What Might US Chess Do About FIDE and Its Increasingly Obvious Connections To Russian Oligarchs Close to Vladimir Putin?

Reform of FIDE has proved virtually impossible given the one nation/one vote governance system used by FIDE to elect its leadership.  If the US and Western European federations demanded reform away from the one nation/one vote system and threatened to form a new international organization there might be change. The problem is organizing and obtaining the solidarity needed. Still, I recall Bill Hall, the late Executive Director of US Chess telling me around 2009 or 2010 that there were some tentative talks relating to this going on in which Kasparov was involved. Of course, nothing ever came of it.

That said, the sanctions leveled against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by the US Dept. of the Treasury have sent a chill into the air near FIDE's leadership. The long delay in announcing the main sponsor of the November WCC match and Agon's bringing in PhosAgro with its history of ownership by people with direct ties to Putin, tells me that Agon had a great deal of trouble finding, and did not find, a major sponsor here in the US. Recall that last November, just before the sanctions hit Kirsan Ilyumzhinov he was scheduled to fly to NYC to sign contracts for venue and sponsors. We may never know who the sponsors may have been or where the match was going to take place, but I doubt the Fulton Fish Market was in the picture.

That said, I think it's safe to assume that FIDE and Agon, Ltd are on the radar of the Treasury Dept. and Homeland Security. That Ilyumzhinov was not allowed to board a Delta Airlines flight from Moscow to NYC on August 25th is telling. Will the Mayor of NYC be seen with FIDE officials, Agon's Merenzon or PhosAgro's Guryev and Litvinenko (Putin's old campaign manager). There are enough connected Democrat chess players in NYC that I have to think the Mayor's Office and Corporation Counsel have been clued in so as to not potentially embarrass themselves with these questionable Russians. Whilst Trump Tower was floated as a possible venue, that seems to have gone nowhere which is not surprising given the issues affecting the Trump campaign with campaign manager Manafort's Ukraine business connections and Trump's praise of Putin. The real action of this championship might not be at the Fulton Fish Market building, but in Customs at Kennedy International.

What should US Chess' position be on FIDE and Agon? What can US Chess do to leverage its position as one of the strongest chess nations (ELO-wise) to help save our wonderful game from corrupt Russian oligarchs? I'm not certain what, if anything, US Chess can do, but I hope the issue is discussed by the US Chess Executive Board with a view toward doing the right thing.