Ilyumzhinov & Danailov win the elections in Khanty-Mansiysk

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will remain FIDE President for another term, until 2014. His ticket won 95 votes in the General Assembly, as opposed to 55 in favour of Anatoly Karpov.

The new/old administration will be headed by:
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (Russia), President
Georgios Makropoulos (Greece), Deputy President
Lewis Ncube (Zambia), Vice President
Beatriz Marinello (Chile/Brazil), Vice President
Ignatius Leong (Singapore), General Secretary
Nigel Freeman (Bermuda), Treasurer

It is obvious that Anatoly Karpov made a huge blunder right in the beginning, when he allowed his former bitter opponent Garry Kasparov, and the related bunch of ghostwriters, to dictate the tone of the campaign.

The Karpov 2010 Inc. announcements and PR were packed with overstated accusations and negativity, bordering with plain rudeness.

Perhaps Karpov should accept the offer to become FIDE Vice-President, distant himself from Kasparov, and use the position to control FIDE affairs and supposed "corruption".


Somewhat surprisingly, Silvio Danailov, manager and organizer from Bulgaria, won the race for the post of European Chess Union President.

It was estimated that Von Weizsäcker, having been aligned with Karpov team, held a small advantage ahead of the other two candidates, but the scandal with Arkadij Naiditsch obviously destroyed the entire German ticket.

In the second round of voting Silvio Danailov received 30 votes, while 24 votes were entrusted to Ali Nihat Yazici.

The new ECU administration:
President – Silvio Danailov (Bulgaria)
Deputy President – Tomasz Sielicki (Poland)
Vice President – Ion-Serban Dobronauteanu (Romania)
Secretary General – Sava Stoisavljevic (Serbia)
Treasurer – Almog Burstein (Israel)