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FIDE Continental Presidents' supportAll four FIDE Continental Presidents support Kirsan at the coming elections.During the meeting of the FIDE Presidential Board in Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) on 13-14 April, all four FIDE Continental Presidents confirmed their support to Kirsan and his team at the coming FIDE Presidential Elections.  On the photo (from the left): Continental President for Africa Mr. Nizar Ali ELHAJ, Continental President for Americas Mr. Jorge VEGA, FIDE President Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Continental President for Asia Mr. Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi, Continental President for Europe Mr. Boris KUTIN. This week at the chessfidelity.com we will publish materials concerning support declared to Kirsan's ticket by the Continental Presidents. Today: Mr. Boris KUTIN, the Continental President for Europe.  STATEMENT OF SUPPORT For the upcoming FIDE elections, I hereby declare my open and full support to the ticket of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Among the positive developments in chess during Kirsan's presidency, one cannot ignore the recognition of chess as a sport by the International Olympic Committee in 1999 and the valuable support which the European Chess Union (ECU) received from FIDE during the first years of ECU's existence. A fair World Championship cycle has also been established, with equal terms and possibilities for all the top players and all the countries. But above all, Kirsan brought within FIDE unity and openness: anyone willing to contribute to FIDE's cause, even people who opposed Kirsan in the past, could freely join FIDE's committees and commissions without any barriers. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has proved to be a productive leader for FIDE. A man with vision and efficiency. I sincerely unite my voice with everyone who openly supports Kirsan's re-election as FIDE President. Boris Kutin ECU President & FIDE Delegate of Slovenia  Continental President for Asia Mr. Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmi:  ?I support Kirsan because he has done a lot and you can see the results. Before we could hardly find candidate cities for the World Chess Olympiad ? now there are six cities fighting for this event. I think that Kirsan has made FIDE more democratic and has solved many financial problems. Now it is a much better organization than it was 10 years ago. He also has done a lot for the Chess developement in Asia. Just to remember two world championships he arranged here. And all the prize money for different Asian Championships. I am very grateful for his support!?   Continental President for Americas Mr. Jorge VEGA: ?I decided to support Kirsan because he brought the unity to FIDE. When he became President in 1995, all the fights of the past that seemed endless, almost immediately ended. The second reason is the thought of how much money he spent on Chess because he really loves Chess. And also how many sponsors he brought! During all these 11 years all the FIDE events happened regularly. How can we not support him? Just to add ? the real support of many American federations started during Ilyumzhinov's presidency? TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Knowing that two candidates for the FIDE Presidency have been sent to FIDE Secretariat for the forthcoming elections, I hereby want to express my total support to Mr. Kirzan Iljumzhinov for this office. The reasons of my decision are due to the following facts: 1.-Mr. Iljumzhinov has demonstrated during his leadership how much he loves chess by allocating some USD 50 M to support chess activities, all this sum from his own pocket. No other person has demonstrated such interest. He also has demonstrated his capability in getting sponsors for our events and the World Championships and the last World Cup are clear proof of this. The idea of getting private sponsorship to substitute Mr. Iljumzhinov´s allocations seems to me as to change a real sponsor for campaign promises or mermaid songs. 2.-Under Mr. Iljumzhinov FIDE has been opened to anybody willing to contribute, even from the opposition side and it is possible to check this by reviewing the FIDE Commissions and Committees. 3.-Actually FIDE does not depend on Mr. Iljumzhinov´s money as the opposition says, anybody can review the FIDE financial reports and shall see that FIDE is in the black since the moving of the Secretariat from Lausanne to Athens. The opposition?s idea of moving the Secretariat to Paris seems more an electoral compromise than an economic idea. 4.-Due to the FIDE financial position most of American CACDEC Federations have benefited from the support received. This is clear and can be checked. This fact was possible because Mr. Iljumzhinov understands the needs of our small Federations. However when anybody reads the opposition?s statement, 96% of what is written is concerning elite chess. I am very proud of Mr. Uvencio Blanco´s work for Chess in Schools in Venezuela ? this is the result of a life-time work and not a last moment effort. Mr. Blanco´s work cannot be matched by any other in the world. 5.-Last but not least we have to remember what America had received from past West European administrations: Nothing!!!!!! We have to note the difference between the old Interzonals ant the actual 128 players World Cup, that by the way, several personalities in Western Europe tried to abolish. We have to think when CACDEC was born. We have to think when the chess boom started. As an old man I do not believe in goblins, wizards, mermaid songs or campaign promises. I only believe in facts and the facts are on the table. Because all of this I assure you, Mr. Kirzan Iljumzhinov, all the support I may give. Yours Truly Jorge Vega Continental Presidency for America Candidate  Continental President for Africa Mr. Nizar Ali ELHAJ: ?Kirsan started to support more African federations. When asked for support, he always provided it. Everyone promises. But I believe that only Kirsan can fulfil his promises as he always did. He is the guy of act, not just ?bla-bla-bla?!. I am sure that minimum 70-75% of African federations will vote for Kirsan's ticket? It is the time Africa should be one team! Open Letter Dear Friends in Chess, We are nearing towards the end of 2005 and soon we shall embrace 2006 withthe hope for peace and good health for each and everyone! May 2006 give us more chess and let us strive to work for better co-operation. In about 5 months, we shall soon meet again in another mega chess event; the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. This brings me back to the time after Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected as FIDE President. He accelerated the process to obtain recognition of chess by the International Olympic Committee through his personal influence and Intervention. Two years ago, Chess became one of the disciplines in the Programs of the African Games, the Arab Games, the Southeast Asian Games and the Caribbean Games. Last month, we saw Chess again competed in the SEA Games and next year, for the first time, in the Asian Games. The chess players' dream of competing in multi-sport events became a reality. National chess federations begin to receive or obtain more funding from their respective national sports authorities. Chess "became" sport. This happened during the leadership of Ilyumzhinov. We all know the situation of chess in Africa during Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Presidency When we have a real support to our federation and to our players We had more titles we had more players in the world championship and we had more rated players and we had a good prize money for our continent championship In recent months, we have read over the internet, the announcements by some hopeful candidates on how they like to "save" FIDE. Some of us could have already been contacted. But alas, let us examine the candidates carefully as we place the future of African Chess into the correct hands. One simple criteria I would ask will be ? how long has such a presidential candidate served his national chess federation ? better still, how had he contributed to the overall development of Chess for HIS national chess federation. More importantly, how much had the candidate contributed towards African Chess? Promises are easier made than fulfilled. We are not children! How much revenue has been generated over internet chess and if so, which national chess federation has success and benefited financially with internet chess? If truly there is good revenue, where are the models and how have these success models contributed to chess development? How does filling the pockets of certain superstars help African Chess? All what I know about the other candidate ?Mr. Bessel Kok ? that he is considering only top grandmasters and big federations and mainly European federations and he did not have any history himself or any one in his ticket with the African Federations even there are no future planning for our federation The FIDE Elections should not be treated like a game of poker. Africa should support the candidate with a proven record and to this end, the prize funds for our Continental Championships ? qualifiers for the World Championships ? have been provided for personally by Ilyumzhinov. Even if the FIDE Elections is to be a game of poker, I would like to see money (CASH) on the table. Potential candidates will approach national chess federations individually with different offers and bargains. In this connection, I appeal for Africa to be a united bloc especially for the FIDE Elections in Turin. Let us ALL support the same candidate who had, who will, and who can continue to deliver. I appeal to your patience before making any commitment to any candidate. I shall be pleased to receive your comments and suggestions and put them together as one AFRICAN bargain. Let us decide together by AFRRCAN majority ? let us have a trusted friend ? a true friend of African Chess. Reform in any national chess federation takes time. For FIDE to become more professional, takes even a longer time. Nevertheless, I shall be glad to receive your feedback. It is with honest feedback that we know which is the correct move to make. And let us make this move together. With Best Regards, Continental President for Africa Nizar Ali ELHAJ |
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