English Chess Forum

Looking forward to seeing how the FIDE propaganda machine gets out of that one. However, if past form is anything to go by they will just ignore it. Or perhaps the fat Greek will claim that majority decisions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control don't really count.

Mike Truran wrote:Looking forward to seeing how the FIDE propaganda machine gets out of that one. However, if past form is anything to go by they will just ignore it. Or perhaps the fat Greek will claim that majority decisions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control don't really count.

Four of the most recent five stories on the FIDE website are about the president but this one seems to have been omitted

U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control wrote:As a result of today’s action, all assets of those designated that are in the United States or that are in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Does the bolded mean that U.S. chess players won't be able to participate in FIDE events for the foreseeable future?

edit: It's probably not that simple, as FIDE as an entity is not one of those specifically designated, although Kirsan is described as "long-time World Chess Federation president" (amongst other things).

Simon Ansell wrote: although Kirsan is described as "long-time World Chess Federation president" (amongst other things).

He's often disconnected from reality. If US sanctions have any bite he's not going to be allowed to travel to the USA even if only to discuss the venue and sponsorship of the next World Championship.

We've learned something new, he owns getting on for a quarter of a Russian Bank.

He was asking for it, as he's met Saddam and Gaddafi before on a friendly basis, which probably didn't endear him to USA. I assume the ECF delegate will raise this matter at the next FIDE meeting?

Just for a bit of balance, though I hasten to add I'm not an apologist for Kirsan and his cohorts, but he personally wasn't found to have done any shady dealing but the bank he owns. The astute amongst you will no doubt twig that a bank is a legal entity in it's own right but the US Treasury thought the mix of concrete and circumstantial evidence suggested Kirsan was complicit or negligent allegedly. So just as a random stranger could start dealing with a bank and running an illegal activity or export ring with a rogue state and then the owners of the Bank get rounded up for assumed complicity or negligence of illegal banking activity rules and regs. Just thought I'd add some balance to the discussion

Michael Mkpadi wrote: but he personally wasn't found to have done any shady dealing but the bank he owns.

Detailed evidence hasn't been revealed, but doesn't it go a bit deeper than that? If it didn't, wouldn't all of the bank's major shareholders be on the list?

It's not unknown for Kirsan to be used as Putin's errand boy.

It's an old theory, but there have been suggestions that Kirsan uses FIDE as a money laundering operation. The theory being that support for an event uses funds from suspect deals, that can be recovered in part by charging personal expenses to FIDE. I don't think we knew until yesterday that he had a part share in a bank.

Roger de Coverly wrote:I don't think we knew until yesterday that he had a part share in a bank.

Hence my post

Roger de Coverly wrote: Detailed evidence hasn't been revealed, but doesn't it go a bit deeper than that? If it didn't, wouldn't all of the bank's major shareholders be on the list?

Well being a major shareholder of a bank found or alleged to have committed illegal activities is not in itself a crime, unless you were assumed to be complicit. Investing in good faith is never a crime.

"Well being a major shareholder of a bank found or alleged to have committed illegal activities is not in itself a crime, unless you were assumed to be complicit."

And even then...

This is not the first time claims of such oil dealings have been made about Kirsan. I was told (by Nick Faulks no less) of the rumour that "Kalmykian" oil came from a much larger country (whose initials were "iraq"), up until 2003. Of course Kirsan could just be the unluckiest business man in the whole world, constantly betrayed by his less than scrupulous partners.

Kirsin is a survivor, unfortunately I doubt whether anything will change.

A 'survivor' he may be, but he's now in a sea change. Once the US points the finger of suspicion at you better submerge - since other American digits will be fingering a range of triggers.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/us-sanctio ... -president

The yanks are more than welcome to him. Maybe they can get to the bottom of what happened to Larisa Yudina as well.