FIDE Presidential Elections

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

Seems that Canadian players/public are less important to the CFC Execs. I have not seen this email/release on the Canadian soil media/forums yet.

http://www.chessdom.com/canada-suppo...an-ilyumzhinov
Dear Friends,

The Chess Federation of Canada has been following the FIDE Presidential campaign with continued interest. After lengthy consideration our Executive has opted to endorse Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for FIDE President.

Best regards,

Hal Bond
FIDE Delegate, Canada

[Kerry Liles]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

The anoncement by Mr. Balgagbaev (FIDE) was made on 16th at about 9AM Eastern time. Obviously Bond's announcement at 7:06 AM could be read by a very few people here, in fact I've found about CFC's endorsement of KI from the Russian chess site, not the Canadian one! Nice job!

Nevertheless, the CFC announcement WAS made before FIDE announced it. Would it have made any difference if Hal Bond had made the announcement at 3:30am or 5am?
All this posturing about the CFC endorsement of one candidate or the other seems to be much ado about nothing; I fail to see what difference either endorsement makes for 99% of the chess players in Canada.

All I can say is I am glad there are only TWO candidates in the FIDE election - JUST IMAGINE the gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands there would be if there were more!
This thread would likely overtake the climate change thread(s) as the most number of posts of little or no value.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

Your information is incorrect. I have never been a delegate at a Fide meeting in my life no less voted at one.

I stand corrected. My information was incorrect or I misunderstood what was said. I apologize for that statement.

As I said I was FIDE rep for two weeks and was in Toronto the entire time. The only nerve you hit is that you posted a blatant lie about me and continue to do so. The one and only time we spoke on the phone you stated you were leaning towards GK (this was after the email was sent out to Hal that apparently bothered you so much) at odds with your version of events about when you changed your mind about GK. By the way the phone call was very civil and businesslike. I was told by you you would be back to us with in a few days of the phone call. That obviously never happened.

My understanding is that Hal Bond had a number of conversations with you. Contrary to what you think this is not the most important item that has been on my plate for the last three months.

Your earlier post about our seeking an endorsement early was frankly because the choice was and is so obvious that we did not foresee any problems.

It was obvious to you but not to anyone else. Kasparov's biggest problem was that his candidacy never filled me with any enthusiasm so I was not a very good spokesperson for the idea of voting for and endorsing him.

We did not imagine that Canada would have the dubious distinction of being one of the only countries to join the third world in support of an ex tin pot dictator who's aides during his tenure murdered an opposition journalist.

As I said before this allegation didn't stop Leong or Kasparov from saying very nice things about Kirsan in the past. You don't seem to want to address this point.

We were promised in the fullness of time that the CFC would disclose what exactly it received in return for Kirsan's endorsement. By the way if FIDE resources were used for the CFC that simply is another example of embezzlement that the FIDE General Secretary has so painstakingly documented. Well you are at it please disclose exactly how much Hal Bond gets paid on an annual basis for his arbitors jobs that FIDE gives him.
As i said i am not interested in conversing with someone who posts falsehoods both about me and there accounting of events. In my books you are not trustworthy and you can include that in your talking points about why you got what the board moderator here deemed as abuse.

I suggest that you look up embezzlement in the dictionary. It seems to have a different definition than the one which you are attempting to apply.

[Sasha Starr]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

It appears that Colombo or Sherlock has hit a snag in the investigation or he is holding out until the final scene when he confronts the evil doers.

The anoncement by Mr. Balgagbaev (FIDE) was made on 16th at about 9AM Eastern time. Obviously Bond's announcement at 7:06 AM could be read by a very few people here, in fact I've found about CFC's endorsement of KI from the Russian chess site, not the Canadian one! Nice job!

[Sid Belzberg]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

My information is that you voted in the FIDE election. If correct, you stuck around long enough to cast your vote at the FIDE election and then turned around and handed the day to day grunt work to someone else. It is quite possible that I got that wrong and if I am incorrect I will admit it. Your strong reaction suggests that I hit another nerve.

You are right the task of FIDE rep is a demanding one that requires someone who is committed and willing to do the considerable work required. I have to consult Hal Bond regularly on a range of FIDE related issues on an almost weekly basis particularly when we have kids either at world FIDE events or about to attend such events. Hal due to his experience is able to call or email the right person in order to resolve most issues quickly on any one of the several continents where we have had Canadians participating in FIDE events.

Your information is incorrect. I have never been a delegate at a Fide meeting in my life no less voted at one. As I said I was FIDE rep for two weeks and was in Toronto the entire time. The only nerve you hit is that you posted a blatant lie about me and continue to do so. The one and only time we spoke on the phone you stated you were leaning towards GK (this was after the email was sent out to Hal that apparently bothered you so much) at odds with your version of events about when you changed your mind about GK. By the way the phone call was very civil and businesslike. I was told by you you would be back to us with in a few days of the phone call. That obviously never happened.

Your earlier post about our seeking an endorsement early was frankly because the choice was and is so obvious that we did not foresee any problems. We did not imagine that Canada would have the dubious distinction of being one of the only countries to join the third world in support of an ex tin pot dictator who's aides during his tenure murdered an opposition journalist.

We were promised in the fullness of time that the CFC would disclose what exactly it received in return for Kirsan's endorsement. By the way if FIDE resources were used for the CFC that simply is another example of embezzlement that the FIDE General Secretary has so painstakingly documented. Well you are at it please disclose exactly how much Hal Bond gets paid on an annual basis for his arbitors jobs that FIDE gives him.
As i said i am not interested in conversing with someone who posts falsehoods both about me and there accounting of events. In my books you are not trustworthy and you can include that in your talking points about why you got what the board moderator here deemed as abuse.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

One thing I know for sure is that the way you rushed the decision so that no one that opposes you could use the FIDE election as a platform in the upcoming AGM was an act of cowardice even if what you did was intrinsically legal.

There is nothing stopping someone from running and using the FIDE election as platform in the upcoming AGM. So far all I hear is noise from Sasha implying that he will run for president and pay himself if he wins. Good luck with that. That should be a real vote getter among the voting members.

You clearly thought the executive could make the decision on the FIDE election when you were trying to rush us and bully us into making the decision to nominate Garry Kasparov within days of your first contact. The executive was not so pliable and compliant as you would have hoped. You send in your agents into the governors forum and get them to start a debate as to who should be voted for and endorsed. We engage in that debate and you lose there. The executive took that straw poll and discussion as a free and clear mandate to vote the way that their consciences dictated.

There was an abstention or two along the way but the bulk of the executive voted for Kirsan. Not one person voted for Gary. So now that you have failed twice you want to reopen the debate at the AGM using a whole new crew of voting members but the problem is that there won't be a whole new crew. Mostly its the same people. You lost one somewhat effective and likeable spokesperson for Kasparov in the person of Bob Armstrong and replaced him with Sasha Starr who will probably not be nearly as persuasive or effective as Bob was judging from his performance here. Is this the way democracy works in Sid's world? You keep taking the same vote until you get the result you want? And now we learn that in Sid's world it is cowardly to oppose an outside crew that wants to come in and steal the FIDE election and really doesn't give a rats ass about the CFC, or Canadian chess and its issues. You have taken up more of my time than you really deserve. You are rude and obnoxious and feel somehow entitled to dictate our vote and throw a tantrum and call me names when you don't get your way. You behave like a petulant child who is denied a new toy in the store.

I don't believe as you have claimed that a vote for Kirsan is tantamount to a vote for Putin which is like a vote for Hitler. There are two links in your chain of logic that are clearly broken there. You have not made your repeated case that Kirsan is a murderer and a thug. Further you have not indicated why Gary has cozied up to Kirsan in the past if he is this monster that you are now claiming that he is. Even a member of your ticket Leong had some pretty nice things to say about Kirsan in the past. So it seems to me that from the point of view of the Kasparov team Kirsan is a great guy until he represents an obstacle to the anointed one at which point he becomes the Devil incarnate.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

That still does not address your own statement about seeing no evidence, you still are either blind,stupid or dishonest in my estimation.


Your accusation of me being Fide rep that quit after an election is false. I was Fide rep (at one of my chess friends request from the olympiad team that we sponsored) for all of two weeks and found that the demands were too time consuming for me to do a good job so I resigned. I will not waste words with you any longer as I take offense to falsehoods being posted about me.

My information is that you voted in the FIDE election. If correct, you stuck around long enough to cast your vote at the FIDE election and then turned around and handed the day to day grunt work to someone else. It is quite possible that I got that wrong and if I am incorrect I will admit it. Your strong reaction suggests that I hit another nerve.

You are right the task of FIDE rep is a demanding one that requires someone who is committed and willing to do the considerable work required. I have to consult Hal Bond regularly on a range of FIDE related issues on an almost weekly basis particularly when we have kids either at world FIDE events or about to attend such events. Hal due to his experience is able to call or email the right person in order to resolve most issues quickly on any one of the several continents where we have had Canadians participating in FIDE events.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

Believe me, FIDE made its news about CFC's endorsement BEFORE Hal's announcement at 7:06 am. I'm getting the evidence. Its night now in Europe. I'll have the details tomorrow morning our time.

It appears that Colombo or Sherlock has hit a snag in the investigation or he is holding out until the final scene when he confronts the evil doers.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

ETA: The mudslinging isn't becoming to any of us.

That's debatable. In any case, I doubt it's finished.

[Ken Craft]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

As a current Governor I can confirm the date and time of the announcement of the KI endorsement on the Governors' website. It is precisely as stated by the President.

ETA: The mudslinging isn't becoming to any of us.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

This is a FIDE issue. The FIDE delegate takes the lead on issues that deal with FIDE. There was a terse announcement on the governors forum yesterday at 7:06 am by Hal Bond. Unless you can demonstrate that FIDE knew of the endorsement before that I suggest that you are as usual all wet.

A key scene in 2014: A Chess Odyssey:

[Vlad]: "Open the voting booth doors, Hal."
[Hal]: "I'm sorry, Dave-- er, I mean Vlad. I can't do that."
[Vlad]: "Why not, Hal? What's the problem?"
[Hal]: "I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do."

a later scene:

[Vlad]: "Hal, you are guilty of a conflict of interest. I have to terminate you."
[Hal]: "Da-- er, Vlad......... will I dream?"

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

OK, Vlad, lets get to the bottom of this. The OCA's meeting is intentionally being delayed, its not even officially closed.

And your contention is that I have something to do with this...

At the same time you've changed the AGM's date from June 28 to July 6,

I still don`t have your email address nor a complete list of the incoming governors. Its hard to notify someone of a meeting if I don`t have their email address.

so incoming President, Executives and Voting Members would be stuck by your "endorsement" which is clearly against the interests of Chess in Canada and wishes of the majority of people voted here: GK - almost 30, and KI - 1.

And yet in the votes that really count KI has emerged victorious.

You keep repeating over and over again that you don't need anything from CFC,

I`m just pointing out the futility of threatening to remove something that I don`t want or need as a way to attempt to shape my behaviour.

all you are doing is in the interests of the Canadian chess. Why are you repeating it without even being asked? Your actions speak for themselfs, but you will not get away with it.

Of course not. You have been saying this for a while.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

No doubt some others here will denounce me as "one-sided" but this is abuse. Cut it out or face the consequences.

I certainly hope that Ezra Levant asks me why I am not supporting Kasparov. This will be one of the talking points.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

Thanks....

[Sid Belzberg]

Re: FIDE Presidential Elections

No doubt some others here will denounce me as "one-sided" but this is abuse. Cut it out or face the consequences.

Ok Nigel the quote is cut out and put in more diplomatic terms.