Peter Long on Chess

www.chessasia.com

Dear Friends, There is very little information to be found about chess in Asia and is especially glaring when one goes to global chess websites where besides a focus on the elite players and super tournaments, beyond World Chess Championships, the coverage is largely European. Yet there is so much going on in Asia! While it is true there is good information in some country websites even if they naturally focus on the achievements of their players and from time to time we see excellent stories and reports in many places, none of them offer a comprehensive picture of what is happening in Asia and certainly many wonderful events are under reported or completely missed. In recent months I have personally seen an “Asia Rising” for chess so now is perhaps the time for change! Of course our effort to develop a website to showcase chess in Asia might seem to be rather ambitious given the vastness of the continent together with the enormous variety of cultures and of course l…

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/fide-and-the-right-to-vote-peter-long

There is no question that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhimov are very alike - perhaps not in stature, but they both grew up and have benefitted, even flourished, in a period that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and its replacement with today's Russia. 
It is not difficult to read about how both these men rose to power, needless to say corruption on a scale and audacity beyond imagination was a big part of it, but what is often glossed over is the means which meant a trail of victims, from political and business rivals to critics who paid the price, but always at the expense of the rights and livelihood of citizens, all who are clearly considered to be no more than collateral damage. 
A pattern repeated again and again is an absolute denial of facts together with demonisation of opponent(s), which is then eventually followed by a too good or dare you refuse offer to be part of the system, failing which there follows a vicious, often extra…

Some time back, 18 May 2014 to be exact, I made the following post on what I felt was Ilyumzhinov desperately looking to move the Olympiad (see http://www.thefidetrainer.com/2014/05/conspiracy-theory.html) and of course with it the FIDE Congress in an election year.

This FIDE has two standards of behaviour, with what we are seeing with the likes of Norway and South Africa where they do not engage organisers professionally but through arrogant heavy handed public confrontations, but when it is with those in their inner circle then it is all secrecy, buddy buddy and often with a complete disregard of rules.

It is clear that Ilymuzhinov is increasingly desperate as despite both illegal and thuggish behaviour that has surpassed all previous election campaigns (for a sampling, see http://www.chess.com/news/crimea-conflict-on-the-chessboard-4611 and http://www.chess.com/news/ilyumzhinov-vs-kasparov-whats-going-on-with-afghanistan--gabon-7142), it is only in Russia (or in a Putin vassal sta…

Birds of same feather? See http://fidexfiles.blogspot.com/2014/07/birds-of-same-feather-desperate-men-do.html

One extract reads: "But now he is doing exactly like Ilyumuzhinov, the UAE embassies are now calling National Chess Federations. He is meeting with his fellow "royalty' to change delegates. A case in point is his ACF Secretary Hisham Al-Taher from the UAE is taking the delegate position from Bahrain, not only hitting a member of the opposing Asian ticket but insulting a National Chess Federation making a mockery of a statehood and a nation’s right to self-determination."

Why this reaction? In what is now clearly the dirtiest FIDE Election in history, it was always clear that the Americas, long the proxy haven for Ilyumzhinov through the efforts of Jorge Vega was almost balanced off by the repulsion in Europe. But he was seemingly unbeatable as Asia was solidly with him and Africa was until now never a factor.

Panic set in early for Ilyumzhinov with Makro &am…