Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

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  • Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

    http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6832

    Some excerpts:

    Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world ... but the disclosure by the Turkish federation may be the first time that anyone has admitted it so matter-of-factly.

    Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said, “Paying for votes is not allowed by FIDE and by its members.”

    Four years ago, Mr. Yazici, was part of the Right Move campaign headed by Bessel Kok to unseat Mr. Ilyumzhinov. Mr. Kok and Right Move lost. Mr. Ilyumzhinov was recently re-elected at the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. After his defeat, Mr. Yazici wrote a letter to the chess community alleging Mr. Ilyumzhinov had bribed the voters, without providing evidence to support his charges. Since Yazici wrote the letter, he has become a staunch supporter of Ilyumzhinov and is now one of FIDE’s vice presidents. And the chess player he referred to in his letter, Mikhail Gurevich, a former Soviet player who lived in Belgium from 1991 to 2005, now plays for Turkey.

  • #2
    Re: Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

    Official Answer of Turkish Chess Federation

    I have read the NYT report saying that we got 2012 World Chess Olympiad by paying bribes to delegates, according to our own auditing reports. This claim is factually untrue. The Turkish Chess Federation spent around 178,000 Turkish Lira for the 2012 Olympiad Campaign in 2008 – which is not a very large sum when you are bidding for an Olympiad. The money was spent mainly for for our delegation's travel and stay in Dresden, setting up and maintaining a stand in Dresden, the "Turkish Night" party, as well as gifts and souvenirs promoting the city of Istanbul. The Campaign was very successful: I would like to remind readers that the Turkish Federation beat the rival bid from Montenegro by 45 votes: 90 for Istanbul versus 45 for Budva.

    All of the expenses incurred by the TCF in the Olympiad Campaign are documented by invoices from third parties, such as airline companies, hotels, catering companies and Dresden 2008 (for the stand). None of the invoices involve delegates to the FIDE Congress, no money was given to a FIDE delegate, and none of their expenses were reimbursed.

    The reality behind this news that is currently being circulated is that there is a very destructive opposition to my Presidency of the TCF, which I have faced in the last six years. They have failed to win democratic elections and are now trying to take down my management by other means. They want to create an international scandal before the Financial General Assembly of Turkish Chess Federation, which is scheduled for next Saturday (November 27th). The timing of the news push by our opposition is very interesting: just 72 hours before the Financial General Assembly and in a US newspaper. Clearly the aim is to have the report of our auditing committee rejected and to force extraordinary elections to the TCF in three months.

    I would like to stress: the Turkish Chess Federation has never paid a penny to any delegates to get their votes. If that were not the case, today I would be the President of European Chess Union. We are sure that more than 150 delegates of Turkish Chess Federation General Assembly will express their confidence in our management and support the work we have done over the last ten years to turn chess from a minor hobby into a major sporting activity in Turkey.

    It is worth mentioning that the Financial General Assembly will be broadcast live on Turkish Chess TV on 27th Saturday 2010 at 14:00h CET. Everyone can watch the proceedings.

    Ali Nihat Yazici
    President of the Turkish Chess Federation

    Stay tuned for more updates on Chessdom.com

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

      Originally posted by Jean Sasseville View Post
      Official Answer of Turkish Chess Federation
      To have a more wider picture we should add a response from K.I.
      http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6835

      Comment


      • #4
        New In Chess # 7-2010

        One could also read a lot about the election process for FIDE, etc., in the current issue of New In Chess.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

          I find that the best article is:
          http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/tu...ry/#more-32291

          GM Attalik and Sokolov are interviewed and expressed their doubts.

          The general assembly of the Turkish Federation is tomorrow. More article to come.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

            Here's link to NYTimes that gave this scandal credence, Atalik is Turkey's Spraggett, but at least he gets his hands in some pots...
            http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...hess-olympiad/
            Votes bought? how shocking. Yellow journalism, even for internet counting hits for ad revenue..the new par..

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Rumors of corruption have long plagued the chess world

              All of this looks very possible. I wouldn't be surprised if this happened. Fide always operates in funny ways
              Shameless self-promotion on display here
              http://www.youtube.com/user/Barkyducky?feature=mhee

              Comment

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