INTRIGUE IN FIDE ELECTIONS
The dust has hardly settled in the World Chess Federation's world championship cycle but already, attention is turning to the next agenda in the federation's chess calendar, the biennial Chess Olympiad and the annual Fide General Assembly in Erevan, Armenia, this September.
Already, news filtering in from Europe has it that the United States, the Russian and the German Chess Federations are jointly proposing Jaime Sunye-Neto as a candidate for the next Fide presidential elections.
Sunye-Neto, a Brazilian grandmaster, was for many years a member of the Players' Council, a body within Fide. Eighteen months ago, he was made the chairman of Fide's Committee on Assistance to Chess Developing Countries (CACDEC).
He is well-known for his organisational abilities, having organised a large number of successful events in South America. This included the American Grand Prix which consisted of a series of open tournaments around the continent with good prizes and playing conditions.
If Sunye-Neto decides to accept the nomination as a Fide presidential candidate, he will be standing against the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the political president of the Russian autonomous republic of Kalmykia.
It is not known who will be on Sunye-Neto's presidential ticket but the same news from Europe suggests that Steve Doyle (USA), Egon Ditt (Germany) and Andrei Makarov (Russia) are already on Sunye-Neto's team.
Among this trio, Makarov stands out as a puzzle. Two years ago, though he was very much a Kasparov supporter (he still is, I am sure), he was instrumental in getting the 1994 Chess Olympiad and Fide General Assembly successfully hosted in Moscow by the Russian Chess Federation of which he is its president.
At this General Assembly, Florencio Campomanes stepped down and Ilyumzhinov was elected as the new Fide president. Makarov's reaction to Ilyumzhinov was very negative. Their relationship did not improve, instead it markedly deteriorated when Ilyumzhinov chose Elista, Kalmykia's capital city, as the venue for the Fide world chess championship match. Makarov went as far as to disclaim any responsibility for the organisation of the match, including security for the players and officials.
But suddenly, Makarov and Ilyumzhinov have made up and in Elista, they both announced that they intended to organise a unification match between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov in Russia next year for a prize fund of not less than US$2 million (about RM5 million).
Interestingly, their proposal called for this match to be played outside the jurisdiction of both Fide and Kasparov's Professional Chess Association. This match would be considered an encounter "between the 13th and 14th Fide world champions" and the winner would be proclaimed the "Absolute World Champion."
"The match between Karpov and Kasparov is essential. Chess cannot do without it," Makarov was quoted as saying.
"We have an agreement in principle to meet for a prize fund of not less than US$2 million, and the match will take place in 1997," said Ilyumzhinov.
The Fide president also said he obtained Karpov's agreement to the match after the 45-year-old Russian retained his Fide world title. Kasparov had been approached by Makarov although a later news report said that Kasparov denied having agreed to play this match.
The Makarov puzzle does not end here. Clearly, he has a foot in both the Ilyumzhinov and the Sunye-Neto camps. Whatever happens, he cannot lose.
When asked why he supported Ilyumzhinov and was also on Sunye-Neto's ticket, he said: "Well, there is a place for the Russian Chess Federation - the largest in the world - on Sunye-Neto's ticket but I insist on this: I am Makarov and I also support Kirsan."
If this sort of comment makes Makarov look like a fence-sitter, perhaps Ilyumzhinov's explanation best sums up the situation. He said that, at the start of the Karpov-Kamsky match, he found that although all the members of the Fide Executive Council supported him, some of them were also on Sunye-Neto's list.
He said he wanted the intrigues and manoeuvres to be stopped. "Fide had been living too long on such intrigues and that brought this body to the verge of collapse. As the president of the Kalmykian Republic, I cannot take the risk of being involved in such manoeuvres.
"That is the reason why I want to be elected without mentioning who would be on my list. I do not want the federations to fight to death for one month during the Chess Olympiad," he said.
BAYVIEW RESULTS
The seventh round of the sixth Penang Bayview Chess League was played last Sunday at The City Bayview Hotel.
Chung Ling High School "A" continued to lead in Division One, inflicting a 3.5-0.5 win on Universiti Sains Malaysia. The Old Frees Association managed to beat Chung Ling High School "B" by 2.5-1.5 while Penang Free School "A" beat Pessca 4-0.
The MSSPP Juniors won their second straight match by blanketing Hewlett-Packard "1" 4-0, while Penang Free School "B" narrowly won by a 2.5-1.5 score against Penang Development Corporation.
In Division Two, Chung Ling High School "D" beat Union High School 3-1 while Penang Free School "D" whitewashed Penang Chinese Girls High School 4-0.
In other matches, Chung Ling High School "C" beat Penang Free School "C" by 3.5-0.5, and Hitachi Semiconductors beat the MSSPP Girls by 2.5-1.5. The match between Intel and St Xavier's Institution was drawn 2-2.
Standings after six rounds: Division One - CLHS "A" 23 points, OFA 20.5 points, PFS "A" 19.5 points, PFS "B" 15.5 points, PACL 12 points, USM and PDC 9.5 points each, CLHS "B" and MSSPP Juniors 9 points each, HP "1" 7 points and Pessca 5.5 points;
Division Two - PFS "D" 20 points, CLHS "D" 19 points, SXI 15.5 points, Intel 14 points, HP "2" 12.5 points, Hitachi 10 points, MSSPP Girls and Union 8.5 points, PFS "C" 6.5 points and PCGHS 6 points.
The 22 participating teams are locked in intense battle on Sundays until Aug 11. The City Bayview Hotel is the sponsor for the annual event.
The eighth round on July 28 will be played at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant on the 15th floor.
PERAK TOURNAMENT
Eleven-year-old Aaron Yee created a sensation by winning the fourth leg of the Perak rating tournament in Ipoh last week with a perfect score of six points from the six-round event which attracted 50 players.
Along the way towards winning this event, Aaron upset Deon Moh who was this year's Perak Juniors and Selangor Juniors under-12 champion. Aaron also beat Nayan Mahmud who had won the second leg in Batu Gajah two weeks ago, and also Koh Khoon Seng who was the winner of the first leg three weeks ago.
In a thrilling final-round game between the only two players with 100% scores, the in-form Aaron convincingly beat off a challenge from Mohd Hussein Jamil. Hussein had to settle for joint second to fourth placings with Ahmad Mudzafar Ramli and Bakri Abdul Karim.
In fifth position was Wan Najmudin Wan Omar with 4.5 points; while nine players shared the sixth to 14th prizes.
The final leg of the Perak rating series will be played this Monday at the Sek Men Tok Muda Abdul Aziz in Sungei Siput Utara, Perak. Interested players can register at the playing venue by 8.30am on Monday.
According to the Perak Chess Association secretary, Eddy Fong, the top 20 players on the Perak rating list would be invited to play in a tournament next month to select the Perak teams for the 1996 Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur. Contact Fong (05-466-9370) for details.
