Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) |
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov | |
---|---|
Кирсан Илюмжинов Үлмҗин Кирсән | |
President of Kalmykia | |
In office 23 April 1993 – 24 October 2010 | |
Preceding | Aleskey Orlov |
Personal details | |
Born | Elista, Kalmyk ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 5 April 1962
Political party | United Russia |
Spouse | Danara Davashkina |
Profession | Businessman |
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (Russian: Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов, [kʲɪrˈsan nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ɪlʲʉmˈʐinəf]; Kalmyk: Үлмҗин Кирсән, Ülmcin Kirsən, [yləmˈd͡ʒin cirˈsæn]; born 5 April 1962) is a Russian oligarch, administrator and politician. He was President of the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation from 1993 to 2010, and was president of FIDE, the chess international governing body, from 1995 to 2018.[1] He has also been in the forefront of promoting chess in schools in Russia and overseas.[2] He is the founder of Novy Vzglyad publishing house.[3]
He has been an honorary president of the former Kalmykian FC Uralan.
Personal life
Ilyumzhinov was born in
He is now married for the third time. Third wife since July 27, 2021 — Diana Dmitrievna Ilyumzhinova (née Gurova)[7]
In addition to his native Kalmyk and Russian, he is fluent in English, Japanese, and speaks a little Korean, Mongolian and Chinese.[6]
UFO experience
Ilyumzhinov has drawn worldwide attention for claiming that in September 1997 he was taken from his flat by aliens and travelled in their spaceship, visiting another planet. He claims three of his staff searched his flat during this, failing to find him, and could not explain how he then reappeared in his bedroom an hour later.[8][9] A Chess Notes feature article by Edward Winter provides a comprehensive collection of Ilyumzhinov's own words on his alleged encounters with aliens.[10] These claims brought Illumzhinov a lot of media attention both in Russia and internationally and have been instrumental in making him better known outside the chess world.
Political career
On 12 April 1993, Ilyumzhinov was elected as the first president of the
Ilyumzhinov has spent millions of dollars on
On 8 June 1998,
United States sanctions
On 25 November 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury named him a Specially Designated National "for materially assisting and acting for or on behalf of the Government of Syria, Central Bank of Syria, Adib Mayaleh, and Batoul Rida."[19] Due to these sanctions, on 6 December 2015, Ilyumzhinov withdrew from any legal, financial and business operations of FIDE until such time as he is removed from the list.[20] Despite this, on 12 February 2018, UBS announced they would be closing all FIDE bank accounts.[21]
FIDE career
In November 1995, Ilyumzhinov became President of the
In other developments during that time, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov encountered opposition from rivals in the European chess federations, the U.S., and Canada. Some of these managed to a special meeting in
In the summer of 1998, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced his possible candidacy for the Russian presidency. This coincided with Anatoly Karpov being critical of the annual knockout FIDE world title system. Karpov argued that his contract with FIDE stipulated that the winner of the 1998 Karpov-Anand match would hold the title for two years. Karpov's successful advocacy of his rights led to the cancellation of a planned world title knockout series in Las Vegas, Nevada, later in that year. Since Karpov had an unsuccessful year, apart from his match against Anand, and he was unable to resist the plan that he would have to enter this knockout, whenever it came to be organized, at a far earlier stage.
Ilyumzhinov managed to persuade the 140 member countries of FIDE to take part in the main team event of the year, the Chess Olympiad, scheduled to start in late September 1998, in Elista. However the event started late due to the failure to complete the new venue in time. In the end, it attracted 110 teams to the main event, a
On 2 June 2006, Ilyumzhinov was re-elected as FIDE President by a margin of 96–54 against his opponent
On 29 September 2010, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was reelected as President of FIDE defeating his rival,
In 2014, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was reelected as President of FIDE after defeating Garry Kasparov, winning 110–61.[29][30]
On his 20th anniversary as FIDE president in November 2015, Ilyumzhinov listed his major achievements as: recognition of chess as a sport, unification of the world chess championship, stable financial situation of FIDE, complete FIDE calendar, the number of people playing chess increased more than ten times, the FIDE family has substantially increased, and development of women's chess.[31] In an interview on the same occasion, he mentioned that while not currently aspiring to become FIFA president, he might well become a candidate in the future, saying "I have a vision of how to make football still more popular and cleanse the organisation of corruption, like we did it with FIDE."[32]
Due to
On 27 March 2017, FIDE stated through its website that Ilyumzhinov had announced his resignation,[36] and that the extraordinary meeting will be held next month to review and accept the resignation. Ilyumzhinov later denied his resignation[37] in Russian media, as did his assistant when contacted by Chess.com;[38] FIDE executive director Nigel Freeman replied that Ilyumzhinov had verbally resigned during the Presidential Board Meeting in Athens, and called an Extraordinary Presidential Board Meeting to discuss the issue.[39] At the meeting, it was confirmed that Ilyumzhinov had not formally resigned, however he was criticized for making misleading statements to the media.[40]
In May 2018, Chessdom.com reported Ilyumzhinov to have applied for the new FIDE election with a virtual candidate on his ticket called "Glen Stark".[41]
On 13 July 2018, the FIDE ethics commission sanctioned Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for violating the FIDE code of ethics. The FIDE president, who was banned from "holding any position" effectively for six months, initially announced his intentions to fight this decision.[42] However, shortly after, he desisted from running for a new term as FIDE President.
After having been in office for 23 years, since 1995, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was finally ousted, clearing the path for a successor. The Greek Georgios Makropoulos, who had been General Secretary since 1990 and number two in the organization under Kirsan's presidency, was the first to announce his ticket. He was followed by the Englishman Nigel Short, a world title contender in the World Chess Championship 1993 against Garry Kasparov. The last to announce his candidacy was Arkady Dvorkovich, who had served as Russian deputy prime minister and was also a member of the supervisory board of the Russian Chess Federation. Dvorkovich was also one of the chief organizers of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the elections, held in Batumi (Georgia) in October 2018, Dvorkovich won by 103 votes to 78 against Makropoulos, thus becoming FIDE's 7th President in history.
Awards
Publications
Autobiography
Ilyumzhinov called his autobiography The President's Crown of Thorns.[43] Chapter titles included "Without Me the People Are Incomplete" (a quote from a short story by Andrei Platonov), "I Become a Millionaire" and "It Only Takes Two Weeks to Have a Man Killed"—the latter being about the problems with rising crime in some parts of Russia.
Mentions in literature
Ilyumzhinov features prominently in these books:
- The History of Kalmykia: from Ancient times to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Aleksey Orlov, by Justin Corfield. [Chapter 4: pages 119–193 is about Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. This is the only book that draws on several meetings with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, interviews with his father, teachers and colleagues, and it also has an extensive family tree of the Ilyumzhinovs.] (ISBN 978-1-876586-29-4).
- Curse of Kirsan: Adventures in the Chess Underworld, by Sarah Hurst (ISBN 1-888690-15-1) (privately published by Russell Enterprises Inc.).
- The Chess Artist, by J. C. Hallman (ISBN 0-312-27293-6).
- Absurdistan, by Eric Campbell (ISBN 0732279801).
- King's Gambit: A Son, A Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game, by Paul Hoffman (ISBN 1401300979).
- Novodvorskaya. The last vestal of the revolution, by ISBN 978-5-386-07861-4).[44]
Ilyumzhinov also has a whole chapter devoted to him in The Lost Cosmonaut by Daniel Kalder. (
There is also a brief biographical account on the website for the Embassy of Republic of Kalmyki.
References
- ^ Staff writer(s) (3 October 2018). "Arkady Dvorkovich: Russian politician crowned world chess head". BBC.
- ^ Perkins, Miki (7 April 2009). "Russia-bound to make their moves". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Команда "Нового Взгляда"". Newlookmedia.ru. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ Corfield, The History of Kalmykia, pp. 119–120
- ^ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (12 October 2006). "The Dictator and His Hobby: Kalmykian Leader Makes Farce of Chess Championships". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Илюмжинов, Кирсан. Lenta.ru. Retrieved on 28 July 2013.
- ^ Kremlin Stars Charitable Foundation
- ^ Galpin, Richard (5 May 2010). "Russian president asked to investigate alien claims". BBC News Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Ed Vulliamy (29 October 2006). "The man who bought chess". Guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ Edward Winter, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Aliens, Chess Notes, Chess History Center
- ^ a b "Leadership of the Republic". Embassy of the Republic of Kalmykia. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008.
- ^ Finlo Rohrer (25 September 2006). "Game of kings takes centre stage". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ "No cheque mate". IndianExpress.com. 11 January 1998. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ Letter from Russia: Planet Kirsan The New Yorker, 24 April 2006
- ^ [Eric Campbell. Absurdistan.]
- ^ "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Europe's only Buddhist republic, talks to Tom Parfitt". Guardian.co.uk. London. 25 September 2006.
- Reuters News Service. Tripoli.
- ^ Corfield, The History of Kalmykia, pp. 189–192
- ^ "Treasury Sanctions Networks Providing Support to the Government of Syria, Including For Facilitating Syrian Government Oil Purchases from ISIL". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ a b AM. "Statement from FIDE". Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ AM. "Letter from FIDE Treasurer regarding FIDE Bank Account". Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- ^ Corfield, The History of Kalmykia, pp. 173–176
- ^ FIDE Online. FIDE News: Kirsan Re-elected by Wide Margin, 96 vs. 54 Archived 30 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kasparov on Elista in the Wall Street Journal". Chess News. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ Parfitt, Tom (25 September 2006). "King of Kalmykia". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Corfield, The History of Kalmykia, pp. 187–189
- ^ "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov wins 2010 FIDE elections". Chessdom.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 2 October 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ Harding, Luke (29 September 2010). "Chess world shocked as Karpov fails to capture top job". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Corfield, The History of Kalmykia, p. 193
- ^ "Kasparov Is Soundly Defeated in Bid to Lead Chess Federation". The New York Times. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ AM. "20th anniversary of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's Presidency in FIDE". Archived from the original on 28 September 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's 20th anniversary as FIDE President – Chessdom". 24 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Российская Шахматная Федерация – Репортажи". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Илюмжинов намерен отсудить у Минфина США 50 миллиардов – во столько он оценивает честь и достоинство ФИДЕ – chess-news.ru". Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Кирсан Илюмжинов: "Кое-кто хотел включить меня в список лиц, против которых вводят санкции" – chess-news.ru". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ AM. "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced his resignation as FIDE President". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ Ведомости (27 March 2017). "Илюмжинов: меня хотели подставить, сместить с поста президента FIDE". Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "BREAKING: FIDE Claims Ilyumzhinov's Resignation, President Denies". Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's denial and FIDE's reply". 28 March 2017. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ "FIDE Extraordinary Presidential Board decisions". 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- ^ "Virtual candidate in Ilyumzhinov's ticket?". 1 June 2018.
- ^ (PeterDoggers), Peter Doggers. "FIDE Ethics Commission Bans Ilyumzhinov". Chess.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-4-8718-7454-0.
- ^ "Yevgeny Dodolev: Ilyumzhinov is a real Buddhist who is incapable of evil, and who sees what we can not see".
External links
- "All about Kirsan" — ChessBase.com, 17 July 2004
- A two-part documentary by Al Jazeera English on YouTube — part 1 and part 2
- (in Russian) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in comics, 1995
- Letter from Russia: "Planet Kirsan" by Michael Specter, The New Yorker, 24 April 2006
- "King of Kalmykia" by Tom Parfitt, The Guardian, 21 September 2006
- THE DICTATOR AND HIS HOBBY: "Kalmykian Leader Makes Farce of Chess Championships" by Mark Grossekathöfer, Spiegel Magazine, 12 October 2006
- "The man who bought chess" by Ed Vulliamy, Observer Sport Monthly, 29 October 2006
- (in Russian) Novy Vzglyad Publishing House— Official site
- Russian president asked to investigate alien claims, Richard Galpin, BBC News, Moscow
- "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Aliens" by Edward Winter, Chess Notes, Chess History Center