Under this banner headline the Ilyumzhinov campaign ticket announced its victory in the 2010 FIDE Presidential elections in Khanty-Maniysk.
The winner: FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
The vote was 95 for the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, 55 for the challenger Anatoly Karpov and three abstentions. We remind you that four years ago the FIDE elections in Turin, Italy, gave Ilyumzhinov a 96-54 victory over Bessel Kok.
Kasparov debating during the election process in Khanty-Mansiysk on Wednesday
The Karpov team with Richard Conn, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov
(with FIDE's Nigel Freeman and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the background)
There were optimistic noises from the Karpov team right until the end – Kasparov predicted a clear victory if the voting was regular and secret. Most of the votes for the Karpov ticket came from European countries, whereas the majority of those for Ilyumzhinov came from the smaller federations in Asia, Africa and South America.
Europe
Echecs election report I [All photos and videos courtesy of
Europe Echecs]
We hear that the Presidency of the European Chess Union has been won by Silvio Danailov of Bulgaria, who beat the Turkish candidate Ali Nihat Yacizi by 30 to 24 votes.
The Karpov ticket has complained about the 56 countries who submitted proxy votes, i.e. delegated their voting power to representatives of other states. The 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov, who was the driving force in the Karpov team, said that on the eve of the opening of FIDE Congress there were clear examples of fraud and cheating by the organizers of the event. “In recent days there has been a monstrous pressure on the delegates. I know that members of some African countries were sent home, after their proxy was taken.”
Andrew Zagumennyi of the news service Informugra is reporting that the newly elected head of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, made a surprise announcement immediately after the result of the election was known. He suggested that his opponent in this election, Anatoly Karpov, take the post of Vice-President of FIDE. The agency reports that Karpov has said that he needs time to think over the proposal.
