- Kirsan Nikolaevich, which of the fresh tournaments do you remember most? - What is the current budget of FIDE?
- Several million Euros. It is formed by 20 per cent that we take from the prize funds. These funds are used to maintain the administrative personnel and overhead costs. The prize funds are set up by the sponsors.
- And what is their interest? They should need some return, for example, by the means of the media.
- The return does exist. Do you know how many visits were recorded on the official website of the match for the title of the World Champion between Carlsen and Anand in Sochi? 50 million!
Another example: the World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships that we held in Astana in 2012. One day, I and the Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan visited our IT specialists. I said: "Let's see how many countries are watching Astana now ".
The result was as follows: Russia - 20 thousand, Germany - 15 thousand and so on ...including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica... My companion was amazed: "Do Kazakhs really live there as well?!" I answered: "No, it is just that people everywhere are interested in chess". That’s how the popularization of territories is happening with the help of chess.
