Karpov in Puerto Rico

Disclaimer: As a matter of fairness, I will publish articles, letters, and information from both parties when I receive them.

Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and the Future of Sponsorship
Jul 07, 2010

Democracy in Action: Puerto Rico Adelante!

It was a wonderful sight in Puerto Rico last weekend, as people power worked for the future of chess in beautiful Puerto Rico. When the Federation’s leadership balked at an open debate over whom to support for FIDE president, an Extraordinary Assembly was called. As the remarkable videos show, well over 100 members came out to vote! The result was a clear win to support the ticket of Anatoly Karpov, and the Assembly also supported the candidacy of Puerto Rico’s own chess dynamo, Rafael Ortiz Bonilla, for General Secretary on the Continental Americas ticket of Marvin Guevara, along with Francisco Guadalupe, which is supported by the Karpov2010 campaign.

Here’s the vote count in action progress. The voters didn’t fit into the meeting hall so the Assembly had to go outside the building! Our thanks and congratulations to Rafael Ortiz and Federation president Omar Añeses for this heartening display of democracy in action.

The vote took place just weeks after the visit of Garry Kasparov to Puerto Rico, where he was very well received. Kasparov was impressed with the passion for chess on the island and especially by the Casa del Ajedrez, an amazing institution that the Karpov campaign has pledged to turn into a Latin American / Caribbean operations center. As Rafael Ortiz puts it, “it makes perfect sense because Puerto Rico is the e4 square on a board that spans Argentina to Canada!” And who knows better than Karpov about controlling the center of the board?

http://www.karpov2010.org/2010/07/puertorico-bahamas-chesssponsorship/