Kirsan Ilyumzhinov remains FIDE President

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/11/2014 – In a very hostile environment today's General Assembly was held. With all the votes counted the official tally is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov 110. The current FIDE President will maintain his position until the next General Elections. It seems as if the Kasparov Campaign simply did not reach the votes they needed, and it certainly was not as close as expected. More to follow.

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

FIDE Elections Results

The FIDE Elections took place in the General Assembly, held a few hours ago. The ambiance was very hostile as people kept accusing each other of corruption and foul play. At the end the result was 61 for Kasparov, 110 for Ilyumzhinov.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov retains his position as FIDE president

It seems as if the signage was not enough...

Defeated: Kasparov got 61 votes, though there seems to have been some votes that were "rejected".

Photos by Alejandro Ramirez, Pascal Simon and André Schulz

Live commentary, interviews, analysis

Where and how to watch: log into Playchess.com and watch all the games in progress. Analyse with the built-in engine, chat with other spectators. And if you are a premium member you can watch all the lectures, interviews and analysis free of charge. And it isn't at all expensive. Prices for a full year's membership are given in the table below.

During the games we have live broadcast by expert commentators,
with post-game interviews and analysis directly from the venue.

Three of our live game commentators: Yasser Seirawan, Simon Williams, Chris Ward

Interviewing Indian IM Tania Sachdev immediately after her game

Danny King's daily midnight wrapup on Youtube – recorded in the midnight dusk of Tromsø

Schedule of live commentary, TV shows, training and tournaments

Playchess.com is Europe’s largest chess server, as well as being the official server of the German Chess Federation. More than 4,000 players are logged on every evening and you can play, chat, watch grandmaster games or take part in free chess training with friends from anywhere in the world. There is even a special room for beginners and hobby players where you can play games without a clock.

Get your Playchess membership intantly – or try it out with a single mouse click

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

All you need to know about the Olympiad

  • Full information on the games, the venue, the atmosphere and what's happening on and off the chessboard – 68 pages in PDF, 45 MB in size.
  • All practical details you need to know before and after your arrival, including information about money, the climate, arriving at Oslo and Tromsø Airports, lost or delayed luggage, check-in at the hotels, the accreditation desk, information offices and the opening ceremony.

All ChessBase reports on the 2014 Olympiad in Tromsø

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

raulluncasu raulluncasu 8/13/2014 07:46
This is because he is a friend of asgards.As you know years ago the current fide president was abducted by aliens.They have upgraded him to become fide president for the next 100 years.Aliens are interested of chess.They follow closely the chess activity because chess is a good training for galaxy invasion.They do not want kasparov a fist class invadator to be in charge.This is because they predict that by 2030 the computing power of incoming planetary artificial intelligence will allow us to create faster than light ships therefore the invasion will be ready to start.At that moment Kasparov will become world lider and lead the invasion.On the other hand the actual chess president is a weak player and he will not be able to conceive a good invasion plan.
zdenko zdenko 8/13/2014 12:11
Wastrel , If you read my text carefully, http://zpadjen.wordpress.com/, then you clearly see, that I mentioned, Dalaj lama, as the only GOOD friend of Kirsan. other are dictators like Basr, Moamer Gadafi, Aliens from another planet, etc. In order toa ttract peopel to read, I must put in title.. kirsan.. the only budistic President in Europe. As 99% people think that I am joking!!
Wastrel Wastrel 8/12/2014 05:29
At least there is "more to follow" -- which I'm hoping means more on how many votes were "rejected," who rejected them and the reasons they were rejected. Obviously an election is rigged if the incumbent decides which votes are to be counted.

Corinne's comment is indeed racist. Specifically, it is anti-Semitic. I wonder what her definition of racism is. I am not impressed with zdenko's criticism of Kirsan as "budistic," either. Ancestry and religion have no place in an election of global importance.


cptmajormajor cptmajormajor 8/12/2014 01:20
I find it unusual that a Legendary champion of the sport cannot get himself elected for such a position against anyone, never mind against incumbent President with only his FIDE credentials to back him up.
Corruption or simply , like many other aspects of life, the same old people covering each others backs with promises and greased palms. Chess will still be played, tournaments won and lost but still sad that new blood of the Royalty kind was not able to shake chess up a little for a few years. If Kasparov was not a good president he could have been voted out next term.
buffoon buffoon 8/12/2014 01:08
oh god, not again...
Harry_Flashman Harry_Flashman 8/12/2014 12:09
Nobody can beat Kirsan in this FIDE , not Kok , not KArpov , not Kasparov.. Kim -Il- Ilyumzhinov the Ethernal President.
philidor2014 philidor2014 8/12/2014 11:35
High time for less controversial candidates. So we have four years to find them. Preferably non-russian and non-political. And not abducted by aliens.
Proboscis Proboscis 8/12/2014 09:59
Dutch GM J.H. Donner rightly predicted in 1982 that FIDE would never be able to escape from the grip of corrupt rulers. Establishing a new world chess federation would be the only way to clean up the mess and get rid of them. I had my hopes on Bessel-Kok in 2006 but have given up ever since...
Decade Decade 8/12/2014 09:43
Disgrace
oleppedersen oleppedersen 8/12/2014 07:46
Unfortunately, there are no investigative journalism in Chess. Chessbase . com is a promotional tool for a software company, it is not journalism passing on he said, she said notes.
NJD NJD 8/12/2014 07:17
Not much point having a FIDE president who can't safely travel to Russia. Anyway FIDE is not about human rights or justice, it's a business based on a game like the Olympics or International Soccer. And, chess is only a game...
ashperov ashperov 8/12/2014 07:08
Very sad and ridiculous. Its not like chess at all, the best man did not win. What a moron who is in charge of the foreseeable future of chess. If the big nations are really behind Kasparov, I don't see why he cant recreate what he did in 93. He should not abandon his vision for the game due to idiots.
beachbum beachbum 8/12/2014 05:32
Should they impose a limit on number of years and make the voting open? In Russia, leaders only die from old age, they do not retire... tradition ;) Should they make the votes proportional to number of federation members in the country (or maybe even members above certain rating)? It does not make sense when China, Russia etc have same votes as tiny federations.

While I personally support Kasparov's anti Putin crusade (and Kasparov)... it might be nice to have somebody ehm... a tiny bit more "calm and politically neutral" on top?

On the other hand... Chess is not "spectators sport" that can be played in big stadiums. For most people it is best watched just as youtube recording with Daniel King (and almost for free...). I'm almost surprised FIDE managed to find sponsors/money to have so many tournaments each year - so I guess FIDE & Kirsan are doing their jobs at least to some extent?
Slippery Slippery 8/12/2014 04:25
Zdenko, I feel for you and Kasparov ! I agree with you this is a sad state of affairs . Kasparov was a great champion, a very smart individual also. There are too many people blinded by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in my opinion . Those who are anti Kasparov need to pay closer attention to how Kasparov wanted to make Fide better . Who cares if Kasparov is or isn't a Jew ? What does that have to do with him being Fide president ?
thlai80 thlai80 8/12/2014 04:01
Kasparov is almost the worst possible candidate in terms of winning possibility. To beat this Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, he must not be from Russia who is against Putin. Ironically, Karpov, who lost to Kasparov could have been a better neutral candidate, without apparent dislike from Putin.
jcaleb jcaleb 8/12/2014 03:32
kirsan will be the FIDE president until his old age. what a shame.
airman airman 8/12/2014 03:09
what does votes "rejected" mean? That is what an article should dig into.
kraskapov kraskapov 8/12/2014 12:54
Kasparov should round up some big names in chess (Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik and Anand and perhaps) and establish a new international chess federation (like he did before) with a more transparent and democratic structure. If enough people collaborate in making an alternative org, I think the FIDE will crumble.

Oh, and all the talk about Kasparov being jewish or not jewish is all foolish. It's great if he's jewish and great if he's not: He's f/&%ing Kasparov - and if you love chess then that should be enough. And if you judge people for their ancestry you should automatically be ignored in any serious discourse.
theoldmanhomeyard@gmail.com theoldmanhomeyard@gmail.com 8/12/2014 12:42
Well tried Gary - at the chessboard you proved as good as anyone, but off the board both your opponents seem too strong. Glad you tried though and keep punching! :)
zdenko zdenko 8/11/2014 11:25
To Corinne: My friend Garry Kasparov, is not, as you declared, the Jew!!

1.) as he is Jew by his father Weinstein, and Jews are known as Motherhood Society, from mixed marriage accept only, ones whom Mother, not father is Jew!
2.) he has never considered himself as Jew, as I was speaking amny times with his mother Klara, and was eating with Gary, at least, 6-7 times for same table!!
ddd_ddd ddd_ddd 8/11/2014 10:13
To Corinne: it is not racist, but quite idiotic comment - I agree.
Corinne Corinne 8/11/2014 09:43
Congratulations to Kirsan! It is a shame that there is no more choice . . . just 2 candidates is not enough. Given the limitations I rather have a Russian dominated FIDE than a Jewish one (please note this is not a racist comment, just stating the facts).
J Nayer J Nayer 8/11/2014 09:36
I am not unhappy. It's not that I am pro Kirsan, I just think that Kasparov does not have the qualities to lead FIDE. I think that Kasparov is a trouble maker. It's all rather sad. There is perhaps no other organisation in the world that counts so many incredibly smart people among its members. And what do we come up with? We can choose between Kirsan, who has been president for ages and who believes that he has been abducted by aliens and Kasparov, who runs his own war against Putin and a couple of months ago wanted the West to go to war with Russia. And this guy should be president of FIDE, really? Seriously, can't we find someone obviously sane, someone beyond reproach, someone non-divisive? Remember Max Euwe? That is the sort of man or woman we need, not some sort of maniac.
Go-for-it Go-for-it 8/11/2014 08:58
It should be impossible to sit more than 10 years as FIDE President.
zdenko zdenko 8/11/2014 08:55
know Garry Kasparov personally, for 21 years. This is disaster for
Chess World, that Kirsan, budistic president in Europe, friend of Gadafi
and Basr el Arab, stay president of FIDE??? See my discussion on http://zpadjen.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/my-garry-kasaprov-lost-to-llyumzhinov-only-budistic-president-in-europe/
zdenko zdenko 8/11/2014 08:53
I know Garry Kasparov personally, for 21 years. This is disaster for
Chess World, that Kirsan, budistic president in Europe, friend of Gadafi
and Basr el Arab, stay president of FIDE??? See my discussion on zpadjen blogs
FAD FAD 8/11/2014 08:42
I think the idea of joining the sport olympics should be reexamined; although there undoubtedly is a sporting element in the exposition of chess, it's meta semantic value is perhaps not properly adapted to a context of one-man victory. Let us never forget that6 in a world championship, the only victors are chess and the world.
Of course, if the idea is to reform the olympics towrds a celebration of life...

Je ne sais pas, si joindre le mouvement international olympique est une bonne idée; bien qu'il y ait sans nul doute un élément sportif dans l'exposition des échecs, zla valeur méta sémantique du jeu n'est peut être pas parfaitement adaptée au contexte de la victoire d'un seul homme. N'oublions jamais que dans un championnat du monde, il n'y a de vainqueur que les échecs et le monde .
Bien sûr, si l'idée est de réformer les olympiques vers une célébration de la vie...
dr.genial@yahoo.com.br dr.genial@yahoo.com.br 8/11/2014 07:42
first let me say this: hehehehehehehehe. I will elaborate later.
firestorm firestorm 8/11/2014 06:54
Re: Sharpnova- that's pretty unfair. Chessbase carries reports of and investigates allegations of corruption in FIDE and takes up allegations against Kasparov in the same way. Its coverage is evenhanded as far as I can see. It will be interesting to see what sponsorship FIDE can come up following this, after the bail out by Putin with Sochi.
sharpnova sharpnova 8/11/2014 06:10
Best part? Chessbase makes no mention of the corruption or disgusting nature of this result.

They'll make tacky jokes about the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 and defend themselves saying it's ok to joke about these types of things when people get offended.

But they won't say a negative word about this corrupt piece of trash.

Kind of adds up nicely actually.
Omoplata Omoplata 8/11/2014 06:07
How depressing.
Hamsuns Hamsuns 8/11/2014 05:51
the mirror of society in so many countries in the world: corruption and big money winning above intelligence and vision
Ananke Ananke 8/11/2014 05:51
It's about time FIDE changed its voting procedure. It is ridiculous that tiny island nations have as much voting clout as, say the United States, Germany, the UK or others with populations of millions. A maximum presidential term is also sorely needed. My prediction is when Kirsan does finally step down that it will effectively be him choosing his successor and we'll have decades more of this.
gmwdim gmwdim 8/11/2014 05:22
It didn't matter what ideas (good or bad) Kasparov had, he was never going to get enough votes to offset the ones Kirsan has bought long ago.
1