On July 12, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov met with the former US Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Kurt Weldon in the Moscow FIDE office.
The guest endorsed the idea of a friendly match between the parliaments of the United States and the Russian Federation during the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin to be held in New York in November 2016. Ilyumzhinov also spoke about the "Chess in Schools" programme, which Weldon liked and promised to support its promotion in America.
In addition, the parties discussed the current international issues including the relations between Russia and America.
Incidentally, Ilyumzhinov and Weldon are acquainted for a long time: in September 2004, Weldon still being a Congressman visited Elista, from where he and with the former head of Kalmykia flew to Beslan trying to prevent the tragic events.
