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Monday, April 22, 2019

FIDE Noted In The Mueller Report. Danger for the Reputation of US Chess?

Now that FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Arkady Dvorkovich have been included in the Mueller Report with the point being made by ABC News that FIDE is in some ways an instrument of Putin's foreign policy, what should/is US Chess doing to keep from being tainted by Russian influence which is known for its corruption via wealthy Russian oligarchs who have been sponsors involved with promoting the past two World Championship matches. 

Per ABC News:
"Mueller reported that Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian sovereign wealth fund, flew to New York for the event and invited George Nader, a mysterious Middle Eastern businessman who was later questioned by Mueller about his meetings with Trump allies, to join him for the opening of the tournament. He asked Nader if there was “a chance to see anyone key from Trump camp," Mueller found, because he "would love to start building for the future," and urged him to invite Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Nader did not pass along the invitation, the report said, and investigators “did not establish that Trump or any Campaign or Transition Team official attended the event.”

But the invitation to host, which the match’s organizer Ilya Merenzon confirmed to ABC News that Ilyumzhinov extended to Trump, not through official FIDE channels but rather “via his personal connections,” could have established another business relationship between the Trump Organization and an institution [FIDE] with close ties to the Russian government."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mueller-investigated-russians-chess-build-bridge-trump/story?id=62518118

One of the people charged by Putin with creating business links to the incoming Trump administration was Kiril Dmitriev as noted in the ABC News Report and this report from The New York Times. 


It should be recalled that Dvorkovich also met with one Mr. Gates of the Trump campaign in Moscow while Dvorkovich was then Russian Prime Minister. Lest was also not forget, our US Chess Executive Director had a recent photo op with Dvorkovich in Washington, D.C.

I would hope that US Chess can find a way to work behind the scenes with other national chess federations (English Chess perhaps) to blunt the association of a FIDE that is now clearly and more openly in Putin's political orbit.


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