Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

  

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov


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Thibault de Vassal    (2009-01-11)
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

I just watched a french tv documentary on Canal+ : "L'effet papillon" (the butterfly effect), a very rare & surprising topic in France : Kirsan Ilyumzhinov !

The president of Kalmykia & FIDE, long ago introduced by Boris Eltsine at this rank, was clearly presented as a despot in this poor region of Russia, not really far from North Korea (not speaking of distances). The images from "city chess" near Elista were quite terrible, a phantom city, part of the cult of the personality beginning in schools (children learning that GM Ilyumzhinov is the one example to follow)... Images from a few 'sponsor' industries of one competition held in Elista were just another way to suggest how Ilyumzhinov finds the money to keep the hand on the world of chess. Finally we saw a few GM timidly saying that probably everything was not clear in the FIDE.

Well, I do not believe 100% of what is said on tv, that's just what french people saw today, each one is free to make his own opinion after watching this kind of portrait.