FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Barred From Traveling to the United States

On August 25th in Moscow, Kirsan was barred from boarding a Delta Airlines flight departing Moscow for NYC. The reason is that Kirsan is still on the Dept. of the Treasury sanctions list for alleged dealings in oil between Syria and ISIS.

Kirsan has stated that he hired US counsel and was suing the Dept. of the Treasury. Apparently that is not true--are we surprised? He now claims he wanted to travel to the US to personally challenge the sanctions at Treasury. The rule of law and legal procedure clearly mean very little to this jerk and his friends, including his buddy Vlad Putin. Chess deserves better than this bozo and his ilk.
https://kevinspraggettonchess.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/who-is-afraid-of-kirsan/

Russian Oligarchs Sponsor the World Chess Championship In NYC

A sad day for international chess. The worst of Russia is set to be fully involved in the World Championship match scheduled for NYC this November.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phosagro-announces-sponsorship-of-the-2016-fide-world-chess-championship-591753661.html

And Then It Was Gone---Just Like Disappearances During Soviet Times.....

The Wiki page announcing the 8/30 Agon press conference involving PhosAgro has had the link to the Russian site announcing the press conference removed. However, a cached version can be found here http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search... 

The headline translates as, "August 30 press conference held in Moscow, dedicated to the world championship match

Speakers: K. Ilyumzhinov, A. Filatov, A. Guriev, IG Merenzon"

Kyrgyzstan Issues A Commemorative Stamp Honoring the Chess Olympiad Next Month in Baku

The Russians Are Coming to NYC In November----Billionaires That Is

On 8/24/2016, the Russian Chess Federation announced that a press conference set for 8/30/2016 has been announced by Agon in concert with FIDE and the Russian company PhosAgro.  Will PhosAgro be announced as a major sponsor of the World Chess Championship scheduled to be held in NYC this November. We’ll know for certain on the 30^th. What then is PhosAgro?

PhosAgro is a Moscow based company with reportedly close ties to the president of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrei Filatov. PhosAgro lists itself as a sponsor of the Russian Chess Federation. http://ar2012.phosagro.com/social-responsibility/social-programmes/ The first owner of PhosAgro was Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky, the formerly close ally of Vladimir Putin who had a falling out with Putin over the matter of Yukos Gas in Russia.  In 2011 it was reported that Russian billionaire and London resident Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev owned 71% of PhosAgro. Vladimir Stefanovich Litvinenko, Putin’s former campaign manager is reported to be a 10% owner of PhosAgro. (The ownership interests of Guryev and Litvinenko were confirmed on the London Stock exchange in 2011 when PhosAgro was floated on the exchange)

Is this good for international Chess, or is it simply good for Russian businessmen and their friends associated with FIDE and Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov? Agon’s reported links with off-shore corporations such as Chess Lane make one wonder whether this is in the best interests of Chess or whether or not chess is being drawn into the rather seedy Russian business world. Perhaps Donald and Ivanka will get to the bottom of it all with the help of Ivanka’s friend Wendi Deng.  Wendi might do well to call on her good friend and Putin ally, Roman Abramovich, in getting to the bottom of it all. 

Happy Birthday to Zoltán Sárosy--110 Years Old Today and Still Playing Chess

The former Hungarian champion, living in Canada since 1950, turns 110 years old today.

When asked about the secret of long life, Zoltán Sárosy laughs. He started then quit smoking as a teenager, and only drank in moderation, but he doesn’t have a definite answer. “I’m still working on the formula. However, when I get it, I’ll go to the patent office,” he says. “I’m like an old used car with rusty body, wobbly wheels but a good engine.”
The full story can be found here.....
http://dailynewshungary.com/oldest-man-canada-110-year-old-hungarian-chess-player/

Bennington G-60 Report and Photos

Bennington G-60 Report

It was a long, but very fun day in Bennington for Monty Montgomery's G-60. The turnout was quite good with twenty four competitors. Without Monty there would be far less tournament play in Vermont. I'll post the link to the final standings once I have them. Mike went 3-1 and Ian and I went 2-2.

Monty Montgomery without whom there would be far less tournament chess in Vermont

David Carter, Vermont's Only National Master

Tom Cassar Playing On His Beautiful Custom Drueke Board

Ian Dudley Preparing for the Final Round

Ian at Work

Top Boards In Action

Mike Chadburn Defeating a >1600 Opponent In A True Brawl Over The Board

The Three Lyndonville CC Zombies, Ian, Mike and me (Brian)

A Golden Opportunity For US Chess?*

If Donald Trump has close ties to Putin and Russian mafia business types as is becoming increasingly possible**, perhaps we should support a Trump presidency as a way of ingratiating US Chess with the Russian Chess Federation for fun and profit. I'm lead to believe that the US Chess President, Mr. Grayson, is a Trump supporter. Perhaps he should make an overture to the Trump-Putin*** camp and ask that they arrange a meeting for Mr. Grayson with Russian Chess Federation President Filatov. Think of all the cash that could be found off-shore to fund new chess initiatives here------like free Plycounters for all US Chess members. Who needs Rex? 

*Tongue firmly planted in cheek.
**http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
***Trump-Putin 2016  Making Tyranny Great Again

WCC Venue Announced---The Fulton Market at South Street Seaport, NYC

The World Championship match is announced for the Fulton Market building at South Street Seaport in NYC. However, there are some issues to be addressed. First, the building is reportedly not yet open. It  is also reported to have just two tenants at the moment, iPic and The Tuck Tavern. iPic has just announced that it will open on 10/6 or 10/7 depending on the source one goes to. The Tuck Tavern has no announced opening date at present on its web site. It's not clear from the computer generated renderings provided by AGON whether the match is to be held in the iPic area of the building or in the tavern area. Attempts to obtain current real photos of the building site have proved unsuccessful, but continue. Lastly, one hopes that the owner of the building, Hughs Corp. out of Chicago, has done their due diligence regarding Kirsan, the Treasury Dept. sanctions against him and any possible financial involvements between Kirsan and AGON, Ltd. I'm not making travel plans to NYC just yet. If the venue isn't ready in time, my suggestion is to move the match to The White Horse Tavern using the table at which Dylan Thomas drank himself to death. 
http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2016-in-new-york-confirmed

Opinion--Thoughts On the Russian Chess Federation Proposal For Independent, Private World Chess Championship Challenges

The Russian Chess Federation has proposed a private challenge system to supplement the current WCC selection system. I think it is a potentially interesting idea that could reform the process in a positive manner.

Some objections have been floated elsewhere that some players like V-L from France would have more difficulty than someone like Caruana raising money for a match challenge.

There is no question that some challengers will have more difficulty than others in arranging funding for an independent challenge. Still, I think a player like V-L or FC will have little trouble finding sponsors given their ability. What this proposal indirectly addresses is the current candidates structure which is far from ideal in that after the candidates' tournament there is no match play leading to the naming of a world championship challenger. IMO, the two best choices are to move toward independent challenges or go back to interzonal tournaments followed by match play to find the challenger.

If the road chosen is the old private system, there could be a requirement that the champion has an obligation to accept a challenge from one of the top five players based on FIDE rating within perhaps two years of the last title match or forfeit the title, giving the title to the highest rated player at that time other than the forfeiting champion. Lastly, let's get Kirsan's cronies at Agon and Chess Lane out of the picture. Their business incompetence is pathetic and the secrecy of their machinations is destructive of promoting chess as a viable professional sport. The chess world deserves better. The Russian proposal is a possible initial negotiating position for a restructuring of the challenge system.

Why Did Kramnik Really Pull Out of the 2016 King Rex Cup in St. Louis?

Kramnik withdrew from the Cup taking place this week in St. Louis claiming health problems. I'm told by a GM in Europe that he alleged that he had back problems. But......this morning Chessbase reports that he attended an event in the Swiss Alps in which he gave a simul.

Could this really be a case of politics. Note that Rex is close to Gary who ran against Kirsan in the last FIDE presidential election. In relation to the WCC in NYC scheduled for November (still no venue or sponsors announced), we note that Vlad publicly made negative comments blaming Kirsan's sanctions troubles with the US Treasury Dept. on Kasparov.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/kramnik-at-the-verbier-music-festival

                                            Vlad gives a simul in the Swiss Alps yesterday

There are alternative theories that have been presented. US Chess members think it might be easier for Vlad to walk with his back problems than to sit for hours playing in St. Louis. Personally, if it isn't about politics, I think Vlad's French wife brought him some water from Lourdes.  In the best of all possible worlds, anything is possible.