Voices from Kalmykia
For all the attention devoted to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as FIDE President, his role as Head of the Republic of Kalmykia remains more of a mystery. Daria Aslamova’s recent two-part report offered a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in the small steppe republic.
Kamsky on the Candidates Matches
Gata Kamsky, in Azerbaijan for the Baku Open which starts on Sunday, gave an interview to T. Tushiev for extratime.az. The conversation inevitably centred around the uncertainty over the Candidates Matches, with Kamsky coming out against any last-minute changes to the line-up.
The forgotten recollections of Chigorin’s daughter
Alexander Kentler, who writes a chess column for sportsdaily.ru, was recently sent a remarkable document: the recollections of Mikhail Chigorin’s daughter on the 50th anniversary of her father’s death. She talks of his legendary absent-mindedness, how cigar smoke thwarted his title ambitions, and describes the last moments of his life.
Khalifman: “Anand’s a genius. He emanates light”
While on his way to winning the Minsk Open, former World Champion Alexander Khalifman gave a long and thoughtful interview to Elena Klimetz for the openchess.by website. Topics include why his career tapered off after winning the world title, parental pressure on young chess players, and the match in Sofia.
Karpov proposes holding Candidates Matches in Kiev
Anatoly Karpov, former World Chess Champion and candidate for the post of FIDE President, is proposing switching the Candidates Matches from Kazan, Russia, to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
“One of those things that distinguish us from the Neanderthals”
This is how Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow describes chess in his wide-ranging responses to reader questions at the Crestbook website. Other topics include phoney titles, the “theorisation” of chess and Krasenkow’s thoughts on emigrating from Russia to live in Poland.
Making a drama out of a crisis
Worries over the state of preparations for the World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk have recently made the headlines, but surely the strangest report appeared on the local Ugra Inform website. Their decision to transcribe the conversation during FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer’s inspection quite literally made a drama out of a crisis.
“The Russian player we played a match against in 2006 in Elista doesn’t exist for us!”
Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express broke the news yesterday that Veselin Topalov would, after all, be willing to play Candidates Matches in Russia. Today, in the full version of the interview, Silvio Danailov goes into much greater detail on his feelings towards Kramnik, his disapproval of FIDE’s conduct during the match in Sofia, and the upcoming matches and Olympiad.
Candidates Matches once more in turmoil
In a bolt from the blue, the Kommersant newspaper reports that the Russian Chess Federation is lobbying to have the 2011 Candidates Matches switched from Baku, in Azerbaijan, to Kazan, in Russia. Veselin Topalov has joined the fray by refusing to play in Russia.
Ilyumzhinov: Chuck Norris owes me a bottle of whisky
While perhaps no surprise to the jaded observer, interviews with the President of the Internation Chess Federation are often extraordinary. Where else, in the middle of a heated election campaign, can you find a candidate talking openly about aliens, astrology, clairvoyants and meetings with such assorted characters as Saddam Hussein, Colonel Gaddafi, Bobby Fischer and Chuck Norris.
