chris Rice]

On Kirsan's campaign website today he states he is expecting Olympiad bids from the Cameroons and South Korea for the 2018 Olympiad.
http://fidefirst.com/?p=1456

[Roger de Coverly]

On Kirsan's campaign website today he states he is expecting Olympiad bids from the Cameroons and South Korea for the 2018 Olympiad.

Cameroon were 2018 and South Korea 2020.

In the case of Cameroon, with just 7 rated players and 1 arbiter, you might feel they have underestimated the tasks of organising an Olympiad and World Cup, particularly when they also state

The Cameroonian leadership assured us that they will build the hotels in time and get everything ready for the Olympiad.

[Paolo Casaschi]

Even KI can have some fun on April 1st!

[Chris Rice]

Kasparov's campaign trail in Portugal includes a picture of Keith Arkell....

http://kasparov2014.com/2014/04/02/kasp ... -portugal/

[Chris Rice]

Not sure what to make of FIDE extending these deadlines except that they know that Kasparov is behind the South Africa bid that came in two hours before the deadline. Why didn't FIDE wait till the deadline had passed instead of extending the deadline two days before it was due? South Africa have now protested officially. The Georgians under Azmai also were surprised and I have posted their reaction via an Azmai interview in the ECU section.

Here is the article from Chess Vibes...

The World Chess Federation has extended the bidding deadline for the 2017 Cup and the 2018 Olympiad until April 15th, despite having received two bids before the original deadline of April 1st. One of the bidders, the South African Chess Federation, has filed a complaint.

On Sunday March 30th, the day of the last round of the Candidates’ Tourament, there was another FIDE event taking place in the Ugra Complex in Khanty-Mansiysk: the first-quarter FIDE Presidential Board meeting. One of the topics was the bidding procedure for the 2017 World Cup and the 2018 Olympiad.

In September last year the bidding was opened with an announcement on the FIDE website. The deadline was set for the end of March: “Bids should reach the FIDE office no later than 31 March 2014, 13:00 GMT, by email, fax or registered post (...)”

FIDE received two bids, both at the very last moment. One bid came in about 24 hours before the deadline: that of the Georgian Chess Federation, with a budget of “over US $20 million”, according to a press release. Another bid was received just two hours before the deadline: that of the South African Chess Federation, with a budget of US $12 million.

But before these bids came in, FIDE had already extended its deadline by fifteen days. This decision was taken during the Presidential Board meeting, which took place two days before the deadline.

“The meeting was held literally just before the deadline,” FIDE Executive Director Nigel Freeman told Chess.com. “We still hadn't received anything from anybody. In order to ensure that everybody that wanted to bid had a chance of bidding, we prolonged it to ensure that they did so.”

The South African Chess Federation was not amused, and sent an official protest to FIDE by email on Wednesday, April 2nd:

“On behalf of the South African Chess Federation, we want to officially protest against the extension of the deadline for submitting bids for the 2017 World Cup and 2018 Olympiad. As per the email below, the South African bid was submitted on time. We humbly request you to reconsider this decision as it is making a mockery of the FIDE policies and procedures.”

Instead of waiting until the deadline had passed before making decision, FIDE decided to pull the plug two days before. “We had two [bids] that we were certain of, and one that we were adviced that was in the offering,” Mr Freeman explained. “We were fairly sure we would get two bids but we were worried that we might only receive one and the other might come late or something. We felt it was best to give everybody a chance.”

Hendrik du Toit, the President of the South African Chess Federation, explained to Chess.com why he submitted a protest: “I find it highly irregular. We submitted our bid two hours before the deadline. Then we noticed a mistake: we had forgotten to attach the budget documents. We sent these just in time: three minutes before the deadline of 31 March, 13:00 GMT. I can understand if they extend the deadline when they have not received any bids, or in case the information is insufficient, but it is just strange.”

Former top grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili, who is the Deputy Minister for Sports in Georgia, is also surprised by FIDE extending the deadline. “I cannot understand it. My decision would be to wait until the deadline, and then make a decision. I am not criticizing, but this would be more pragmatic.” Mr Azmaiparashvili is not angry though: “I don't care if more bids come. We make a good offer, so why should I worry?”

During the Olympiad in Tromsø there will be a General Assembly of FIDE's member federations, where the delegates will vote on the bids that have come in. In the same week the FIDE Presidential elections will take place. The two votes are not completely unrelated, says ECU President and FIDE's Continental President for Europe, Silvio Danailov: “It is known that Zurab Azmaiparashvili is very close with FIDE, while South Africa supports Garry Kasparov.”

If South Africa wants to stay in the race, they will need to re-send their bid one more time, as Mr Freeman said: “They claim they sent it, but we still haven't received the budget. We received the first email, but neither the [FIDE] office nor myself have received the second.” The South Africans, as any other chess federation, have ten more days to do so.

[Chris Rice]

It comes to something pretty bloody unbelievable when Kirsan starts using Karpov to support his campaign!

http://fidefirst.com/?p=1562

[Roger de Coverly]

http://fidefirst.com/?p=1562

There's an interesting nuance when they talk of Chess in Schools.

In addition, Ilyumzhinov is actively promoting the Chess in Schools project. I find the idea close to me. The matters of chess interaction in secondary schools around the worlds are critical for guaranteed success of chess in the future, for growth in the sport’s popularity and the number of active players.

My emphasis.

Doesn't "Chess in Schools" in the Kasparov sense, mean chess in Primary Schools? That's the focus of the UK's CSC which is indifferent as to whether there's chess in Secondary schools or not.

[NickFaulks]

It comes to something pretty bloody unbelievable when Kirsan starts using Karpov to support his campaign!

http://fidefirst.com/?p=1562

This is indeed a remarkable interview, but I'm not sure what you mean by Kirsan "using" Karpov. I don't think that Karpov was under any duress when he said these things, and would you really expect Kirsan not to put a link on his site?

There are so many gems here that it is difficult to pick out highlights, you really have to read the whole piece. Many of his points are those that I have previously made here, and for which I have been roundly abused. Probably Karpov will suffer the same fate, and will be even less bothered. I must pick out this one, though.

"Kasparov has always been able to find sponsors, but he also had this miraculous [talent] to fall out with them and lose them forever. He had accomplishments, which later turned into major disappointments, which had a profound effect on the overall state of chess. For example, he found IBM in a way that was pure genius, and got into a bad row with the computer giant in a way that was anything but genius, and so IBM abandoned chess. The exact same story later happened with Intel."

That, in a nutshell, is half of the case against Kasparov2014 ( the other half being his team ). If anyone can counter with an example of a Kasparov commercial venture that has not crashed and burned, please step forward.

[Chris Rice]

It comes to something pretty bloody unbelievable when Kirsan starts using Karpov to support his campaign!

http://fidefirst.com/?p=1562

This is indeed a remarkable interview, but I'm not sure what you mean by Kirsan "using" Karpov. I don't think that Karpov was under any duress when he said these things, and would you really expect Kirsan not to put a link on his site?

Cheers Nick, as this point has been brought up by others I had better clarify. More accurately it should have read "using statements by Karpov". It is clear that Karpov still retains some integrity and credibility unlike say, Ali Yazici...

http://alinihatyazici.blogspot.ru/2014/ ... ref=tw&m=1

[Andrew Paulson]

Not sure what to make of FIDE extending these deadlines except that they know that Kasparov is behind the South Africa bid that came in two hours before the deadline. Why didn't FIDE wait till the deadline had passed instead of extending the deadline two days before it was due? South Africa have now protested officially. The Georgians under Azmai also were surprised and I have posted their reaction via an Azmai interview in the ECU section.

Here is the article from Chess Vibes...

The World Chess Federation has extended the bidding deadline for the 2017 Cup and the 2018 Olympiad until April 15th, despite having received two bids before the original deadline of April 1st. One of the bidders, the South African Chess Federation, has filed a complaint.

On Sunday March 30th, the day of the last round of the Candidates’ Tourament, there was another FIDE event taking place in the Ugra Complex in Khanty-Mansiysk: the first-quarter FIDE Presidential Board meeting. One of the topics was the bidding procedure for the 2017 World Cup and the 2018 Olympiad.

In September last year the bidding was opened with an announcement on the FIDE website. The deadline was set for the end of March: “Bids should reach the FIDE office no later than 31 March 2014, 13:00 GMT, by email, fax or registered post (...)”

FIDE received two bids, both at the very last moment. One bid came in about 24 hours before the deadline: that of the Georgian Chess Federation, with a budget of “over US $20 million”, according to a press release. Another bid was received just two hours before the deadline: that of the South African Chess Federation, with a budget of US $12 million.

But before these bids came in, FIDE had already extended its deadline by fifteen days. This decision was taken during the Presidential Board meeting, which took place two days before the deadline.

“The meeting was held literally just before the deadline,” FIDE Executive Director Nigel Freeman told Chess.com. “We still hadn't received anything from anybody. In order to ensure that everybody that wanted to bid had a chance of bidding, we prolonged it to ensure that they did so.”

The South African Chess Federation was not amused, and sent an official protest to FIDE by email on Wednesday, April 2nd:

“On behalf of the South African Chess Federation, we want to officially protest against the extension of the deadline for submitting bids for the 2017 World Cup and 2018 Olympiad. As per the email below, the South African bid was submitted on time. We humbly request you to reconsider this decision as it is making a mockery of the FIDE policies and procedures.”

Instead of waiting until the deadline had passed before making decision, FIDE decided to pull the plug two days before. “We had two [bids] that we were certain of, and one that we were adviced that was in the offering,” Mr Freeman explained. “We were fairly sure we would get two bids but we were worried that we might only receive one and the other might come late or something. We felt it was best to give everybody a chance.”

Hendrik du Toit, the President of the South African Chess Federation, explained to Chess.com why he submitted a protest: “I find it highly irregular. We submitted our bid two hours before the deadline. Then we noticed a mistake: we had forgotten to attach the budget documents. We sent these just in time: three minutes before the deadline of 31 March, 13:00 GMT. I can understand if they extend the deadline when they have not received any bids, or in case the information is insufficient, but it is just strange.”

Former top grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili, who is the Deputy Minister for Sports in Georgia, is also surprised by FIDE extending the deadline. “I cannot understand it. My decision would be to wait until the deadline, and then make a decision. I am not criticizing, but this would be more pragmatic.” Mr Azmaiparashvili is not angry though: “I don't care if more bids come. We make a good offer, so why should I worry?”

During the Olympiad in Tromsø there will be a General Assembly of FIDE's member federations, where the delegates will vote on the bids that have come in. In the same week the FIDE Presidential elections will take place. The two votes are not completely unrelated, says ECU President and FIDE's Continental President for Europe, Silvio Danailov: “It is known that Zurab Azmaiparashvili is very close with FIDE, while South Africa supports Garry Kasparov.”

If South Africa wants to stay in the race, they will need to re-send their bid one more time, as Mr Freeman said: “They claim they sent it, but we still haven't received the budget. We received the first email, but neither the [FIDE] office nor myself have received the second.” The South Africans, as any other chess federation, have ten more days to do so.

A little clarification on the Olympiad question:

FIDE has received two bids and there is no attempt to find another. However, when the Presidential Board met in Khanty-Mansiysk no bids had at that time been received, therefore the Board voted to extend the deadline … with Silvio Danailov voting in favour! Why is he now crying foul?

Obviously, in Khanty-Mansiysk the Presidential Board knew of the two bids that were likely to arrive ($20m bids do not appear out of thin air) and they wanted to make sure that everyone who was preparing a bid had adequate time. There’s nothing magic about the technicality of such a deadline: it is to FIDE’s advantage that there be two (or more) competing bids, in any case.

It should also be noted that there have been rumours of a bid from Cameroon. This is highly unlikely, both from the point of view of the country’s financial resources and lack of hotel and hospitality infrastructure. But, were it to arrive and were it ultimately to be fairly judged the best bid, so much the better!

[Matthew Lunn]

Doesn't "Chess in Schools" in the Kasparov sense, mean chess in Primary Schools? That's the focus of the UK's CSC which is indifferent as to whether there's chess in Secondary schools or not.

Chess in Schools and Communities teach chess in a number of secondary schools, so this is clearly inaccurate. The charity’s model - delivering weekly lessons during class time – is better suited to primary schools, as systematic chess learning has been proved to have a greater impact on children’s academic and social development when they’re at primary school age. I can also confirm that CSC does not believe the following (from 'Papers for ECF Council meeting 12th April 2014', page 5):

that it doesn't matter if no-one actually continues to play chess after being taught it.

We won’t be responding to any posts on the matter, we just want to clear up these inaccuracies!

[Roger de Coverly]

We won’t be responding to any posts on the matter, we just want to clear up these inaccuracies!

You had better respond to the ECF as well, given that the report in ChessMoves on the CSC conference in December contains the following.

Certain key questions recurred over the course of the weekend:
1. Is teaching chess to children beneficial to their development, and if so, in what ways?
2. Is ‘chess in schools’ predominantly about education or about chess?
3. Who are the best people to teach chess in schools, chess players or professional educators?

The first question is interesting. The assumption that the answer is ‘yes’ seems to be widespread, practically unquestioned, in the chess world, and there is remarkably little resistance to the idea in primary school education and other circles, such as politics. I use the word “remarkably” quite deliberately because robust academic research demonstrating a benefit to children is largely absent. Those involved in, or witness to, chess in schools programmes consistently vouch for its beneficial effects, so advocates for such initiatives are not hard to find, but the proof is still elusive.

The second question was a source of slight tension, albeit always friendly, between conference delegates from the chess world (typically players involved in coaching) and those from the academic or educational spheres. It was evident to me that chess-players – myself included – found it hard to divorce themselves entirely from the notion that chess success is one of the desired objectives of a schools chess programme. For the educators, however, this is beside the point: what matters are the benefits to the children in terms of cognitive skills, social behaviour and other areas. Whether the children emerge as good chess-players was irrelevant, except to the extent that this might support the broader goals and, since chess is after all a game, that the children might find it an enjoyable pastime as they grow. After a question posed by a chess coach that focused on success in developing chess strength, I was amused to overhear one of the delegates (organiser of a successful chess in schools programme) mutter with the patience of the long-suffering to his colleague, “Ah, chess-players...”

My bold.


http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... rApr14.pdf (link is password protected)

[Chris Rice]

Kirsan solves the Russia-Ukraine situation.....

http://fidefirst.com/?p=1575

[NickFaulks]

http://alinihatyazici.blogspot.ru/2014/ ... ref=tw&m=1

Yes, Ali is a hilarious. Personally, I think he is hopping mad about not being offered a Leong type deal. I doubt that he got much out of Bessel in 2006.