http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Eccentric Russian chess head ‘told Khadafy it was checkmate’ in Libya
AFP / NEWSCORE
Last Updated: 11:35 AM, June 13, 2011
By NewsCore
TRIPOLI, Libya — The pictures on Libyan state TV showed a civilized game of chess between Moamar Khadafy and the eccentric Russian head of world chess, but was the visitor carrying a secret message from Moscow?
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the oddball president of the World Chess Federation who has repeatedly claimed to have met aliens and even on one occasion been shown round their spaceship, made a surprise visit to Tripoli on Sunday but said there was no political agenda other than promoting the game.
“I would happily meet with anyone,” Ilyumzhinov told Moscow Echo radio from Libya. “I am not a politician — I went there as a sportsman.”
“On the eve of his trip on Friday, Ilyumzhinov telephoned me and informed me that he was going to travel to Tripoli and was expected to meet with Khadafy to discuss chess questions,” Margelov told the Ria Novosti news agency.
The diplomat said, “I advised him to play white and move E-2 to E-4 — and make it clear to Khadafy that his side is close to the endgame.”
Margelov meet with Khadafy’s opponents in the rebel bastion Benghazi last week and said he would travel to Tripoli next week.
But whether Ilyumzhinov delivered the message was unclear. He told the Moscow Echo that he offered Khadafy a tie to save him from embarrassment, which the leader accepted. Khadafy also appeared to play white, while Ilyumzhinov played with cream-colored pieces on the crystal-studded board.
As a player, Ilyumzhinov said that Khadafy was “of course weaker, much weaker than me … just an enthusiast who knows where to put the pieces and do a child’s-play checkmate.”
But Khadafy’s oldest son, Muhammad, with whom he also played, is a “serious player who knows the theory of chess.”
Ilyumzhinov said that he found Khadafy to be “calm … normal and adequate. We played chess and we talked,” AFP reported.
Ilyumzhinov described his trip as a “working visit” and pointed out that he had recently been in Afghanistan and would soon visit Iraq. He presented Khadafy with a chess set made in Kalmykia, the Buddhist region he headed from 1993 to 2010.
Source: http://www.nypost.com
no shame
Ilyumzhinov is the smartest man in chess.
Had FIDE elected Karpov instead of re-electing Ilyumzhinov, I doubt very much whether Karpov would have visited a man with much blood on his hands and a total disagreement with democracy and instead thinks rule by tribe is the way forward for the human race.
I don’t believe anything about world affairs that’s in the media anymore. All I hear is hearsay and about this “madman” giving “rambling speeches”, especially on CNN. How about we have a listen to what he’s saying and make up our minds for ourselves, instead of every CNN reporter vitriolically coming in savaging him as this bad man.
The same for Syria recently, talking about how Abas is killing his own people etc. There is no reason to believe any of this. Most humans tell the truth most of the time, and it’s natural to expect that the truth comes out more often than not and if everyone is saying and reporting something, it must be true. But with powerful media entities and huge corperate interests that control everything involved… we can no longer trust in this. What they realize is that they can turn trust and human emotions into profit, and I think it’s disgusting. I find Russia Today to be the most honest channel out there but wouldn’t trust them too much still.
Oh it’s Assad who is president of Syria. I’m apathetic to it and don’t keep up with any of it.
We at the World Chess Federation (www.wcfchess.com) are offended as Ilyumzhinov is head of rival FIDE, the International Chess Federation and has no connection whatsoever with World Chess Federation.