CFC FIDE Representative election - Feb 2021

[Victor Itkin]

That is Ludicrous, Diana is highly qualified and her title predated Arkady election to the Presidency of FIDE.

I met personally, in Italy, the chairmen of the Arbiters' Commission at the time of Diana's application and he doesn't look like a person that you can bribe. He is a person of great integrity that would certainly oppose incompetent candidates. At the time of this applications, the IA title was granted by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Arbiters' Commission. Contrary to the Current FIDE Charter, the Non-Elected Commissions of this era did exercise real power. The old Presidential Board could only deliver IA title in clear cases with the consent of the Chairmen or the Arbiters' Commissions. So the FIDE leadership of that time cannot grant the IA title on his own to anybody.

Pierre,

I already have admitted my mistake, and publicly apologised.

Sincerely,

Victor Itkin.

[Victor Itkin]

He is not a voting member anymore. Thus, that shall be done in private.

Diana Tsypina also is not a voting member, but she has found the way to answer questions and to provide her comments at this Forum.

Hal may do it similarly, if he is willing to do it at all.

[Christopher Field]

16.12 FIDE officials may not simultaneously hold another position within the organisation that creates a conflict of interest.
So it is obviously up to FIDE, not to you, to satisfy itself whether it's official could hold another position that indeed creates a conflict of interest.
Besides I'm curious what kind of conflict of interest could arise in the FIDE - CFC's relationship. Please explain. Provide an example.

please note , everyone: the possessive form of it is its .
it's means "it is" .

Chris Field

[Vadim Tsypin]

Vadim Tsypin
Secretary of the FIDE Management Board.
International Arbiter, International Organizer.
Lifetime CFC member. Lifetime FQE member.

Platform for the Feb 2021 election of the CFC FIDE Representative

Attachment 471

Honourable Voting Members,
Dear chess friends and colleagues across Canada:

In compliance with the election procedures published by the CFC, I have filed an electoral platform with the CFC Secretary today, February 14. I am privileged to present my position to you here. Please find a PDF document attached.

Since 2018, FIDE was completely reorganized as a modern, transparent, democratic, business-like sports federation, which allowed it to attract reputable Western sponsors. FIDE has a fully funded budget, audited annually by Ernst & Young. Every year - 2019, 2020, 2021 - we process financial aid applications from National Chess Federations, event organizers, seniors, indigent players, women's groups, scholastic associations, and others; we provide the support requested and distribute the corresponding grants. I believe that my being a core member of the FIDE management makes me the best person to advocate for Canada's interests, to help Canadians navigate support / development programs, and to prepare aid applications.

Here are the key challenges that lie ahead for the CFC-FIDE relationship. I pledge to turn my immediate attention to them.

My electoral platform in full is available here. I am grateful to the renowned Toronto-based entrepreneur and chess promoter Alexander Starr for an invitation to appear on his popular weekly IBM TV show alongside with my dear old friend, the leading world expert in cheating detection Prof. Kenneth Regan, GM and prize-winning author of chess books Mihail Marin, and the artist Maria Yugina. I am proud to become the first-ever Canadian guest there.

resized-20210220-Screenshot.jpg

Among other pressing topics, we have discussed several issues regarding FIDE and its support for national federations that are among the key planks of my electoral platform. These programs may benefit directly each and every one of you, honourable Voting Members, benefit the cases you champion in chess. Please take a look and see for yourself how Vadim Tsypin is the best person to represent you in FIDE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFhwjmxNhbs

[Christopher Mallon]

2.Not impressed with Aris candidacy, waiting for Victor to declare himself as a third candidate, aborting his bid shortly thereafter while endorsing Victor? Is at a ploy to defeat Vadim, or what?

I take great exception to this offensive garbage. Aris has already told everyone why he pulled out, and they are certainly reasons that would cause many people to drop out of a race. I feel that you owe him an apology for this.

5.By rejecting a clearly superior candidate CFC again is becoming a pariah in the civilized chess World.

Well that's fairly dramatic. So what you're saying is that a vote for Victor is something like a vote for Kim Jung-Un? Because that's what comes to mind when we talk about pariahs and elections.

[Aris Marghetis]

I take great exception to this offensive garbage. Aris has already told everyone why he pulled out, and they are certainly reasons that would cause many people to drop out of a race. I feel that you owe him an apology for this.



Well that's fairly dramatic. So what you're saying is that a vote for Victor is something like a vote for Kim Jung-Un? Because that's what comes to mind when we talk about pariahs and elections.

Thank you Chris for your support.

[Victor Plotkin]

This morning, I got a call from my friend and long-time business partner. He is a Soviet Union CM that currently lives in St. Petersburg Russia. I have been friends with him since 1976. Currently, he is not an active chess player, however, occasionally plays blitz in St. Petersburg. He informed me that he recently got a very strange call from a well-known chess organizer named Vladimir Bykov (V.B).

V.B asked my friend whether he knew of me, and of course he answered yes, because we are long-time friends. Bykov informed my friend that Victor Plotkin is currently participating in a chess election in Canada against Vadim Tsypin. Bykov told my friend that "Vadim is a good guy and Victor Plotkin should step down from his candidacy." Some very influential people in the FIDE had asked Bykov to call my friend.

When my friend told me about the call between him and Bykov, I was very surprised. In Russia, calling someone and giving such a powerful message is a clear threat. After some hesitation, I decided to contact Emil Sutovsky, and I asked him for his advice regarding this information.

Here are the most important parts of our chat translated into English (it was in Russian, on Facebook Messenger):

V.P: Hello, Emil! I hope you remember me - we have interacted numerous times at Olympiads and in Gibraltar. I recall that in Canada's match against Israel, you beat Gerzhoy on the second board, in the Carro-Cann. The match ended with a score of 2-2.

E.S: Victor, of course I remember you, I also remember seeing you at Aeroflot Opens.

I explained the situation to him, he understood and took it very seriously. It was a priority for him to assure me that the FIDE is unrelated here.

V.P: Emil, there is no doubt in my mind that neither you, nor Dvorkovich, have any relation to this whatsoever. Rather, all I'm asking for is some advice, from friend to friend. I ask that you understand me correctly - what happened today was absolutely brutal for me to hear.

E.S: Why do you need to consider Bykov's opinion?

V.P: Of course, I have no intention of heeding his advice. But it is evident to me that Tsypin initiated this. This all seems somewhat disturbing, wouldn't you agree?

E.S: Certainly. Well, the question here is whether or not Tsypin crossed any lines, made any threats, or did anything of the sort.

He then asked me about my opinion on this election, my answer was that it is approximately equal at this point, because many players support me, but Tsypin has the support of the President and of some chess politicians.

E.S: I understand. Disregard this (Bykov's message). This most certainly doesn't improve his image. I can only reiterate that under no circumstances can we try to have an impact. And if anyone suggests this, it's a lie.

I thanked him for discussing this with me. Soon after, he asked about the reason behind Marghetis' resignation.

V.P: He did it in my favor, I want to emphasize that I did not initiate this, and had never asked him about it. Why? It seems that I, a more neutral candidate in this instance, was suitable, in his view. I am not an arbiter, I don't earn money from chess, and I am not looking for personal benefits from this position.

E.S: You are a surprisingly decent person for a candidate.

Sutovsky took this issue very seriously, and immediately informed the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich. Very soon after this, Vlad Drkulec, Vadim Tsypin, and I received an official email from a FIDE lawyer stating:

"Dear colleagues. I am writing this letter on behalf of the FIDE President.

In connection with a number of questions that arise regarding the upcoming elections of Canada’s representative in FIDE, we would like to officially assure FIDE’s position.
FIDE always takes an absolutely neutral position on elections in any federation, considers elections to be the internal affair of each federation, and works equally fruitfully and constructively with any representative elected in the respective federation."

I do not know if Vadim crossed a line, and I don't have enough evidence to take this to court, nor do I have any intention of doing this as of now. Actually, I don't know Bykov at all, and likely, before last week, he was not aware of my existence either. The only person who could have initiated this chain of contacts is Tsypin, who tried to put some pressure on me to step down from this election. This reflects so negatively on his personality. I don't understand how any voting member, with the best interests of Canadian chess in mind, would be ready to support him.

[Sasha Starr]

Christopher, Aris, other VPs.

I find it hard to understand that at first Aris was one of two candidates, then one of three and finally resigned while endorsing the new candidate. If he resigned from the race due to the family health issues, why to endorse one of two remaining candidates, especially one who's entered the race almost at the last minute?
Aris has had family health issues, and therefore resigned, understand. And I've said numerous times the very best wishes to him and his family.

But his endorsement of Victor is highly questionable. Especially in a view that I've asked Victor: if there would have been only two candidates, Aris and Vadim, who would he, Victor, have supported? Without any hesitation Victor has answered: OF COURSE, ARIS!

This made me very suspicious about the motives of certain candidates. Entering the race, exiting the race, endorsing one of the two remaining candidates... While legal, it all SMELLS...

Sasha Starr, VM.

[Vadim Tsypin]

Dear colleagues:

I will establish or strengthen horizontal ties with fellow FIDE Members, other National Chess Federations (NCFs). Decentralization and professional networks is the key in our day and age. My healthy friendly relationships both within FIDE management and with the executives of key chess federation in the Americas, Asia and Europe will allow me to obtain unique opportunities for Canadian players and officials, especially for the young players.

There are so many intriguing possibilities for online and, eventually, over-the-board matches between players at all levels from Canada and a partner federation: senior players, club-level players, scholastic games, IM/GM norm events. To finance such exchanges, we will not necessarily go looking for partnerships with countries that are rich and powerful (U.K., France, or Japan). Many developing economies have chess funding that exceeds our wildest dreams but might be quite interested in various intangibles that Canada can offer.

I am pleased to direct you to an opinion piece published on the CMA Web site. This article analyzes issues with player development in Canada and draws attention to the positive experiences and government programs in one of rapidly expanding Central Asian economies.

An equivalent of US$ 4 million of annual guaranteed funding from state budget just for scholastic chess – isn’t it fantastic even by North American standards?!

https://chess-math.org/blog/uzbekist...sidents-decree

The CFC would benefit greatly from forming horizontal, peer-to-peer relationships with the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan and similar relationships with other rapidly developing chess powers, such as the All-India Chess Federation. Thanks to my already established contacts with federation officials around the world, we shall be able to start working on drafting Memorandums of Understanding right after the election!

[Aris Marghetis]

I hereby confirm that Vadim also got the following people to contact myself, to "influence" me that I should step down for Vadim (and publicly endorse him):

January 24th: Michael Barron (CAN)
January 24th: Nikos Kalesis (GRE)
January 24th: Vadim Tsypin (CAN)
January 26th: Nikos Kalesis (GRE)
January 28th: George Mastrokoukos (GRE)