"There have been dramatic developments in the Fide presidential campaign to decide the head of the global chess body. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president for 23 years since 1995, seems ready to quit the contest after his Russian backers withdrew support.
Ilyumzhinov has been tarnished by US treasury sanctions, the loss of Fide’s bank account with UBS and most recently by the revelation that Glen Stark, his nominee for Fide general secretary, was a fake name with a false CV.
Moscow sources state that Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian deputy prime minister for six years from 2012 to 2018 and currently head of the Fifa World Cup organising committee, will now stand for Fide president. Dvorkovich has held senior positions in the Russian Chess Federation and was chairman of the organising committee for the 2014 world championship match at Sochi between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand.
It seems sure that Dvorkovich will have substantial funds to support his campaign and chess sources are already speculating that Georgios Makropoulos, the current Fide deputy president and until now the election favourite, may try to come to a power-sharing arrangement with the Russian."
It also appears that Kirsan may have already left the building.....
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