"I set a goal to increase the number of chess players to one billion by 2020 and if Kasparov would play and travel around the world, this would help fulfill that goal. Therefore, I am glad and all for his return. I will invite him," Ilyumzhinov added.
"Maybe he is experiencing financial difficulties. St. Louis tournament has good prize money. They say that whatever a chess player does, he would still return to chess. But, probably, the reason was that he became bored and disappointed in politics. Chess players do not run across stadiums, you can play it over internet. Maybe all these years Kasparov played under a different name, trained and currently decided to disclose himself," said the head of FIDE.
"Kasparov's participation in St. Louis tournament is being considered yet. His fate will be decided by the Ethics Commission -- an independent structure that reports to the FIDE General Assembly only. The Commission has already disqualified him for two years. This decision cannot be revoked but they can make another. For example, they may announce that they would not consider ratings, and then there would be no sense in chess player's participation in a tournament. That is, Garry will play just for money," Ilyumzhinov summed up.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov shared his opinion about Garry Kasparov’s return to chess with reporters.
"When Garry told me that he was leaving chess, I tried to persuade him to stay. There was no reason to do so while he was still the 13th World Champion. But he had made up his mind. Then, as you remember, he took an active interest in politics. I support him warmly now because he is a famous player and our task is to popularize chess," said FIDE President.
