As the President of a small national chess federation, I am well
qualified to understand the economic needs of Chess in Africa from
FIDE. Kirsan wants to establish little Kirsan drug testing territories
in Africa, and vote them for his 2010 reelection. Africa needs to solve
her own problems, without the help of FIDE or Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Only
when Africa solves her own problems can she become greedy enough to
fend for herself.

I think to sit around and discuss African chess while it is illegal to
play chess in the world chess championship regardless of the money. I
could offer a billion dollars to chess, and it wouldn't move the FIDE
board to let us play.

We are living in a horrible time in chess. You just have to remember
that at the end of the day, the courts of Switzerland - the
International Court of the Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne - will have
the last word. Clearly, anyone with the cash has a reasonable case
against the corruption in the current FIDE administration.

I do not understand how these fools in FIDE expect to ban every citizen
of St Kitts and Nevis from the world chess championship. They must have
good lawyers, indeed!

Here is the cite for the authorty of the Swiss courts. You can not sue
them in the US and win. You must go to the Court for the Arbitration of
Sport.

Actual Handbook
Handbook | A. Administrative Subjects | 01. FIDE Statutes | Chapter 17
- Final Settlement of Disputes at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Chapter 17 - Final Settlement of Disputes at the Court of Arbitration
for Sport
17.1. Nothwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in this Statute,
FIDE hereby subscribes to the final settlement of any dispute directly
or indirectly related to chess in its whole or partial practice, be it
commercial or relating to the practice and development of chess or a
dispute following a decision by FIDE, to be sent to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne without recourse to any other court
or tribunal, as earlier subscribed to by FIDE on 11 October 1995.
17.2. For all practical purposes, the practise of the game of chess in
all its ramifications is fully recognised as sport by the International
Olympic Committee at the IOC session in Seoul, Korea in June 1999 and
therefore any form of practice of the game of chess and any decision
thereon by FIDE or any form of activity relating thereto either
directly or indirectly falls within the definition of sport.
17.3. The settlement of all disputes under Article 17.1 above shall be
applicable to acts performed by :
a. FIDE as an Organisation
b. FIDE Office bearers
c. Member Federations, their clubs and individual players
d. Sponsors
e. Any person or body with whom FIDE has entered into any form of
contractual arrangement either directly or indirectly related to Chess
17.4. The Decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport shall be
final and binding on the parties.


Marcus Roberts

President
Chalreston Chess Assocation
St Kitts and Nevis
The West Indies


STATEMENT FROM KIRSAN'S WEB SITE

Our Vision for Africa (2006 to 2010) And Beyond
I) PREAMBLE

Chess development on the African continent has for a long time been
undermined by the failure of administrators to work as a team. The
hurdles arising from this shortcoming have profoundly retarded more
significant growth even in the light of FIDE's global strategic
goals.

It is virtually impossible for anyone seeking to advance the cause of
African chess to succeed single handedly. In this vein, conventional
wisdom dictates that anyone seeking office to advance the cause for
African chess MUST build a team. This team must strive to offer equal
opportunities to the entire continent regardless of race, creed or
colour. With the value of teamwork being so obvious, the African
Continental President elect (Dabilani Buthali of Botswana) and FIDE
Vice Presidential candidate (Lewis Ncube of Zambia) are combining their
efforts towards enhancing further the achievements so far attained by
the leadership of H.E.Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

II) ADMINISTRATION (THE AFRICAN CHESS UNION)

The African Chess Union, which was formed for the purpose of advancing
the cause of African chess within the ambit of FIDE, has never really
taken off. The responsibility of developing African chess has been left
to the individual African Federations. Left uncoordinated, such
individual efforts (however good they might be) will not have
significant impact at the continental level.

Whilst FIDE has made strides in the globalisation of the game, the
African Continental administration has not taken full advantage of the
provided opportunities. There is need to develop a strategic plan with
clear targets and milestones for the four years of our tenure. Without
an African vision and mission, chess in Africa will have no direction
and subsequently no desired future.

The current situation engulfing chess on the African Continent requires
administrators capable of providing inspirational leadership. Our
combined efforts should provide the desired inspiration and direction.

We are confident that our election to the Continental Presidency and
FIDE Vice Presidency will herald a new dawn for African chess.

Upon assuming office, one of the first business items will be to seek
the re-drawing of the statutes of the African Chess Union to take into
account the prevailing socio-economic circumstances. All African
delegates will have a say in the production of a final document that
will POSITIVELY guide the administration of chess on the continent.

The objective is to have a document that reflects the goals of
developing African chess with modern management techniques.

One of the proposed changes will be a re-organization of the existing
structures to enable the three Zonal Presidents to act as Continental
Vice Presidents. These roles would not be merely ceremonial but would
have authority to act within their prescribed areas on behalf of the
Continental President. This would provide for a more representative
leadership for African Chess.

The position of General Secretary for the African Chess Union will be
enhanced to ensure that internal communication between African
Federations as well as with the FIDE Secretariat is kept up to date.

A committee to administer the financial aspects of the ACU, headed by
one of the Continent's administrators will be put in place. Amongst
the tasks to be dealt with will be fund-raising activities and
budgeting responsibilities.

Another committee of committed administrators will oversee the
development of chess amongst the Continent's youth.

Continental tournaments will be administered through a committee which
will also ensure that all zones have an opportunity to host major
continental events on a rotational basis.

III) TOURNAMENTS

On being elected Continental President and FIDE Vice President, our
intention is to put in place a system where the following tournaments
are held annually with the indicated benefits and incentives: -

a) AFRICAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
This event will be held in a format similar to the World Youth
Championships.
Consent from FIDE will be sought to enable the winners in each age
group qualify BY RIGHT for the subsequent World Youth Championship.
Hosting of this event will rotate on a zonal basis.

b) AFRICAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
The African Junior Championship will continue in the current format
with the event also being hosted on a rotational basis amongst the
African zones.

A scheme to provide overseas scholarships for deserving winners of this
event will also be explored.

c) CONTINENTAL INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Continental Individual Championship will also continue in the
current format. The ACU General Assembly subject to FIDE approval will
examine the built in qualification for ALL places for the FIDE World
Championships.

d) ZONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Each zone will be required to hold Zonal championships. Zones will be
encouraged to ensure that these are rotated amongst the member
Federations.

IV) INTRODUCTION OF AFRICAN CHESS CIRCUIT

Despite the problems currently facing chess in Africa, it is a credit
to some administrators that we have managed to produce players capable
of holding their own amongst the best in the world.

The continental administration, under our guidance will put in place a
programme that seeks to ensure that those who are unable to obtain
financing for overseas trips are regularly afforded opportunities for
development nearer home. It is our intention to put in place a circuit
under which a selected group of reputable Grandmasters and
International Masters tour the African Continent annually to take part
in tournaments in the form of an AFRICAN CHALLENGE. These would be
conducted by having an international open tournament in each zone in a
particular year's African Challenge. This would provide opportunities
for more African players to raise their standard of play and OFFICIALLY
improve their ratings coupled with possibilities for attainment of GM
and IM norms.

VI) FIDE GLOBAL EVENTS

The hosting of FIDE Tournaments such as the World Youth and World
Junior Championships is not beyond some African Federations. Indeed,
with the right sponsorship package and planning we can envisage some
African Federations having the capacity to host a Chess Olympiad in the
next ten years.

As a team we intend to work towards the Continent hosting the World
Youth and World Junior Championships within FOUR years and being able
to mobilize resources for lodging a credible bid to host a Chess
Olympiad within 10 years.

VII) TECHNICAL AND MATERIAL ASSISTANCE

CACDEC has come to the aid of many African Federations with technical
support, supply of equipment and the provision of supplementing the
cost of hosting FIDE events.

We will continue to lobby for increased assistance to the most
deserving of cases.

We as administrators must however recognize the financial limitations
of FIDE. In this regard we intend to source for more sustainable
avenues for the continued supplementation of FIDE assistance.

VIII) SETTING UP OF WEBSITE

A website under the administration of the African Chess Union must be
set up to enable African chess move with the times. This will provide
an opportunity for Federations to communicate and share views on the
continued progress of chess on our continent.

The website will also encourage the sharing of literature which
sometimes proves costly for individual Federations.

Precautions for observance of copyright and other relevant controls
will also be put in place.


DABILANI BUTHALI
Continental President elect

LEWIS NCUBE
FIDE Vice President Candidate Europe is finally with us.
Alexander Zhukov turns fifty
Our Vision for Africa (2006 to 2010) And Beyond
Bosnia and Herzegovina bring up Kirsan's Supporters List to 86
Kirsan's List Comes up to 85!
86 Supporting Federations

The Republic of Kalmykia

All FIDE Continental Presidents support Kirsan

FIDE achievements of the decade 1996-2006

Isn't it amazing how worked up you get, Marcus, over something
as trivial as chess?

You've never answered some very basic questions regarding your
claim that FIDE has "banned" St Kitts & Nevis chess players from
participating in a FIDE world championship. Who from that country
is even capable of competing at a professional level of chess? What
is the highest rated player from St Kitts & Nevis?

You also have to ask yourself this question: "Is Marcus Roberts
causing more harm than good for chess players in St Kitts & Nevis?".

Seems to me any country would be better off with someone a little
more professional running their chess program.

Chess Freak wrote:
You've never answered some very basic questions regarding your
claim that FIDE has "banned" St Kitts & Nevis chess players from
participating in a FIDE world championship.

Perhaps because the answers would be very embarrassing Looking at his
federation's "website", it sure looks like a one man job to me. They
have no rating list, ergo, no active players, though Marcus himself has
a low Class A USCF rating. It seems clear that if anyone else was
affected here, he'd readily tell us about it. His silence is an
admission of guilt here.


You also have to ask yourself this question: "Is Marcus Roberts
causing more harm than good for chess players in St Kitts & Nevis?".

Seems to me any country would be better off with someone a little
more professional running their chess program.

It's obviously a front organization for himself. He imagines he's
entitled to a vote in FIDE even though he hates them. It's all very
sick and twisted and deranged.