Post by auntym on Feb 9, 2014 13:19:40 GMT -6
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world/europe/as-rivals-vie-to-head-chess-federation-gambits-include-corruption-charges.html?_r=1
Intrigue, Conspiracy, Alien Abduction: Politics of Chess Go Off the Board
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAINFEB.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Feb. 8, 2014
The election campaign has plot elements worthy of a Le Carré novel: double-crosses and allegations of stolen secret documents and self-dealing.
At stake is not the leadership of some powerful country but the presidency of a fairly obscure organization that presides over a small corner of the gaming world, the World Chess Federation. The body oversees international chess championships and controls tournaments and sponsorship deals worth millions of dollars and championships that are the grail of nationalistic aspirations.
The principal characters also seem drawn from fiction. There is a former world chess champion, now a Russian opposition leader; a former president of an obscure Russian republic who believes that he was abducted by extraterrestrials in yellow suits who invented the game of chess; and an ex-fashion photographer turned chess official who would like the first two candidates to be disqualified so that he can take over the federation.
The latest intrigue revolves around corruption allegations by the two candidates for the federation’s presidency, Garry Kasparov, the former champion and Russian opposition figure, and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the incumbent president and self-described space-alien abductee.
Such charges would normally hardly raise an eyebrow in the world of organized chess, which has been rife with rumors of corruption for decades. What has rocked even the jaded chess world this time are signed contracts posted online that each candidate contends proves dirty dealing by the other. And each candidate, while not denying his signature on the contract in question, claims his contract has been maliciously misinterpreted.
Even the Icelandic grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson, an éminence grise of the chess world and former federation president, could only shake his head.
“Things are not as they should be,” he said. “There are too many problems that have nothing to do with chess.”
Mr. Kasparov has long been a critic of Mr. Ilyumzhinov, saying that his odd beliefs and his friendships with controversial world leaders — including Saddam Hussein, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and President Bashar al-Assad — have hurt the credibility of the federation and scared away would-be sponsors. He, and others in the chess world, have long accused Mr. Ilyumzhinov of corruption.
But there was never anything that resembled proof until two weeks ago, when a memo was leaked to The Sunday Times of London and various chess news websites. In the memo, Mr. Ilyumzhinov and Andrew Paulson, the ex-fashion photographer, agreed to divvy up any profits of a new company created to stage the world’s premier chess events.
The chess federation, controlled by Mr. Ilyumzhinov, had awarded the company a no-bid contract in 2012 for the rights to organize, find sponsors and market the world chess championship, the World Cup and the Grand Prix for 11 years. The rights are potentially worth millions of dollars.
According to the memo, signed by both men, Mr. Paulson would manage the company, called Agon, and own 49 percent and Mr. Ilyumzhinov would own 51 percent. Mr. Ilyumzhinov would also provide start-up capital of up to $2 million and be repaid, with interest, out of any profits.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov and Mr. Paulson acknowledge the contract published online is real, but say it never took effect and that Mr. Ilyumzhinov never became an owner.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov, referring to the federation by its French acronym, FIDE, added in an email: “All that I sign that relates to FIDE, has to go through the board. FIDE is more than a president, it’s a huge organization. I did not and will not sign anything that is not supported and approved by FIDE.”
CONTINUE READING: www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world/europe/as-rivals-vie-to-head-chess-federation-gambits-include-corruption-charges.html?_r=1
Intrigue, Conspiracy, Alien Abduction: Politics of Chess Go Off the Board
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAINFEB.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Feb. 8, 2014
The election campaign has plot elements worthy of a Le Carré novel: double-crosses and allegations of stolen secret documents and self-dealing.
At stake is not the leadership of some powerful country but the presidency of a fairly obscure organization that presides over a small corner of the gaming world, the World Chess Federation. The body oversees international chess championships and controls tournaments and sponsorship deals worth millions of dollars and championships that are the grail of nationalistic aspirations.
The principal characters also seem drawn from fiction. There is a former world chess champion, now a Russian opposition leader; a former president of an obscure Russian republic who believes that he was abducted by extraterrestrials in yellow suits who invented the game of chess; and an ex-fashion photographer turned chess official who would like the first two candidates to be disqualified so that he can take over the federation.
The latest intrigue revolves around corruption allegations by the two candidates for the federation’s presidency, Garry Kasparov, the former champion and Russian opposition figure, and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the incumbent president and self-described space-alien abductee.
Such charges would normally hardly raise an eyebrow in the world of organized chess, which has been rife with rumors of corruption for decades. What has rocked even the jaded chess world this time are signed contracts posted online that each candidate contends proves dirty dealing by the other. And each candidate, while not denying his signature on the contract in question, claims his contract has been maliciously misinterpreted.
Even the Icelandic grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson, an éminence grise of the chess world and former federation president, could only shake his head.
“Things are not as they should be,” he said. “There are too many problems that have nothing to do with chess.”
Mr. Kasparov has long been a critic of Mr. Ilyumzhinov, saying that his odd beliefs and his friendships with controversial world leaders — including Saddam Hussein, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and President Bashar al-Assad — have hurt the credibility of the federation and scared away would-be sponsors. He, and others in the chess world, have long accused Mr. Ilyumzhinov of corruption.
But there was never anything that resembled proof until two weeks ago, when a memo was leaked to The Sunday Times of London and various chess news websites. In the memo, Mr. Ilyumzhinov and Andrew Paulson, the ex-fashion photographer, agreed to divvy up any profits of a new company created to stage the world’s premier chess events.
The chess federation, controlled by Mr. Ilyumzhinov, had awarded the company a no-bid contract in 2012 for the rights to organize, find sponsors and market the world chess championship, the World Cup and the Grand Prix for 11 years. The rights are potentially worth millions of dollars.
According to the memo, signed by both men, Mr. Paulson would manage the company, called Agon, and own 49 percent and Mr. Ilyumzhinov would own 51 percent. Mr. Ilyumzhinov would also provide start-up capital of up to $2 million and be repaid, with interest, out of any profits.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov and Mr. Paulson acknowledge the contract published online is real, but say it never took effect and that Mr. Ilyumzhinov never became an owner.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov, referring to the federation by its French acronym, FIDE, added in an email: “All that I sign that relates to FIDE, has to go through the board. FIDE is more than a president, it’s a huge organization. I did not and will not sign anything that is not supported and approved by FIDE.”
CONTINUE READING: www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/world/europe/as-rivals-vie-to-head-chess-federation-gambits-include-corruption-charges.html?_r=1