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Malcolm Pein on the FIDE Elections in Turin 2006
Part 2 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is re-elected. Photo © Frits Agterdenbos http://www.chessvista.com/ Malcolm Pein Part 2 The Gory Details This report is for the hardy TWIC reader, forgive the lengthy detailed report, I was taking notes as it happened. It is fair to say that I travelled more in hope than expectation. Bessel Kok’s campaign was a ray of hope in a dark universe and I was at least tinged with a little optimism until I arrived in Torino. There I met the massed ranks of delegates one or two of whom came from places I could not immediately place on a map and who have as many registered players between them as your average chess club but hey, they have a vote. Even worse, some of them weren’t there at all, or just hiding. The podium at the Congress was also depressing, American readers will be familiar with the term ‘Musical Chairs’ Imagine this, on the top table from left to right we had Mr Omuku, infamously removed from the FIDE office in Switzerland but making a spectacular comeback, Mr Makropolous, President Ilyumzhinov and oh yes, Mr Campomanes. ‘The Proxy Man’. According to Carmen Kass the Estonian super model who is President of the Estonian Federation their delegate was phoned by Fide and offered the European Team Championships in 2009 if they supported Ilyumzhinov. Good grief, the assembly is supposed to award that. She added that even the Russian Consulate in Tallinn called to back Ilyumzhinov! He had serious backing. Suggestions that the voting would take place as early as 10am did not take into account the wrangling that was inevitably going to happen over eligibility and proxies. I decided to get some breakfast and arrived around 11.30, a wise move. I am going to list the contentious federations and summarise the problems and irregularities because it gives some insights into how things work at ground level. Rwanda: This delegate was in Turin but mysteriously was not at the roll call and had given his proxy vote to an Ilyumzhinov supporter. Mozambique: This delegate was in Turin but mysteriously was not at the roll call and had given his proxy vote to an Ilyumzhinov supporter. Zimbabwe: This delegate was at home, I spoke to him briefly before he hung up ( saving me a small fortune I guess) Zimbabwe were in financial arrears but it would appear at the last minute they paid as Fide Treasurer David Jarrett popped up and declared they were: “ in good standing” so who paid ?. This proxy I guess went to an Ilyumzhinov supporter. Zimbabwe, according to Jackie Ngubeni of South Africa were supposed to be following South Africa’s lead and voting for Bessel Kok. Bosnia-Hercegovina: Some documents were unsigned but this was apparently sorted out by fax to the satisfaction of Morten Sand. Peru and Paraguay had internal disputes involving court orders and injunctions and they were a mess. It seems like the delegates were Kok supporters and they had the documentary back up. Makro proposed a motion to have them and Bosnia-Hercegovina barred from voting but clearly lost on a show of hands. There was more haggling and delays, all to the considerable irritation of delegates who by this time were desperate for lunch. Eventually the President decided to be statesmanlike and he overruled Makro and proposed they all be included. This was the one part of the show that could be enjoyed, Makro came over as a complete cretin who could not run a meeting and Ilyumzhinov, the consummate politician quickly sensed the annoyance of delegates. This was passed on a show of hands. However the two South American delegates were pro Kok I believe and after lunch guess what… We had another debate about whether the old federation representatives or the new should vote. Mr Joachim Durao of Portugal sensibly suggested that whoever had selected the teams should vote but after more contributions from both sides Mr Ilyumzhinov decided to step in again and propose they both vote ! It was one attempt to at least close the debate which was paralysing the process but there was suspicion that this solution gave two the President two more votes. Finally the Botswanan delegate had a brilliant idea, let them toss a coin he said, he was serious. What a farce. LUNCH AM I BORING YOU ? – WELL IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LISTEN TO ALL OF THIS. BUT NOW FOR THE BEST ONE Palau: This is an island in the Pacific near Fiji I am told. – Emmanuel Omuku, remember him? declared that during lunch a fax had miraculously turned up handing the voting proxy to the Philippines, no prizes for guessing which way they might vote. This letter, it was declared, invalidated the proxy that had gone to the Right Move representative Geoffrey Borg. I saw Campo a few minutes later with his familiar Cheshire Cat grin. “Was that your coup?” I asked him “Oh yes” he said and smiled again. At 16.55 Bessel spoke for 15 minutes. I have summarised it, below it is not verbatim. I intend to post his entire speech as soon as I get it. President Ilyumzhinov also spoke briefly in English about his work these past ten years and his passion for chess and his emphasis on achieving unity. I am told he had spoken at much greater length earlier in the day. The Vote Then the delegates filed in one by one to vote. I was told Makro still tried to bar the Paraguayan, poor fellow but he got to put his X on the paper in the end. The Result 97-54 with 2 abstentions and one spoilt ballot Bessel Kok’s Speech Today is a crucial day. 82 years after FIDE was founded in Paris you have to make a fundamental decision which is to choose between the status quo and a new Fide. Ask yourselves the question whether you wish to continue what we are doing for another 4 years or perhaps even longer to continue a FIDE with this management team and a circle of people going from crisis to crisis and conflict to conflict. A culture of deal making and of decisions made by small groups of people behind closed doors. Where we have forgotten we are to serve the chess world not to dictate to it. Ask yourselves whether FIDE’s claim to develop chess in small and emerging nations is a valid claim. I ask delegates from there when was the last time you were consulted on your needs when was the last time you were involved in a decision apart from someone asking you for your vote? Have you ever had a visit of a GM and trainers or help in finding a commercial sponsor? Do you want to continue a situation where the reputation of the game has never been lower? Where professionals cannot make a living and the poor public view of chess discourages commercial sponsors. Corporations want to benefit from a positive image of chess. Our program is comprehensive with mission objectives written for you to approve or amend. 1) Changing image and making it pro marketing oriented 2) Caring organisation 3) Democratic principles 4) Mass development 5) Optimise IT 6) Build trainers 7) Respect professional players He then expanded on these points. 1)Even our opponents in this election agree that even with generous financial contributions the reputation of chess has suffered we must end the WCC mess and stop internal and external conflicts. 2) Keep people in and not exclude countries for a few 100 $ when we are talking about a 1million dollar title match. Let us accept we have made mistakes but let us praise successes like the rating office in Elista. We are here because of our passion for chess not to keep our positions 3) Return to democratic principles, transparency accountability, I propose a review of the statutes but lets at least respect them. I propose an annual General Assembly. 4) I have travelled 1000s of miles and met potential sponsors, ministers of sport and chess lovers. We understand your needs and we can bring the experience of Professor Blanco, Leo Battesti, Ali Nihat who have achieved a lot. We must benchmark these successes and replicate. 5) We will create a professional internet presence with communications and community building. This web presence will help developing countries to find sponsors. We have to develop a FIDE web portal. Enabling direct contact between member federations to consult and create lessons. 6)Train the trainers ! training training training the most used word. Ensuring there are enough skilled educators and arbiters. There has been good work so far but we have not exploited the availability of a growing number of GMs available. 7) Restore the respect for professional players. The idea of ‘GMs are there to play we are here to govern’ must end, these times are over. In our new system all national champions should qualify for the WCC. We have new ideas but we will respect existing commitments to players and organisers You have a choice between the status quo and change. As Ali Nihat said: “we will say as we so and do as we say and if we don’t deliver we will resign.” I conclude with two remarks. In the last 2 days the legal advisors of both sides have worked hard to make a voting system which is fair and secret. The secrecy of your vote will be fully protected. Finally a word of thanks for the countries that supported us at the beginning and the ones later and those of you he inspired us from day one. I also thank the French Federation who have offered us a new HQ if we are elected. I thank my team for 8 months hard voluntary work. I also want to thank Kirsan for 2 things; for his immense financial contribution and for the personal dignity he showed to me. I make one thing clear to Kirsan. Whoever wins will face a large minority and will have to listen to this minority and keep it united. Finally he quoted some of Garry Kasparov’s Open Letter recently published and given below. Garry Kasparov’s open letter. I have known both Presidential candidates Bessel Kok and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for many years, meeting Bessel in 1986 and Kirsan in 1990. I had good days and bad days with both of them. But, despite our disagreements I always knew that Bessel and I shared the same vision of making chess into a professional sport. On the other hand, while Kirsan’s passion and his generous contributions to chess are undeniable, there is no future without professionalism, and he is not prepared to go in this direction. The failure to implement the Prague agreement showed me that even during a time of peace FIDE was either unwilling to seek or incapable of attracting commercial sponsorship. FIDE’s recent announcements regarding the World Championship cannot be left unmentioned. In the 1990s I was criticized – at times justly – for leaving FIDE, for getting things wrong and damaging the title I held for so many years. Now FIDE itself is destroying the very foundation of its creation, erasing the principles that elevated the long line of World Champions to which I am proud to belong. Brought in to protect and exalt the title in 1947, FIDE now desecrates it with a price tag that goes against the principles of open and fair competition. The image of chess must be repaired. Every chess federation, every chessplayer, will benefit under leadership with the confidence and skills to at last transform chess into a modern sport. Here in Russia we are not fighting to win elections, but for the right to have elections. You have the ballot and with it the opportunity to make history, to move chess into a professional future. Just make the right move. |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
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 Chess Assistant |
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 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
