Kirsan Re-Elected!

30 September 2010, Khanty-Mansiysk – Latest news of yesterday’s FIDE elections has been reported in Chessdom.com’s blog and in chessvibes.com. The current FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has been re-elected in the elections with a 95-55 vote margin. He will continue to be president for another term 2010-2014.

To read more, please click here or at chessvibes.com or click here.

FIDE President’s Visit To Malaysia!

28 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – News of the FIDE President, Ilyumzhinov, who visited Malaysia last Friday was in the news and was also published on FIDE’s official website. Here is one of many pictures of his visit to Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia’s Chess Federation, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib and other notable chess players with the young talented Malaysian chess players.

To read more of his visit, please visit the official website of FIDE or click here.

Kasparov Visits Singapore

14 August 2010, Singapore – On a preview news of the Singapore’s Straits Times dated 13 August 2010, is an article about Kasparov’s impending visit to Singapore today to promote the game of chess. The article discusses about the group called CES or Chess For Everyone In Singapore. Kasparov was the ex-World Chess Champion from 1985-2000.

  To find out more, please click here.

Picture Gallery of the Press Conference 20th July 2010, G Tower

21 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are some random pictures of the press conference and dinner at G Tower welcoming the arrival of GM Anatoly Karpov and Richard Conn, USA, as part of their FIDE Presidential campaign for the upcoming FIDE Elections in September 2010.

Good news is GM Karpov promises to come during the Malaysian Chess Festival 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karpov For FIDE President

20 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur – The press conference for the Karpov’s Presidential campaign was held on the 28th Floor of the G Tower, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur at 6 pm today. The ASTRO News team (top left) were on hand to provide news coverage for the campaign trail of the Karpov’s Presidential team which includes Malaysia’s Abdul Hamid b Majid (standing pix top right), as a General Secretary candidate. Also in the picture are Dato’ Tan Chin Nam (right) and Richard Conn (third from right)

The new Karpov Presidential candidate for FIDE has several new proposals as part of its campaign. Among others they will try to achieve the following:

• Return FIDE to Its Federalist Origins;
• Development of a New Financial Foundation;
• Chess Education and Training;
• Protecting and Upholding the Traditions of Chess

Right after the press conference, a blitz exhibition was held between GM Karpov and Dato’ Tan Chin Nam (pix left), followed by two more blitz between GM Karpov and Yeoh Li Tian and GM Karpov and IM Mas Hafizulhelmi. All three games was won by GM Karpov.

The third person in the picture is Richard Conn, USA, Vice Presidential hopeful on the Karpov’s team.

In the bottom picture left is the blitz game between GM Karpov (hidden) and IM Mas. Fireyrook also had an opportunity to get a souvenir photo with the 12th World Chess Champion GM Anatoly Karpov in the dining area of the G Hotel, G Tower (bottom pix right).

 

Karpov In Kuala Lumpur!

19 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur - It is confirmed! GM Anatoly Karpov, 12th World Chess Champion and Candidate for FIDE President will be in KL from 19th July until 21st July 2010. GM Karpov, who is on his campaigning tour of South East Asia will be arriving tonight at KLIA at 10:00pm with Mr. Richard Conn, who is also Candidate for the FIDE Deputy President under GM Karpov's ticket. 

Prior to his trip to KL, GM Karpov was in Beijing, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. 

Karpov's itinerary tomorrow will include press conference and exhibition matches with selected local chess players followed by dinner with MCF officials, sponsors and members of the press 

Anatoly Yevgenevich Karpov was born in Zlatoust, Russia, on May 23, 1951. He won the world junior champion in 1969, and he became world champion in 1975 after Robert J. Fischer (Bobby Fischer) refused to defend the FIDE title. He held the World Chess title for 10 years until 1985 when he was narrowly defeated by Garry Kasparov, who then reigned as titleholder until 2000. Interesting to note that Gary Kasparov is also campaigning for Karpov even though he himself is not in Karpov's campaign ticket.

(source: DATCC’s blog)

Olympiad Dateline Registration Reminder?

18 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur – While fireyrook was browsing for chess results at chess-results.com, fireyrook surprisingly found the following reminder about the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia, Russia where the registration dateline is on the 20th July 2010.

“The following federations are strongly requested to finish the registration of their participants for the Chess-Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk until 20. July: ACF, AFG, ALG, ANG, ARG, AUT, BAN, BAR, BEL, BHU, BIH, BRN, CHI, CHN, COL, CON, CRC, CUB, CYP, DEN, ECU, FRA, GEO, GER, GUA, HAI, HKG, HUN, IBCA, INA, IND, ISL, JOR, KGZ, KOR, LBA, MAS, MLI, MNE, MOZ, MRI, NEP, NGR, NOR, PAK, PAN, PHI, POR, PUR, RWA, SLE, SLO, SRB, SRI, STP, SUD, TUR, USA, ZAM.”

Fireyrook hopes that our MCF has already registered our Malaysian players for the said Olympiad before the said dateline.

More Information Of Karpov’s Team

1 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur – From chessbase.com, the full bio-data of the Karpov’s Presidential team, which includes Malaysia’s Abdul Hamid Majid, is revealed as below or you may go to chessbase.com or click here.

Karpov2010 FIDE Presidential Board Ticket

Candidate for FIDE President:
Anatoly Karpov
Nominating federation: Russia

Bio: He learned the rules of chess when he was four. At the age of nine he reached first category. Before his twelfth birthday he became a candidate master. He earned the Master title at 15 and won the World Junior Championship at 18. He became an International Grandmaster at 19 and World Championship Challenger at 22. In 1975, at the age of 24, he became the World Champion.

His battles on chess Olympus against Viktor Korchnoi and later Garry Kasparov are some of the most-watched and best-known chess events in history. Karpov went on to amass one of the greatest tournament records of all time, with over 160 first-place finishes. He won the Chess Oscar nine times and has three individual gold medals from the Chess Olympiad. Well into the 90s Karpov remained one of the top players in the world, retaining his FIDE title in matches against Timman and Kamsky and, in 1994, producing arguably the greatest tournament result in history at Linares.

Since 1982, Karpov has been President of the International Associations of Peace Foundations. He's also President of the Chernobyl Help Organization that helps victims of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Mr. Karpov's acclaimed chess instruction program has taken root in 26 countries around the world. Since 2000 he has been a regional ambassador for UNICEF and has worked to bring UNICEF and UNESCO funds and involvement into youth chess programs.

There is a very interesting 20-minute interview with Karpov here.

Candidate for Deputy President:
Richard A. Conn Jr.
Nominating federation: USA
Bio: Richard Conn, a USCF member with a rating of 1943. If elected, he will be the highest ranking American in FIDE history. Conn is Managing Director of Conn International Group LLC, a Moscow/NY-based financial and legal advisory firm. Prior to founding CIG in 2003, Conn practiced international corporate law for nearly twenty years as an equity partner with the international law firm Latham & Watkins. He founded the firm's Moscow office in 1992 and managed it for four years prior to returning to U.S.

A longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Russia Business Council, Conn regularly consults with the World Bank, Members of Congress, and the Administration regarding Russian economic issues. He co-chaired the U.S.-Russia Business Council and American Chamber of Commerce (Moscow) joint initiative to facilitate Russian accession to WTO. He now serves as Strategic Advisor to DLA Piper US LLP, a 3,500 lawyer international law firm with 67 offices worldwide.

Candidate for Treasurer:
Viktor Kapustin
Nominating federation: Ukraine
Bio: A prominent financial and banking specialist who from 2005 until April was the Chairman of the Board at JSC Ukreximbank. In the 1990s Viktor Kapustin was a key figure in transitioning the Ukrainian bank system into the international arena, performing the first operations with European institutions. He later served as president of the Ukrainian Fund for Development. He was the first deputy of the Finance Committee of the Ukrainian parliament from 2002-2005. In 2007, named Ukraine's "Financier of the Year." In 2010 he was elected the President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation.

Candidate for General Secretary:
Abd Hamid Majid
Nominating federation: Malaysia

Bio: After serving a period as Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) treasurer, he assumed the post of Federation general secretary in 1994, a position that he held until 2008. In this capacity, he ran the day-to-day affairs of the Federation, working closely for many years with Dato' Tan Chin Nam, a member of the Karpov team Board of Advisers. A FIDE international arbiter since 1990, Hamid is a founding member of the ASEAN Chess Confederation. He first cut his teeth at the full international level as an official at Kuala Lumpur Karpov-Timman candidates' match in 1990.

Khanty-Mansiysk will be Hamid's tenth FIDE Congress and his eighth as Malaysian FIDE Delegate. High points as an organizer within FIDE include acting as an organizing secretary of the 1990 FIDE Women's Interzonal in Malaysia; deputy chief arbiter for Karpov-Kamsky 1996; chief organizing secretary for the 2002 World Youth Olympiad in Kuala Lumpur; and chief organizing secretary for seven Malaysian Chess Festivals from 2004 – 2010.

Candidate for Vice-President:
Dr. Aguinaldo Jaime
Nominating federation: Angola

Bio: One of the most respected names in finance and politics of his generation in all of Africa, Dr. Jaime is currently the director of the national investment agency ANIP and an deputy to the Prime Minister of Angola. As the ANIP chairman he has traveled the world negotiating investments in both the private and public sectors. He is also the president of the Angolan Chess Federation. Dr. Jaime was his nation's finance minister in the early 1990s and later the head of the National Bank and president of the African Investment Bank.

Candidate for Vice-President:
Alisa Maric
Nominating federation: Serbia

Bio: One of the greatest-ever players from the mighty chess nation of Serbia, Maric is an IM and WGM and has been among the top few women players in the world for two decades, with excellent performances at world championships and team events. She was winner of prestigious national awards such as National Sports Award 2007, National Saint Sava Award 2007 and Belgrade's October Award 1988. She was member of the Presidential Board of Olympic Committee of Serbia. She is Vice President of Belgrade Chess federation.

Maric studied Economics at the University of Belgrade, received a Ph.D and has been teaching since 2003. From 2005 to 2008 she was Professor of Marketing at University Braca Karic and since 2008 she has been Professor of Marketing at University Megatrend. She is author of the textbook "Principles of Marketing". She was a member of European Olympic Committee Working Group "New Ways of Communication" and attendee of the International Olympic Academy in Olympia.

You may read more by going to chessbase.com or click here.

Abdul Hamid Nominated As FIDE Sec-Gen

30 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Just read from Fide.com and Hairulov’s blog that our very own, Abdul Hamid b Majid is nominated as the FIDE Secretary-General of FIDE under the Karpov’s Presidential team.

You may read more from fide.com or click here.
II.Presidential ticket of Mr. Anatoly Karpov:

1.President - Mr. Anatoly Karpov nominated by France, Germany and Switzerland,
2.Deputy President - Mr. Richard Conn Jr nominated by USA,
3.Vice President - Dr. Aguinaldo Jaime nominated by Angola,
4.Vice President - Prof. Dr. Alica Maric nominated by Serbia,
5.General Secretary - Mr. Abd Hamid Majid nominated by Malaysia,
6.Treasurer - Mr. Viktor Kapustin nominated by Ukraine.

We wish him well and hopes that he wins and maybe able to bring in more support for chess activities in Malaysia.