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With all of Anatoly Karpov's paperwork now submitted to the FIDE Secretariat offices in Athens – by the world's highest-rated courier – the campaign for FIDE president begins in earnest. "I think everyone will agree that we have put together a very talented team," said Karpov, "and a team qualified not only win votes, but to run a new and effective administration. I am honored to formally welcome them all to the campaign." Garry Kasparov, Karpov's great rival who is now actively supporting his campaign, added, "the opening phase is over and the middlegame has begun!"
There may be little new to say about a legend like Anatoly Karpov for chess fans, but we will begin at the top. You can see the official Karpov2010 campaign website for more details on all of the members of the ticket and the supporting Continental tickets.
Candidate for FIDE President:
Anatoly Karpov
Nominating federation: Russia
Bio: He learned the rules of chess when he was four. At the age of nine he reached first category. Before his twelfth birthday he became a candidate master. He earned the Master title at 15 and won the World Junior Championship at 18. He became an International Grandmaster at 19 and World Championship Challenger at 22. In 1975, at the age of 24, he became the World Champion.
His battles on chess Olympus against Viktor Korchnoi and later Garry Kasparov are some of the most-watched and best-known chess events in history. Karpov went on to amass one of the greatest tournament records of all time, with over 160 first-place finishes. He won the Chess Oscar nine times and has three individual gold medals from the Chess Olympiad. Well into the 90s Karpov remained one of the top players in the world, retaining his FIDE title in matches against Timman and Kamsky and, in 1994, producing arguably the greatest tournament result in history at Linares.
Since 1982, Karpov has been President of the International Associations of Peace Foundations. He's also President of the Chernobyl Help Organization that helps victims of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Mr. Karpov's acclaimed chess instruction program has taken root in 26 countries around the world. Since 2000 he has been a regional ambassador for UNICEF and has worked to bring UNICEF and UNESCO funds and involvement into youth chess programs.
There is a very interesting 20-minute interview with Karpov here.
Candidate for Deputy President:
Richard A. Conn Jr.
Nominating federation: USA
Bio: Richard Conn, a USCF member with a rating of 1943. If elected,
he will be the highest ranking American in FIDE history. Conn is Managing Director
of Conn International Group LLC, a Moscow/NY-based financial and legal advisory
firm. Prior to founding CIG in 2003, Conn practiced international corporate
law for nearly twenty years as an equity partner with the international law
firm Latham & Watkins. He founded the firm's Moscow office in 1992 and managed
it for four years prior to returning to U.S.
A longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Russia Business Council, Conn regularly consults with the World Bank, Members of Congress, and the Administration regarding Russian economic issues. He co-chaired the U.S.-Russia Business Council and American Chamber of Commerce (Moscow) joint initiative to facilitate Russian accession to WTO. He now serves as Strategic Advisor to DLA Piper US LLP, a 3,500 lawyer international law firm with 67 offices worldwide.
Candidate for Treasurer:
Viktor Kapustin
Nominating federation: Ukraine
Bio: A prominent financial and banking specialist who from
2005 until April was the Chairman of the Board at JSC Ukreximbank. In the 1990s
Viktor Kapustin was a key figure in transitioning the Ukrainian bank system
into the international arena, performing the first operations with European
institutions. He later served as president of the Ukrainian Fund for Development.
He was the first deputy of the Finance Committee of the Ukrainian parliament
from 2002-2005. In 2007, named Ukraine's "Financier of the Year."
In 2010 he was elected the President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation.
Candidate for General Secretary:
Abd Hamid Majid
Nominating federation: Malaysia
Bio: After serving a period as Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) treasurer, he assumed the post of Federation general secretary in 1994, a position that he held until 2008. In this capacity, he ran the day-to-day affairs of the Federation, working closely for many years with Dato' Tan Chin Nam, a member of the Karpov team Board of Advisers. A FIDE international arbiter since 1990, Hamid is a founding member of the ASEAN Chess Confederation. He first cut his teeth at the full international level as an official at Kuala Lumpur Karpov-Timman candidates' match in 1990.
Khanty-Mansiysk will be Hamid's tenth FIDE Congress and his eighth as Malaysian FIDE Delegate. High points as an organizer within FIDE include acting as an organizing secretary of the 1990 FIDE Women's Interzonal in Malaysia; deputy chief arbiter for Karpov-Kamsky 1996; chief organizing secretary for the 2002 World Youth Olympiad in Kuala Lumpur; and chief organizing secretary for seven Malaysian Chess Festivals from 2004 – 2010.
Candidate for Vice-President:
Dr. Aguinaldo Jaime
Nominating federation: Angola
Bio: One of the most respected names in finance and politics of his generation in all of Africa, Dr. Jaime is currently the director of the national investment agency ANIP and an deputy to the Prime Minister of Angola. As the ANIP chairman he has traveled the world negotiating investments in both the private and public sectors. He is also the president of the Angolan Chess Federation. Dr. Jaime was his nation's finance minister in the early 1990s and later the head of the National Bank and president of the African Investment Bank.
Candidate for Vice-President:
Alisa Maric
Nominating federation: Serbia
Bio: One of the greatest-ever players from the mighty chess nation of Serbia, Maric is an IM and WGM and has been among the top few women players in the world for two decades, with excellent performances at world championships and team events. She was winner of prestigious national awards such as National Sports Award 2007, National Saint Sava Award 2007 and Belgrade's October Award 1988. She was member of the Presidential Board of Olympic Committee of Serbia. She is Vice President of Belgrade Chess federation.
Maric studied Economics at the University of Belgrade, received a Ph.D and has been teaching since 2003. From 2005 to 2008 she was Professor of Marketing at University Braca Karic and since 2008 she has been Professor of Marketing at University Megatrend. She is author of the textbook "Principles of Marketing". She was a member of European Olympic Committee Working Group "New Ways of Communication" and attendee of the International Olympic Academy in Olympia.
The ticket paperwork must be faxed and sent by courier to the FIDE offices in Athens. Just to be on the safe side, a very special courier was brought in to hand deliver the documents and to receive confirmation of receipt. Who could be entrusted with so critical a task?
Nigel Short in the FIDE office in Athens...
... where he received the requested confirmation that all documents
had been received
