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Anatoly Karpoov starts his attack by listing broken promises and disappearing deals. The first broadside is personal and asks:
"Who Is Kirsan? The chess world has been regularly humiliated by Kirsan’s statements in the press about, for example, meeting alien beings and admiring Saddam Hussein and his sons. Even worse are the many stories about corruption, poverty, repression, and even murder in the Russian republic of Kalmykia, which he governs (perhaps not for long, according to Gazeta.ru). However, some say the only thing we should pay attention to is what good he has done in FIDE. Our answer: not much."
Karpov then goes on to list "disappearing deals and broken promises," starting with the replacement of the traditional world championship in 1997 with a knock-out system that he claimed would bring five million dollars a year. There followed Continental Championships, a chess city in Dubai, Grand Prix events and sponsorship for World Championships.
Challenger Anatoly Karpov
"Where does all the money go?" asks Karpov and examines the annual FIDE budget of around three million dollars, "mostly collected from the federations." According to FIDE just 8% went to chess development. Karpov also doubts Ilyumzhinov's claim that he has spent tens of millions in personal investments in chess.
The most explosive part of the article touches on "campaign tricks", which according to Karpov include
"...offering personal financial rewards to federation leaders; using FIDE money and resources on the campaign in which FIDE is officially neutral; threatening federations who might support his opponents with the loss of development funds and events; even physical threats against delegates. In fact, many of the federations that Kirsan currently claims to have the support of are simply too afraid of reprisals to make their opposition known. Several of them have expressed their support of Karpov’s candidacy confidentially and are biding their time to announce their decision in due course. This casts serious doubt on the total vote count claimed by Kirsan’s campaign."
Finally Karpov says Kirsan is still falsely claiming "he was nominated by the Russian Federation, when in reality the only official nomination from Russia went to Anatoly Karpov." He reminds readers that the Karpov campaign is seeking to disqualify Kirsan and his ticket Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. "We will comment further if and when permitted to do so," the article ominously ends.
In a separate article Karpov's campaign paints a dire picture of the preparations for the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. Apparently FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer visited the site and "was in for a rude surprise":
"His hopes of seeing a completed hotel, ready to host guests for the bi-annual gathering, were dashed. He had to fight his way into the building through dust, mounds of cement bags and construction debris – all the while holding his nose due to the overpowering stench of paint.
The hotel complex, named “Olympiyski” (Olympic) and labeled, misleadingly, as a four-star establishment, was originally scheduled to open this month. Even if the hotel does finally open its doors, it is far from certain that all of the Olympiad’s participants – 1,600 of them – will be provided food and services, as no contract with the servicing company has been signed to date."
Kirsan Nikolaevich, less than two months left before the start of the World Chess Olympiad, there is leaked information that Khanty-Mansiysk will not be able to provide enough room for all guests. Some teams may even be denied admission. One of your senior colleague from FIDE even used the word "disaster". Is the situation is really so serious?
I
do not want to exaggerate the situation and talk about a catastrophe, but the
situation is alarming. The Olympiad organizers had promised to build three hotels,
but built only one. But even this one, which was built a month ago, is not functioning.
I have toured Asia, Africa and South America, and chess players from some of
the countries have complained that they had, as far back as May 2010, been denied
arrangements for Khanty-Mansiysk. They were told by the Organising Committee
that there were not enough empty seats on charter flights, no place in the hotels.
Can you imagine, say, the Winter Olympics in Sochi telling the hockey players
of Canada or Sweden: "Sorry, we have no place for you." But that is
roughly the case today in Khanty-Mansiysk. We are expecting a record participation
of players and visitors from around the world – 160 teams. But the hotel
is not yet in operation, and the sponsors have not yet transferred the money.
So what are you going to do?
I have written a formal letter and the Governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, and to the leadership of the country. This is a political issue – the World Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk cannot fail! We will send a FIDE team to assist the Organizing Committee of Olympic Games, and on August 25 we will hold another an inspection. I believe in the power of traditional Russian last-minute fixes – I hope that the organizers will work something out and be able to provide accommodation for participants, arbiters, delegates to the Congress, and journalists. There is still time – the the opening ceremony will be held on September 20.
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Karpov on his FIDE presidential campaign |
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Karpov to run for FIDE President |
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Video report: Yazici and Danailov running for ECU
President |
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FIDE Elections: Turkish Chess Federation supports
Ilyumzhinov |
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FIDE Elections: Support for Ilyumzhinov |
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German Chess Federation nominates Karpov for FIDE
Presidency |
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FIDE Elections: Karpov's mission statement |
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Russian Chess Fed nominates Ilyumzhinov – sort of
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David Kaplan's revolution in chess |
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FIDE Election: Yazici to Karpov – show me the facts
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FIDE Elections: the match for FIDE President heats
up |
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Breaking news: Karpov nominated by Russian Chess
Federation |
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Ilyumzhinov: 'I will run for FIDE President once
again' |
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Big Karpov fund-raiser in New York |
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Fundraiser in New York – echo in the press |
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Breaking news: Kremlin seizes Russian Chess Federation
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Election news: Yazici on the attack |
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'FIDE – An Inglorious Inventory' |
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FIDE Elections: Campaign sites and international
news |
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The 'Inglorious Inventory' debate 03.06.2010 – Last week we published an article, submitted by the Corsican chess organiser Léo Battesti, which drew far-reaching conclusions from the statistics of rated players in different countries. The article was strongly criticised on the Ilyumzhinov campaign site. Now the French Chess Federation sent us its reply to this piece. Here are both articles and the feedback from our readers. |
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Electoral Ticket of FIDE President |
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Interview with Ilyumzhinov, letter from FIDE |
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Robert von Weizsaecker's Team for ECU Leadership
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Karpov releases platform, ticket to be announced
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FIDE Elections: Ilyumzhinov Presidential ticket claims
64 votes 08.07.2010 – "The number 64 is significant," it says on the campaign site, "as it is a symbol for the 64 squares of our beloved game." Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is running for reelection as FIDE President, is on the road and announcing high-prized new tournaments. Meanwhile one of his most ardent supports, Turkish Federation President Ali Nihat Yazici, has named his team for the ECU Presidency. |
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FIDE Elections: Karpov in Puerto Rico, Bahamas 09.07.2010 – Yesterday we went through the Ilyumzhinov election site, today we look at recent Karpov2010 campaign efforts – in the Caribbean. There is some remarkable video of a vote being taken in Puerto Rico to support the challenger's ticket. We also learn that Presidential candidate Karpov is taking up his opponent's challenge with a $100,000 sponsorship package to promote chess in Central America. |
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FIDE Elections: The Four Million Dollar Man 17.07.2010 – Anatoly Karpov played many world championship matches for millions. Now as a candidate for FIDE President he wants to bring millions to further the game. On an Asian campaign tour, Karpov announced a worldwide development package of four million dollars. He has already announced a $100,000 for Central America, and $300,000 for the Balkan region. Where will the rest go? |
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Sutovsky: Proposal for the Candidates Matches |
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Ilyumzhinov to resign as Kalmyk President? 24.07.2010 – The Russian newspaper Gazeta is reporting that the leaders of two regions of the Russian Federation (the political one, not chess) will be stepping down. One of them is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who has been the President of Kalmykia since 1993. Unfazed, Ilyumzhinov is in full campaign mode for his FIDE reelection, visiting South American and giving interviews. Excerpts and links. |
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FIDE to move Candidates Matches, Topalov threatens
boycott |
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Karpov wowed by Singapore chess fans |
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FIDE moves Candidates matches to Kazan, Russia |
