SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
It has recently been announced by Russian president Medvedev that Ilyumzhinov’s right hand man, Alexy Orlov, is to be the next president of the Republic of Kalmykia. Here is the FIDE article that was published just today:
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The President of the Russian Federation proposed Alexey Orlov to the position of the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia
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The President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev submitted for consideration of Narodny Khural (Parliament) of the Republic of Kalmykia the candidacy of Alexey Orlov to be the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia. Formerly Alexey Orlov was the 1st deputy prime-minister of the government of the Republic of Kalmykia.
Alexey Orlov was born in 1961, he graduated from Moscow State Institution of International Relations of USSR in 1984. From July 1995 he is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kalmykia to the President of the Russian Federation, then – he was the 1st deputy prime-minister of the government of the Republic of Kalmykia – the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kalmykia to the President of the Russian Federation.
Orlov’s activity is closely connected with the world of chess. He is the Honorary President of the World Chess Foundation, the Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee in such tournaments as Karpov-Kramnik and Kasparov-Deep Junior. He took an active part in the organization and holding the 33rd World Chess Olympiad in Elista, 1998, the World Chess Championship in the Kremlin, 2001 and the chess tournament RUS vs. rest of the World. Being the 1st deputy prime-minister he was dealing with the introduction of the program Chess in Schools in the Republic of Kalmykia.
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What all this means is that from the Kremlin’s perspective the government in control in Kalmykia (Ilyumzhinov) will continue for the forseeable future, but with a very democratic rotation at the top, conspicuously reminiscent of the Putin-Medvedev control of modern day Russia.
This news must come as a terrible blow to the Karpov campaign for election to the FIDE presidency, which is to take place in the next 10 days. A total loss of credibility in predicting the state of affairs in Russia today. The website of the former world champion’s campaign site (http://www.karpov2010.org/) has spread nasty rumours in recent weeks of the imminent demise of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, of his loss of favouritism by the Kremlin and even of the possibility that Ilyumzhinov should now worry for his life!
Now as developments are quickly coming to a head, with Ilyumzhinov’s political stature just as strong as ever, with the Olympic games in Khanty Mansiysk being a great success by everyone’s standards, and with the Court of Sports Arbitration (CAS) in Lausanne unable to come to a decision in favour of the Karpov campaign, rumours are appearing that Karpov will not even appear in Khanty Mansiysk as the election tally is counted.
At present, according to my sources, Ilyumzhinov is close to an unprecedented 140 votes as the final day of the FIDE election approaches. The Karpov campaign has been dead in the water for the past 2 weeks, with most of his advisers in Lausanne ,desperately hoping for some kind of a Harry Potter outcome to save a poorly conceived and disasterously run excuse for an election campaign.
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
Spraggett on Chess 