According to Russian sources, the Russian Chess Federation has officially nominated Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as candidate for the upcoming FIDE presidential elections during the Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad in September. His rival candidate, Anatoly Karpov, was already nominated by the German Federation last week.
According to
RIA Novosti, chairman of the supervisory board of the RCF, Arkady Dvorkovich, has announced that the letter with the official nomination is on its way to FIDE. Curiously, one of the reasons for nominating Ilyumzhinov was "that the RCF is hoping for a representative from Russia as head of FIDE." As far as we could
find out, Anatoly Karpov is also a Russian citizen. Chessdom
adds that "Dvorkovich expressed the wish that Anatoly Karpov will continue working with the Russian Chess Federation, despite the fact that Ilyumzhinov was the endorsed candidate for FIDE President." Dvorkovich further said that
We looked at the chances of a number of candidates, and have consulted various federations, which showed the majority of federations is ready to support the candidacy of Ilyumzhinov.
Various commentators have
pointed out that a nomination of the Russian Chess Federation is of major importance in deciding the ultimate winner of the elections. Mark Crowther has an
interesting analysis up on The Week in Chess, in which he also refers to a more elabore
article (in Russian) by Yuri Vasiliev, who quotes Dvorkovich saying the Russian Chess Federation respects Ilyumzhinov's work and the progress he's made to popularize chess. Karpov has so far received the support of the USCF and some major European chess federations. Ilyumzhinov's candidacy is supported by the Turkish Chess Federation and now, crucially, the Russian Chess Federation as well. The big question remains, however, what all the less well-known countries will vote for. You can read more about the upcoming presidential elections and the candidates' support
here. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the president of the Republic of Kalmykia, has been president of FIDE since 1995. During the last FIDE presidential elections in Turin 2006, he beat businessman Bessel Kok in an election race which former president of the Dutch Chess Federation Herman Hamers described as "having little to do with democracy." In Khanty-Mansiysk, he will run against former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, whose campaign team just released its own
website this week.
According to Russian sources, the Russian Chess Federation has officially nominated Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as candidate for the upcoming FIDE presidential elections during the Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad in September. His rival candidate, Anatoly Karpov, was already nominated by the German Federation last week.According to RIA Novosti, chairman of the supervisory board of the RCF, Arkady Dvorkovich, has announced that the letter with the official nomination is on its way to FIDE. Curiously, one of the reasons for nominating Ilyumzhinov was "that the RCF is hoping for a representative from Russia as head of FIDE." As far as we could find out, Anatoly Karpov is also a Russian citizen. Chessdom adds that "Dvorkovich expressed the wish that Anatoly Karpov will continue working with the Russian Chess Federation, despite the fact that Ilyumzhinov was the endorsed candidate for FIDE President." Dvorkovich further said that 