11.08.2021

Ilyumzhinov, a person who never say no

In May 2002, an event took place in Prague that many dreamed of but did not want to say so. The chess world has been united, and the title of world chess champion was the prerogative and even the property of FIDE. Then again, as in the good old days, one person will become the world chess champion, and he will be considered the best chess player on the planet. And all this happened at the chess summit, where the world's strongest chess players and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov gathered.

Following the summit, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov gave a long interview, an excerpt of which we present to the readers' attention.
- What would you highlight as the main decisions made at the summit in Prague?
- Perhaps the most important decision taken on May 6 at the council of leading grandmasters and chess players headed by Bessel Kok was the signing of an agreement in which two fundamental principles were fixed: 1. FIDE is the only organization representing the interests of chess players in the Olympic and sports movement;
2. FIDE is the official owner of the world champion title. Now, I hope, there will be no collisions like they were among Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. Now the highest title is the property of FIDE, and only FIDE determines when and where the World Championships will be held.

 

- How do you see the future of chess in this connection?

- The most important slogan of chess players is Gens una sumus - we are one family. Therefore, the task of FIDE is to popularize chess. Today, this organization unites 162 countries, more than 500 million people play chess on our planet. My task is to get 41 more countries to join FIDE. In this case, chess will be played in all countries of the UN, and the number of players can reach a billion.