The FIDE Presidency

[Wayne Komer]

The FIDE Presidency

The FIDE Presidency

June 15, 2018

From Leonard Barden's column in The Guardian this morning:

"There have been dramatic developments in the Fide presidential campaign to decide the head of the global chess body. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president for 23 years since 1995, seems ready to quit the contest after his Russian backers withdrew support.

Ilyumzhinov has been tarnished by US treasury sanctions, the loss of Fide’s bank account with UBS and most recently by the revelation that Glen Stark, his nominee for Fide general secretary, was a fake name with a false CV.

Moscow sources state that Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian deputy prime minister for six years from 2012 to 2018 and currently head of the Fifa World Cup organising committee, will now stand for Fide president. Dvorkovich has held senior positions in the Russian Chess Federation and was chairman of the organising committee for the 2014 world championship match at Sochi between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand.

It seems sure that Dvorkovich will have substantial funds to support his campaign and chess sources are already speculating that Georgios Makropoulos, the current Fide deputy president and until now the election favourite, may try to come to a power-sharing arrangement with the Russian."

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ential-contest


See also:

http://ruchess.ru/news/all/arkadiy_d...ezidenta_fide/

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Arkady Dvorkovich is, it seems, associated with former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (who preceded Putin). Medvedev is the current Russian Prime Minister. Near as I can tell from domestic media over there, Medvedev is more "pro-Western" than Putin, so, perhaps Dvorkovich is a compromise candidate. Russian history, and politics, is full of contrasting views of "pro-Western" approaches, going back even to Peter the Great, to more nationalistic, Slavophile, etc., approaches. Putin clearly falls in the latter group; Medvedev in the former.

Every dog has his day. It looks like Kirsan's day is done in the Year of the Dog.

I just hope that, should Dvorkovich be elected in the fall, the US Treasury Department holds off slapping the new FIDE President with sanctions as well.

[Wayne Komer]

The FIDE Presidency

June 28, 2018

From the official site today:

FIDE logo

FIDE Elections

FIDE advises potential candidates that the Presidential tickets and Continental Presidential tickets must reach the FIDE Secretariat at least three months before the opening of the General Assembly. The deadlines being 3 July 17.00 hrs (Athens time) for Presidential tickets and midnight 3 July (Athens time) for Continental Presidential ticket.

The Secretariat will acknowledge receipt of the documents. The Secretariat will announce the tickets on the FIDE website on July 4th 2018.

These forms are available at:

http://fide.com/component/content/ar...elections.html


NOMINATION FORM FOR PRESIDENTIAL TICKET FOR ELECTIONS

LETTER OF NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL TICKET FOR ELECTIONS (from Federation)

ACCEPTANCE FORM OF THE NOMINATION FOR ELECTIONS

LETTER OF NOMINATION FOR CONTINENTAL PRESIDENT FOR ELECTIONS (from Federation)

[Wayne Komer]

The FIDE Presidency

June 29, 2018

Ilyumzhinov has decided not to run for FIDE President

FIDE President supports the candidacy of the former Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich

Moscow. June 29. INTERFAX.RU - FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov does not intend to run for president of the World Chess Organization for another term.

"I decided not to be a candidate in October this year at the next FIDE Congress to the presidency of this organization," - said Ilyumzhinov to "Interfax" on Friday.

"I support the candidacy of Arkady Dvorkovich for FIDE president," - said Ilyumzhinov.

As reported, the former Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich was nominated for the presidency of FIDE by the Russian Federation of Chess.

Ilyumzhinov headed the FIDE since 1995. During the last year, the FIDE leadership tried to remove him from his post, arguing that he is on the sanctions list of the United States and it supposedly prevents him from serving as president of the federation to the fullest extent. In October 2017 the Executive Committee of the International Chess Federation voted not to put forward Ilyumzhinov as a candidate in the next election.

FIDE President elections will be held on October 3 in Batumi.

http://www.interfax.ru/sport/619101

[Sam Sharpe]

The King is dead!
Long live the King!

[Wayne Komer]

The FIDE Presidency

June 30, 2018

From:

http://ruchess.ru/en/news/all/arkady...s_his_ticket_/

Arkady Dvorkovich Announces His Ticket

On 29th June, the press conference of Arkady Dvorkovich took place in Moscow. The candidate for FIDE President in particular highlighted his goals and objectives and announced his ticket.

"I have recently told about my plans to run for FIDE President and today I officially confirm it. The necessary documents will be forwarded to FIDE Secretariat by July 3rd", says Arkady Dvorkovich. "The support from the RCF and other federations was asked, and I am grateful to my colleagues from the Russian Chess Federation who backed me up almost unanimously. The goal of my press conference is to inform the chess community about my plans, why and with whom I am running for FIDE President".

"Of course, there is a prehistory. My father dedicated his whole life to chess, and I have been involved in chess since my childhood, that's why I have sufficient reasons of my own. I have known chess players, arbiters, and organizers from an early age. I have been taking an active part in the chess life for many years. I was heading the RCF from 2010 till 2014, and this is a great experience. I am grateful to my colleagues who keep developing chess in Russia".

According to Arkady Dvorkovich, his team consists of Deputy President Bachar Kouatly (France), Vice-Presidents Mahir Mammedov (Azerbaijan) and Julio Granda Zuniga (Peru), General Secretary Sewa Enyonam Fumey (Togo), and Treasurer Zhu Chen (Qatar).

"Naturally, the campaign requires a certain amount of money, and it can be obtained if one works", noted Mr. Dvorkovich. "I will use my own resources which are not so great. But some companies are interested in a long-term cooperation and they are even ready to finance my campaign. First of all, a professional program should be developed. It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars on a pre-election campaign, while what matters is a long-term cooperation. The goal is not to win the elections, but to develop chess. The current FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has done a great job in making chess popular in the world. I think that chess deserves a further development. It is necessary to promote it at schools, in villages for children to be healthy and educated. We are trying to make chess a popular activity not only in parks and clubs, but also on the TV, that's why modern technologies are needed to take chess to the next level of popularity. Chess deserves much more, and there are professionals in my team who know how to promote chess".

"I will promote chess and make contracts regardless the FIDE presidential elections' outcome", adds Arkady Dvorkovich. "There are companies which will invest in chess development. I have an experience in the organization of chess competitions, for example, Tal Memorial. It requires a fair amount of money and an enormous work, - is there a substitute for it? Of course, it is, but it all depends on a team, and I have something to offer. I don't consider anyone as a rival, because we all have one goal to develop chess in the world, that's why the one who wins shall unite everyone. Georgious Makropoulos has a great experience in the work in FIDE, Nigel Short is very famous in the world of chess, but I hope that our arguments but I hope that our arguments prevail in the end".

___________

From Nigel Short’s twitter page:

2018 FIDE Election ticket: 1) Nigel Short (President, ENG) 2) Lukasz Turlej (Deputy President, POL) 3) Olalekan Adeyemi (Vice President, NGR) 4) Paul Spiller (Vice President NZL) 5) Ruth Haring (General Secretary, USA) 6) Panu Laine (Treasurer, FIN)

[Nigel Hanrahan]

So, the Russian Chess Federation has put forward Arkady Dvorkovich as their candidate, effectively dooming Kirsan's already slim chances of victory in the October vote.

But what's interesting – - and very, very instructive - – is that “Dvorkovich himself [is] under threat of being placed on a US sanctions list” as well, according to Colin McGourty at Chess24. [see link below] If that happens, then it will be clear to even the most thick-skulled chess blockheads that all the fuss about Kirsan was just the usual US BS and haughty hubris.

Which is what some of us have been saying all along.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/the...ov-era-is-over

[Wayne Komer]

The FIDE Presidency

July 4, 2018

The official lists (tickets) of the presidential candidates are out.

From the official site:

http://fide.com/component/content/ar...ions-2018.html


Tickets for FIDE Presidential elections 2018


FIDE has received, within the specified deadline of 3 July 2018, 17:00 (Athens time), the following three (3) Presidential Tickets of Arkady Dvorkovich, Georgios Makropoulos and Nigel Short for the upcoming FIDE elections 2018 (listed alphabetically):


a) Nominated by 13 National Federations, the Presidential Ticket of Arkady Dvorkovich:

Arkady Dvorkovich – President
Bachar Kouatly – Deputy President
Sewa Enyonam Fumey – General Secretary
Mahir Mammedov – Vice President
Julio Granda Zuniga – Vice President
Zhu Chen – Treasurer

The National Federations which nominate Arkady Dvorkovich’s ticket, alphabetically by continent:

Africa (4):

Ghana
Sudan
Togo
Tunisia

Americas (1):

Nicaragua

Asia (3):

Iraq
Mongolia
Qatar

Europe (5):

Azerbaijan
Belarus
France
Moldova
Russia

b) Nominated by 64 National Federations, the Presidential Ticket of Georgios Makropoulos:

Georgios Makropoulos – President
Malcolm Pein – Deputy President
Sundar Damal Villivalam – General Secretary
Martha Fierro – Vice President
Chitalu Chilufya – Vice President
Adrian M. Siegel – Treasurer

The National Federations which nominate Georgios Makropoulos’ ticket, alphabetically by continent:

Africa (12):

Algeria
Comoros Islands
Congo
Egypt
Gabon
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Mauritania
Senegal
Swaziland
Zambia

Americas (22):

Argentina
Aruba
Barbados
Bolivia
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
US Virgin Islands

Asia (12):

Bangladesh
Guam
Hong Kong
India
Laos
Maldives
Nauru
Nepal
Pakistan
Philippines
Solomon Islands
Timor-Leste

Europe (18):

Andorra
Cyprus
Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guernsey
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Malta
Monaco
Montenegro
Romania
San Marino
Scotland
Serbia
Spain
Switzerland


c) Nominated by 6 National Federations, the Presidential Ticket of Nigel Short:

Nigel Short – President
Lukasz Marek Turlej – Deputy President
Ruth Haring – General Secretary
Olalekan Adeyemi – Vice President
Paul Spiller – Vice President
Panu Laine – Treasurer

The National Federations which nominate Nigel Short’s ticket, alphabetically by continent:

Africa (1):

Nigeria

Americas (1):

USA

Asia (1):

New Zealand

Europe (3):

England
Finland
Poland

For information:

The Secretariat has received the following candidates for Continental Presidential elections 2018 (by Continent alphabetically) by the deadline (midnight):

Africa:

a) Essis Essoh (Ivory Coast)
b) Lewis Ncube (Zambia)
c) Tshepo Sitale (Botswana)

http://www.africa-chess.org

Americas:

Jorge Vega (Guatemala)

https://www.fideamerica.com

Asia:

a) Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan (UAE)
b) Ignatius Leong (SIN) – (this candidature was sent and received nearly an hour later the announced deadline and included only three signed nominations. In accordance with FIDE Electoral Rules and Chapter 6 of FIDE Statutes, its acceptance and regularity is under review by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, taking into account the specific rules of the Asian Continental Association, if applicable).

Letter to Chairman of Electoral Commission from Asian Chess Federation regarding Asian Chess Federation tickets

http://asianchess.com

Europe:

Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Georgia)

http://www.europechess.org/ecu-circu...tter-no-22018/

[Alex Ferreira]

..... b) Nominated by 64 National Federations, the Presidential Ticket of Georgios Makropoulos:
..... Americas (22)
..... Canada

---

So Canada (CFC?) is nominating Makropoulos (ie Ilyumzhinov 2.0?) ... I suppose that is not the same as voting (yet).
What does this mean? How did we come to this decision? Is / should this be knowledge of the chess community in Canada?
Who at CFC decides to nominate and later vote for FIDE president?
Just curious,

Alex Ferreira

[Vlad Drkulec]

Nominations do not necessarily obligate the CFC to vote for someone but there was a vote before Mr. Dvorkovitch and Mr. Short stepped up and the board decided to support Mr. Makropoulos over Mr. Ilyumzhinov.. As long as he doesn't wind up on some U.S. Treasury sanctions list Mr. Dvorkovitch appears to be an impressive candidate. Mr. Makropoulos offers some continuity and has done a good job in light of the Ilyumzhinov situation with U.S. Treasury department. Mr. Short would have some explaining to do before being seriously considered as a candidate.

Mr. Makropoulos is not likely to want the job for an extended period of time.

Nominating someone for FIDE president is the prerogative of national federation presidents.

[Victor Plotkin]

I am pretty sure that after the last World Cup and the well-known conflict between A.Kovalyov and Azmaiparashvili, (who got support from his boss Makropoulos) Makropoulos didn't even dream about getting support from the CFC.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Vlad:

Thanks for the very clear answer re individual federations and the FIDE Presidency, and the CFC timeline.

Bob A

[Vlad Drkulec]

I am pretty sure that after the last World Cup and the well-known conflict between A.Kovalyov and Azmaiparashvili, (who got support from his boss Makropoulos) Makropoulos didn't even dream about getting support from the CFC.

I was furious enough about that situation to entertain the idea of boycotting the Olympiad. Cooler heads prevailed.

[Victor Plotkin]

To boycott the Olympiad is one thing. To nominate the person (Makro) who was not directly involved in the conflict, but publicly supports Azmai, isn't looking good.

[Ken Craft]

To be clear, the individual who decided to nominate Makropoulos was the CFC President.