CFC and FIDE election FAQ

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  • CFC and FIDE election FAQ

    CFC and FIDE election FAQ
    It occurred to me that much of the discussion on chesstalk with respect to the FIDE election is a colossal waste of time with the proponents of Gary Kasparov repeatedly making the same baseless charges and claims to which I respond and which they then repeat. I really don’t have time to be spending so much time with emotionally immature people running on the same hamster wheel so I thought that I would post this FAQ which will hopefully contain all of their claims and accusations and I will deal with them once and for all. I can update this FAQ if anything new comes up or if it is found to contain any factual errors.

    The Chess Federation of Canada is supporting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for FIDE president. Aside from being a nice guy he has been a significant contributor to chess around the world and has been a steady hand in guiding FIDE through some occasionally turbulent waters. I am told that he does not draw a salary and he often dips into his own pockets to support chess projects in FIDE.

    Q. Why is the CFC supporting Vladimir Putin?
    The CFC is not supporting Vladimir Putin. Putin is not running in the FIDE election. I can understand why Garry Kasparov would like to run against Vladimir Putin as this might increase his chances of winning the FIDE election. Vladimir Putin is a popular politician in Russia regularly winning re-election by large margins. He is supported by most of the Russian population. The CFC shall defer to the Canadian government on questions of politics and foreign policy and support the Canadian government’s position with regard to the situation in Crimea.

    Q. Why is the CFC supporting a thug and a murderer? (Sid Belzberg)
    “Nigel insinuating Kirsan having a hand in the murder of a journalist, a lie long ago debunked but conveniently ‘forgotten’ as the FIDE election looms.” – GM Kevin Spraggett

    • “Chess is a kind of human activity which has room for manifestations of both intellect and the competitive spirit. But this is a bloodless competition. FIDE’s motto is Gens una sumus. And personally, I approve of only one kind of battles – the ones that take place over a board with 64 squares.” - Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

    It is the belief of the CFC and the Russian authorities under Boris Yeltsin who investigated this thoroughly at the time that it happened that Kirsan had nothing to do with the murder of any journalist. There has been no credible information that contradicts this view despite repeated claims by Kasparov loyalists.

    Any claim that Kirsan is a thug is simply a lie and an extraordinary claim which does not stand up to the scrutiny of any casual observer. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his campaign and supporters have treated the CFC and its executive with respect at all times. The same cannot be said of the Garry Kasparov supporters.

    Q. Isn’t the Canadian Government displeased with the CFC over the decision to support Kirsan?
    As a result of a vice.com article and claims by Kasparov supporters I have contacted the Canadian government and specifically the foreign affairs minister’s spokesperson quoted in the article and he indicated that they are not displeased with the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC). The government of Canada does not provide any support for Canadian chess beyond providing a small tax break for chess and other cultural activities.

    Q. Who is Sasha Starr?
    I have no idea. He hasn’t been involved in chess organization before. I do know that he has a temper based on observation of his online behaviour and based on an embarrassing display he put on at an Olympiad. Sasha selectively leaks confidential information from the discussions on the governors forum. Somehow this qualifies him to run for CFC president.

    Q. Didn’t a majority of the CFC governors support Kirsan?
    Of the 24 governors who voted in a straw poll 12 indicated we should vote for Kirsan, 8 indicated we should vote for Garry and 4 voted that we should abstain. Many governors did not vote or engage in the 22 pages of discussion on the governors forum indicating that the FIDE election is not a high priority for everyone.

    Q. Did the executive vote to support Kirsan?
    Yes the executive voted 5-0 with two abstentions to support Kirsan. The executive or directors of the CFC are the ones who are charged with making decisions on the FIDE election.

    Q. Did you refuse to speak to Kasparov’s representatives?
    No, I did not refuse to speak to Kasparov’s representatives. On Canada Day, I got an email response to a eight day old email that I had sent to Robert Hamilton asking me to provide my private unlisted number for a conversation after supper. I spent that time with relatives and swimming.

    Q. Who is Vladimir Drkulec
    I am an organizer, chess player and chess teacher from the Windsor area. I have played chess since the 1970s with my first CFC tournament being the Ontario High School Chess Championship around 1973. I taught finance at the undergraduate university level for five and a half years in the early 1990s and have spent most of my working life in IT related positions or technical sales and support either as an employee or a consultant. I still do IT work occasionally but do not actively solicit jobs though I probably will start doing so again Real Soon Now if I can stop fighting with the Kasparov people long enough to make some phone calls.
    As far as education, I have an MBA with undergrad degrees in business and psychology. I also have an electrical electronic technology diploma.
    I am a big reader of both chess books and books on other topics. I have something like 1200 chess books and probably at least five times that number of non-chess related books (though I haven’t counted the latter and may be understating by a factor of two or more).

    Q. Why should GK be rewarded with the top position in FIDE after all of his attempts to destroy it?

    I couldn't figure that one out myself.

    Q. If GK's has such easy access to corporate wealth and sponsors, why could he not find the money for his own match with Shirov?

    You got me.

    His match with Ponomariov, pursuant to the Prague (reunification) agreement also failed to land sponsorship. This created the bottleneck in the World Championship cycle which will finally be cleared up in November of this year. The million dollar election lawsuit of 2010, which FIDE won, cost all member Federations.

    All of this might be forgiven if GK was a changed man, but his campaign suggests otherwise.

    Q. You are a liar. You are scum. You are_________(fill in blank).

    Whatever. An insult is a gift that you can refuse to accept. Keep your gift.

    Q. Gary insulted the chair of the IOC and urged a boycott of sponsors and sports coverage. Do you think this is wise given efforts to have chess included in the Olympic winter games?

    I don't think that this was wise but if you show a picture of Putin to Garry its like waving a red flag at a bull.
    Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Tuesday, 8th July, 2014, 05:53 PM.

  • #2
    Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

    Originally posted by Vlad Drkulec View Post
    iit is found to contain any factual errors.

    Canada is supporting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for FIDE president.
    You mean the CFC, yeah?

    Has ever Kirsan visited Canada over his 19 year tenure?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

      it is the belief of the CFC and the Russian authorities under Boris Yeltsin who investigated this thoroughly at the time that it happened that Kirsan had nothing to do with the murder of any journalist. There has been no credible information that contradicts this view despite repeated claims by Kasparov loyalists.

      Vlad thank you for your list of lies that you continue to publish. You really should consider working in the propaganda department for Russia. The Nigel that Spraggett refers to and disagrees with is GM Nigel Short ex challenger for the FIDE Word Chess Championship, Kevin often will post contrarian views on his website and although Kevin and I are very good friends there are many things we disagree on. This being one of them. The other thing I disagree with is Kevin's support of Putin annexing Crimea that he also has written about on his website. Even though Spraggett actually supports the CFC endorsing Kasparov for Canada he is not God or a credible reference on the murder of Larisa Yudina.

      Here is a quote from "Putin's Chess War" article in World Affairs. established in 1837 it is a very prestigious bi monthly journal on US Foreign policy.

      "On June 7, 1998, newspaper editor Larisa Yudina, who investigated corruption in Kalmykia’s government, was murdered in the capital, Elista. One of the people convicted for her murder was Sergei Vaskin, Ilyumzhinov’s childhood friend, campaign manager, and presidential adviser'.


      Another aide of Kirsan was involved in this gruesome murder as well where Mrs Yadinsa was stabbed 22 times. Both aides were convicted and it was widely reported in newspapers world wide at the time. Credible human rights groups have no doubt that Kirsan ordered the murder and the only thing that protected Kirsan from being indicted was the infamously corrupt Yeltsin regime. This case resembles mafia murders where it is very difficult to prove 100% that the boss ordered the killing even though the circumstantial evidence and motivation is overwhelming.

      For Vlad to post such an outrage and state that this is the view of the CFC is an insult to Canadian chess players. This is propoganda put out by a small group of executives at the CFC

      I can understand why Garry Kasparov would like to run against Vladimir Putin as this might increase his chances of winning the FIDE election.
      Gary is absolutely runing against Putin's agent. Here is another quote from World Affairs.

      "Yet the Kremlin is pulling all the stops to ensure the reelection of Ilyumzhinov and the defeat of Russia’s chess legend Kasparov. National chess federations from Jamaica to Singapore have been contacted by Russian embassy representatives urging support for Ilyumzhinov. Last month, Vladimir Putin personally met with Ilyumzhinov, posing for official photographs. The Russian Chess Federation—which nominated Ilyumzhinov for reelection—recently appointed a new board of trustees that is chaired by Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, and that includes such famous chess luminaries as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and Kremlin-connected businessman Gennady Timchenko, who has been sanctioned by the US government over Putin’s aggression in Ukraine."

      Isn’t the Canadian Government displeased with the CFC over the decision to support Kirsan?

      More to the point is that the Canadian Government has a dim view of Kirsan. The Canadian government correctly stated in the Vice Article that the CFC is an independent organization that is free to do as it sees fit. of course Vlad like's to use this to mislead and try to send the message that the Canadian government supports Kirsan.

      Q. Didn’t a majority of the CFC governors support Kirsan?
      No, only 50% supported Kirasn, after being completely misled by Vlad and Hal Bond. Furthermore one governor has since changed his vote to Kasparov (it was just a straw poll so why not) so actually less then 50% support Kirsan and furthermore only 8 out of 24 supprted actual endorsement. Despite this the CFC went ahead with the endorsement anyways. The reason it was not an actual vote was that just like with the chess talk poll here it was for optics. The reality is that the executive were determined to enodrse Kirsan regardless of chesstalk polls or the governors input. legally by the way under the NFP the only vote the "Governors/voting members" are entitled is at the AGM. The executive has free reign to do as it desires and so it did.
      THe most pathetic part of this is the key advisor was Hal Bond who is frequently employed by FIDE as an arbitor most recently at the Candidates matches in Russia. He has declared himself conflicted out of this but weighed in heavily on the matter. So the CFC embarrasses itself goes against the wishes of the governors/voting members, effectively alienates me as a sponsor and why??? In my opinion it was so that the 5 execs can protect there buddy Hal Bond's job. The FIDE offer of $80,000 worth of tournaments is a ruse they have offered many federations and are known to never follow through with these so called tournaments that they promise.
      The above FAQ is a disgusting display of Vlad's lies. Vlad and his small cadre of executives has sold the integrity of the CFC for a promise of
      sponsorship of $80,000 worth of tournaments in Canada. A well known promise that FIDE has frequently not followed through with with other chess federations.

      . If GK's has such easy access to corporate wealth and sponsors, why could he not find the money for his own match with Shirov?


      That was a different time. The Kasparov Chess foundation that I was a director for many years is endowed by a billionare and is thrivng around the world. One member of Gary's campaign ticket singlehandedly built a huge chess center in St Louis Missouri and is a fund manager with over half a trillion (yes trillion!) dollars worth of assets under management.
      in addition to this Gary has had endorsements for this campaign form Richard Branson and Bono. Of course Vlad ignores this and instead resorts to cheap shots.
      BTW, Garry did find sponsors for his match vs Shirov. Sponsor was in the US and offered $600K. But Shirov declined to play for this amount of prize fund
      and match vs Ponomarev was cancelled by then Ukrainian prsident ...Yanukovich!

      Q. Why should GK be rewarded with the top position in FIDE after all of his attempts to destroy it?

      I couldn't figure that one out myself.


      That does not surprise me. Gary at one time did have a competing organization as he was mistreated by FIDE. Without the current administration running FIDE Gary see's it as a perfectly viable organization.

      Q. You are a liar. You are scum. You are_________(fill in blank).

      Hey one of the very few thing's i have seen Vlad post that i agree with. The first two will do fine i don't need to fill in the blank.

      For those of you that have not seen the Article i already posted from World Affairs "Putin's Chess War" here it is again. Of course Vlad states that he knows better. It reminds me of a bumper sticker i once saw "Who needs Google? My wife knows F*cking everything!"

      Putin’s Chess War

      1 July 2014

      MOSCOW — Just as during the Cold War, when sporting competitions between the free world and the Communist camp inevitably acquired a political dimension, big sport is increasingly becoming big politics for Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the ongoing campaign for the presidency of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, that will be decided at the congress in Tromso, Norway, on August 11th.

      Two contenders—both of them Russian—are vying for the position. One is Garry Kasparov, the legendary grandmaster, the 13th world chess champion, and an eight-time winner of the Chess Olympiads. The other is the incumbent, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the former president of Kalmykia, whose 17-year rule over this southern Russian republic was marred by frequent allegations of corruption and abuse of power. On June 7, 1998, newspaper editor Larisa Yudina, who investigated corruption in Kalmykia’s government, was murdered in the capital, Elista. One of the people convicted for her murder was Sergei Vaskin, Ilyumzhinov’s childhood friend, campaign manager, and presidential adviser.

      Given the credentials of the two candidates, the choice should be clear. Yet the Kremlin is pulling all the stops to ensure the reelection of Ilyumzhinov and the defeat of Russia’s chess legend Kasparov. National chess federations from Jamaica to Singapore have been contacted by Russian embassy representatives urging support for Ilyumzhinov. Last month, Vladimir Putin personally met with Ilyumzhinov, posing for official photographs. The Russian Chess Federation—which nominated Ilyumzhinov for reelection—recently appointed a new board of trustees that is chaired by Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, and that includes such famous chess luminaries as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and Kremlin-connected businessman Gennady Timchenko, who has been sanctioned by the US government over Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

      As the head of a respected international body, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov—a member of Putin’s United Russia party, who has acted as Moscow’s unofficial envoy to Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi, and Bashar al-Assad—is an important asset for the Kremlin. His replacement by Garry Kasparov—a longtime opponent of Putin’s regime—would naturally be a major setback. It is to be hoped, however, that the delegates gathering in Tromso next month will be more concerned with the future of world chess than with the political interests of Vladimir Putin.
      Last edited by Sid Belzberg; Tuesday, 8th July, 2014, 08:15 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

        I probably won't comment on what the Kasparov people do and say until after the CFC election. In order to keep to this discipline I have placed most of them in my ignore list at least temporarily. I will continue to update the FIDE election FAQ.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

          1.As an official reason for the Ilyumzhinov's SUPPORT - it was stated that Kasparov's representatives were pushy, etc. This is simply not true. Kasparov's program is clearly much more exiting and credible, he is going to stop all the payments to FIDE from the National Federation, which is a very tangible benefit to CFC and many others. And CFC could benefit also from association with the Kasparov Chess Foundation plus the biggest patron of the Canadian Chess Mr. Sid Belzberg was offering to renew his support of the Canadian Chess. This information was available elsewhere including the Chess Talk. What is Canada gaining by ENDORSING Ilyumzhinov? There are no answers except some noise about $80,000.00 for the 4 tournaments Anybody saw the contract? Between whom? Was a Canadian lawyer involved in preparation of this contract?
          2.So according to Vlad "Canada is supporting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for FIDE president". I really hope that one day these manipulations will stop once and for all. There is a support and there is an endorsement. I've read all Governors' discussion on the FIDE election issue. Many of them wanted to have an official poll. There were only two people clearly for Ilyumzhinov all the way: Vlad Drkulec and Hal Bond. As you know in January this year Hal Bond told me that he has a conflict of interests due to his arbiter's assignments from the FIDE. Most of the Governors wanted to have a poll, but both Vlad and Hal have skillfully manipulated the process, disclosures about both candidates. It was not even revealed that Mr. Ilyumzhinov in the last few years was trying 3 times was to create different commercial for profit entities with partners (Tarasov, Bessel Kok and Polsson).
          3.Finally after a pressure from some Governors Vlad and Hal have reluctantly agreed to the poll, which they've called at the very last moment non-binding. In any case, for the endorsement of Ilyumzhinov there were only 33,33% of votes! Counting Hal Bond, who has a clear conflict of interest. And in the popular vote here on the Chess Talk Ilyumzhinov had only 1 vote against almost 30 for Kasparov. However the Executives, being ill informed, voted for the ENDORSEMENT. Not for the support, but for the ENDORSEMENT, MAKING CANADA A JOKE AROUND THE WORLD AND CHASING AWAY THE BIGGEST SPONSOR OF CHESS CANADA EVER HAD!
          4.His personal attacks on me and other people I will leave for now. Maybe I'll deal with it at some other time and place.
          The wishes and opinions of the public at large and the Governors were completely disregarded! Is this style of governance acceptable?
          Last edited by Sasha Starr; Tuesday, 8th July, 2014, 11:46 AM.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

            Originally posted by Vlad Drkulec View Post
            I probably won't comment on what the Kasparov people do and say until after the CFC election. In order to keep to this discipline I have placed most of them in my ignore list at least temporarily. I will continue to update the FIDE election FAQ.
            Big surprise!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

              Sid, you are being warned for this previous post that is full of abuse of another poster.

              "Vlad thank you for your list of lies that you continue to publish ..."

              "The above FAQ is a disgusting display of Vlad's lies ..."

              "Q. You are a liar. You are scum. You are_________(fill in blank).

              Hey one of the very few thing's i have seen Vlad post that i agree with. The first two will do fine i don't need to fill in the blank."

              --------------------------------

              You should also use quotes and refrain from cutting and pasting entire articles that do not belong to you. Instead, try to summarize the author's point of view.

              Have a nice day.
              Last edited by Nigel Hanrahan; Tuesday, 8th July, 2014, 12:05 PM. Reason: evidence added
              Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

                Originally posted by Vlad Drkulec View Post
                CFC and FIDE election FAQ
                It occurred to me that much of the discussion on chesstalk with respect to the FIDE election is a colossal waste of time with the proponents of Gary Kasparov repeatedly making the same baseless charges and claims to which I respond and which they then repeat. I really don’t have time to be spending so much time with emotionally immature people running on the same hamster wheel so I thought that I would post this FAQ which will hopefully contain all of their claims and accusations and I will deal with them once and for all. I can update this FAQ if anything new comes up or if it is found to contain any factual errors.
                ...etc etc

                Once again, I'd like to get an answer from Vlad on what I consider a very important question. This is my 3rd attempt and Vlad has ignored the question so far. I'm hoping he'll add it to the FAQ and answer it, even though I know his answer will use Dale Carnegie-type techniques to sidestep the issue and make him (Vlad) appear in the best possible light to the easily influenced sheeple:

                Q: With the knowledge that the voting members were highly polarized on the choice between Kirsan and Garry, and the additional knowledge that ordinary CFC members are highly supportive of a vote for Kasparov (your own poll on ChessTalk), why did you decide to cause what you knew would be maximum controversy and divisiveness within the CFC, perhaps to last years to come, by not just voting for Kirsan, but ENDORSING him, when you could have taken a MUCH less divisive path by choosing to abstain in the FIDE election?
                Only the rushing is heard...
                Onward flies the bird.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: CFC and FIDE election FAQ

                  These sure aren't the questions I frequently ask myself when trying to figure out how this strange decision got made.

                  Comment

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