The One FIDE election campaign of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is now claiming the support of 64 national federations around the world, which they illustrate with the following graphic:

"The number 64 is significant," they write, "as it is a symbol for the 64 squares of our beloved game. A game which exhibits sportsmanship and respect, principles which Kirsan’s team will continue to honour during this election campaign."

The federations they are claiming are Afghanistan, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bermuda , Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Cameroon, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Korea, Sudan, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.

The candidate for reelection as FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has opened a personal account on Facebook, "to establish better communication with chess enthusiasts around the world."

Kirsan on the road

Following the opening of the fourth leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, visited the Chess Academy of Armenia. Founded in 2002 through the initiative of GM Smbat Lputian, under the auspices of the Armenian Chess Federation, and supported by the Armenian Government, the Chess Academy of Armenia is the leading center of chess training and organization in Armenia today. FIDE President expressed his confidence in GM Lputian’s work which apart from the main academy in Yerevan extends to another 43 Academies around Armenia. He also met members of the Chess Academy as well as several children and parents. [Full report and more pictures here] In the past week the Armenian Chess Federation has pledged their support for Ilyumzhinov's campaign ticket.

FIDE President and the President of the South Africa Chess Federation Emelia Ellappen

On the 6th of July the FIDE President arrived in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia to participate in Administrators seminar for the leaders of African Chess Federations. He addressed the guests of the seminar, participated in the presentation that was prepared and submitted by FIDE Commercial Director Mr. Geoffrey Borg, discussed with the leaders of African Chess Federations a number of the most urgent issues of chess development in the African continent. [Full report and more pictures here]

A Timely Pledge of $1 Million for Chess

Kirsan Ilyzumzhinov, the president of the World Chess Federation, announced Friday that he is personally putting up $1 million to finance a series of 10 tournaments in Asia over the next ten years to honor Florencio Campomanes, his predecessor as president. Campomanes, who was from the Philippines, died in May at the age of 83. The tournaments will be in 10 countries: the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei.

Ilyumzhinov is running for re-election this year and the campaign against his opponent, Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion, has become highly competitive and even bizarre. The federation uses a one country, one vote system, so each country’s vote is equally important. [Full article]

Ilyumzhinov Promises to Open His Checkbook Again

Ten days after Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the World Chess Federation, pledged to personally provide $1 million in prizes for a series of tournaments in Asia, he has promised $500,000 for two tournaments in the Caribbean and in Latin America. The announcement came Sunday during a visit to Cuba to coincide with the end of the 45th

Capablanca Memorial tournament. Ilyzumzhinov has financed chess events in the past — and he built a chess mecca in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, the small republic in southern Russia, of which he is president – but he is being particularly generous right now. As a businessman with a somewhat murky past (it has not clear how he made his money), his motivation to support chess by dipping into his own pocket is a bit mysterious, unless it is pure altruism. [Full article]

Yazici announces the ticket of We R Europe

Till the deadline of 27 June 2010, all tickets has been presented to E.C.U. Office in Berlin. By the official circular letter published by ECU General Secretary, there are three candidate groups running for 2010 European Elections.

Our opponents will be under the leadership of Mr. Silvio Danailov (Bulgaria) and Dr. Robert von Weinzacker (Germany). We respect our dear opponents and wish the best wins the elections. We believe in that those three candidates will increase the quality of election campaign.

Here is the ticket of We R Europe group. Team of We R Europe:

• Ali Nihat Yazici – for President of the ECU
• Peter Rajcsanyi – for Deputy President of the ECU
• GM Evgeny Bareev – for Vice President of the ECU
• Geoffrey Borg – for General Secretary of the ECU
• Joan Antuan Obregon Gutierrez – for Treasurer of the ECU

If we leave the future of the game only in the hands of politicians then, unfortunately, we must objectively point out that our game can only continue to regress. The interests of all the stakeholders are more varied and consequently the organisation must have the proper setup to respect this in a professional way. All interested parties whether professional or amateur must work together to achieve common goals and objectives.

Chess rules are not like football or basketball where spectators understand the game with its relatively simple rules. In the case of our game it is clear that the level of understanding and appreciation of the game depends on the experience and study one has devoted to it.

The ECU Board must be professional in its approach and allocate its financial and human resources effectively, in order to deliver the strategic policies and development targets set out. We must continue to focus our core work in the categories below, with an emphasis on the target development areas bulleted and marked in bold.

Based on this belief, we are proposing a team of Board and Commission members who will firstly be truly representative of the European strengths but also who have wide and proven experience in their respective areas in delivering results. Our success in our federations is the guarantee of our promises.

Winning is a habit, Success is a choice.

• We R Europe campaign site

To:
All European Federations
Associated members, Board members,
FIDE and FIDE Zone Presidents

5 July 2010

Circular Letter No. 7/2010

Dear Friends,

On 1 July the bid deadline for the European championships 2012 elapsed. We have received the following bids which were opened today.

European Youth Championship 2012

• Halkidiki, Greece (optional European Youth Rapid 2012)
• Jerusalem, Israel
• Ohrid, FYROM
• Praha, Czech Republic
• Sibenik, Croatia
• Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkey

European Club Cup (men and women) 2012

• Antalya – Kemer – Kundu – Belek, Turkey
• Eilat, Israel
• Rhodes, Greece
• Rijeka, Croatia
• Tbilisi Region, Georgia

European Individual Championship 2012

• Antwerpen, Belgium (men and women)
• Gaziantep, Turkey (only women – including Rapid and Blitz)
• Plovdiv, Bulgaria (only men)
• European Individual Senior Championship 2012
• Kaunas, Lithuania (incl. Senior Rapid Championship)

European Senior Team Championship 2012

• Courmayeur or Saint Vincent, Italy
• Dresden, Germany
• Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia
• St. Veit/Glan, Austria

European Youth Team Championship 2012

• Pardubice, Czech Republic

European Amateur Championship 2012

• Antwerpen, Belgium
• Pardubice, Czech Republic
• European Team Championship 2013 (men and women)
• Andorra la Vella, Andorra
• Bucharest, Romania
• Courmayeur or St. Vincent, Italy
• Maribor, Slovenia
• Warsaw, Poland

  ECU Circular Letter No. 07/2010