Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (Russian: Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов) (born April 5, 1962, in Elista) is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman and politician. He is the President of the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation, and has been the President of FIDE (or the "World Chess Federation"), the world's pre-eminent international chess organization, since 1995. He has also been in the forefront of promoting chess in schools in Russia and overseas.[1] He is the founder of Novy Vzglyad Publishing House.[2]
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From a humble beginning—his parents, as with other Kalmyks were deported by Joseph Stalin in World War II—Kirsan Ilyumzhinov grew up in Elista after the Kalmyks were allowed to return following Stalin's death. From a young age he became interested in chess, and he won the Kalmykian national chess championship in 1976 at the age of 14.[3] From 1979–80 Ilyumzhinov worked as a mechanic-fitter at the Zvezda plant in Elista. After two years in compulsory national service for the Soviet Army, he returned to the plant as a mechanic for a year, and then studied at the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations from 1983–89. From 1989–90 he was sales manager of the Soviet-Japanese automobile company "Liko-Raduga" in Moscow, and from 1990–93 he was President of SAN Corporation in Moscow. Ilyumzhinov acquired his wealth with the emergence of the private sector which followed the collapse of the USSR. He now owns a private jet and six Rolls Royces; he has a black limousine in Moscow, but prefers his white one at home.[3]
On April 12, 1993, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was elected as the first president of the Republic of Kalmykia, and has been running the state since then. This has allowed him to promote Kalmyk culture and music, but more importantly, chess which has been his real passion. Soon after his election, Ilyumzhinov introduced presidential rule, concentrating power in his own hands. He called early elections on October 15, 1995 and was re-elected unopposed—this time for a 7-year term. He won re-election in 2002.[4] According to the BBC,[5] Ilyumzhinov's election platform for the presidency of Kalmykia included promising voters $100 each and a mobile phone for every shepherd—much of the population of Kalmykia living from agriculture. He once campaigned under the slogan "a wealthy president is a safeguard against corruption." He also pledged to introduce what he called an "economic dictatorship" in the republic, as well as to continue to promote chess in Kalmykia, in Russia and to the wider world. He speaks English reasonably fluently.[6]
After his re-election in 1995, Ilyumzhinov reportedly told a journalist from the Russian daily Izvestia, "Irrespective of what I tell people, I give them instructions on a sub-conscious level, a code. I do the same thing when I communicate with Russian citizens from other regions. I am creating around the republic a kind of extra-sensory field and it helps us a lot in our projects."[7]
Ilyumzhinov has striven to become an "Asian values" authoritarian like his Singaporean, Korean, and Chinese role models (even though his republic is in the southern European portion of Russia). He has spent millions of dollars on chess and supporting religion, building a Catholic church at the instigation of the Pope John Paul II.[8][9] He has also built a mosque, a synagogue, 22 Orthodox churches, and 30 Buddhist temples. Chess was made a compulsory subject in the first three years of elementary school—the only place in the world where this is the case. The region now has numerous champions. The Dalai Lama has visited Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on many occasions and has blessed a number of the temples in Elista, as well as Kalmyk Buddhist temples overseas. Ilyumzhinov denies persistent accusations of diverting the republic's resources for his own use (in fact he does not draw a salary as president) and of suppressing media freedom. Visiting journalists and tourists who have come to Kalmykia have spoken of the great reception they have received, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov often meeting them in person. One (Daniel Kalder) complained at not being able to find a McDonald's restaurant, and the quality of the roads. In 2004, police dispersed a small number of demonstrators who demanded his resignation. When Australian journalist Eric Campbell interviewed people in Elista about Ilyumzhinov, he found that many were happy that he had managed to gain widespread attention for Kalmykia through chess, although one was slightly critical of the money invested in chess projects.[10]
Ilyumzhinov is also famous for his nature-conservative activities. He created the only reserve in Europe where it is possible to see relict saiga antelope. The year of 2010 in Kalmykia announced by Ilyumzhinov as Year of Saiga.
On 8 June 1998, Larisa Yudina, a publisher of an opposition newspaper, was stabbed to death in Elista. Both people convicted in the murder were Kalmykian government aides, and one was an advisor to Ilyumzhinov. One other person was acquitted by offering evidence to help in the conviction. Ilyumzhinov denied any involvement with the murder; the incident was fully investigated by the local and the Russian authorities.[8][11]
| Preceded by Florencio Campomanes |
FIDE President 1995–present |
Incumbent |
From November 1995 to present Ilyumzhinov has been President of the World Chess Federation, investing a large amount of his private fortune into the game. He has been enthusiastic about attracting international tournaments to Kalmykia, and many grandmasters have done so. His flamboyant plans to build an extravagant Chess City in the republic led to protests by some people, but have been praised by others for generating good publicity. The 1996 bout was scheduled between Gata Kamsky and Anatoly Karpov for Baghdad. However the international response was so harsh, that FIDE moved the match to Elista where it achieved much (good) international attention.
In other developments during that time, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov encountered opposition from rivals in the European chess federations, the U.S., and Canada. Some of these managed to a special meeting in Utrecht, Netherlands, on April 27–28. The meeting called for equal treatment for Kamsky and Karpov, the restoration of the traditional FIDE cycle of qualifying contests leading to the world title match, and a shake-up in FIDE. To reinforce this reformation the Utrecht partners supported a candidate to challenge Ilyumzhinov at the FIDE Congress that took place alongside the Chess Olympiad. The candidate was Jaime Sunye Neto, a grandmaster from Brazil. Ilyumzhinov was successful in mustering support from the Third World and from Russia, and he won the election 87–46. There was no restoration of the traditional qualifying cycle, and Ilyumzhinov's own preference for a $5 million knockout contest for the world's top 100 players was deferred from December 1996 until December 1997, with no definite sponsor announced.
In the summer of 1998, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced his possible candidacy for the Russian presidency. This coincided with Anatoly Karpov being critical of the annual knockout FIDE world title system. Karpov argued that his contract with FIDE stipulated that the winner of the 1998 Karpov-Anand match would hold the title for two years. Karpov's successful advocacy of his rights led to the cancellation of a planned world title knockout series in Las Vegas, Nevada, later in that year. Since Karpov had an unsuccessful year, apart from his match against Anand, and he was unable to resist the plan that he would have to enter this knockout, whenever it came to be organized, at a far earlier stage.
Ilyumzhinov managed to persuade the 140 member countries of FIDE to take part in the main team event of the year, the Chess Olympiad, scheduled to start in late September 1998, in Elista. However the event started late due to the failure to complete the new venue in time. In the end, it attracted 110 teams to the main event, a Swiss system contest shortened to 13 rounds to allow for the delay.
On June 2, 2006, Ilyumzhinov was re-elected as FIDE President by a margin of 96–54 against his opponent Bessel Kok.[12] In an October 2006 Wall Street Journal article Gary Kasparov, who backed a rival to Ilyumzhinov, and has also been embroiled in controversy for his campaign against Vladimir Putin, criticized Ilyumzhinov FIDE's leadership stating: "(Ilyumzhinov) has created a vertical column of power that would be familiar to any observer of Russia today."[13] Nigel Short, the British grandmaster who also supported Kirsan's rival for the leadership of FIDE, joined Kasparov's misgivings at Ilyumzhinov's victory.[14] Ilyumzhinov has managed to attract many famous chess grandmasters to Elista, including Alexandra Kosteniuk and Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion—both longtime supporters of Kirsan.[15]
Ilyumzhinov called his autobiography, published in 1998, The President’s Crown of Thorns. Chapter titles included "Without Me the People Are Incomplete," "I Become a Millionaire," and "It Only Takes Two Weeks to Have a Man Killed"—the latter being about the problems with rising crime in some parts of Russia.
Ilyumzhinov features prominently in three books:
Ilyumzhinov also has a whole chapter devoted to him in The Lost Cosmonaut by Daniel Kalder. (ISBN 9780571227815) (Faber, 2006).
There is also a brief biographical account on http://www.kalmykiaembassy.ru/html/egov.html.
   | Chess Base biography - ChessBase.com - Chess News - All about Kirsan |
| | According to the BBC - BBC NEWS | Europe | Game of kings takes centre stage |
| | Chess Mess - ChessBase.com - Chess News - Kasparov on Elista in the Wall Street Journal |
| | "The man who bought chess," 10/29/06 - The man who bought chess | Sport | Observer Sport Monthly |
| | "Planet Kirsan," by Michael Specter in ''New Yorker,'' 4/24/06 - Letter from Russia: Planet Kirsan: The New Yorker |
| | "King of Kalmykia," 9/21/06 - Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Europe's only Buddhist republic, talks to Tom Parfitt | World news | The Guardian |
| | "Regions and territories: Kalmykia; Head of the Republic: Kirsan Ilyumzhinov," 1/28/07 - BBC NEWS | Europe | Country profiles | Regions and territories: Kalmykia |
| | "Kalmykian Leader Makes Farce of Chess Championships," 10/12/06 - The Dictator and His Hobby: Kalmykian Leader Makes Farce of Chess Championships - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International |
| | part 2 - YouTube - Meet the President - Kalmykia - 16 July 07 - Part 2 |
| | part 1 - YouTube - Meet the President - Kalmykia - 16 Jul 07 - Part 1 |
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