And so the double-president decided not to let his dreams be memes. This got Kirsan thinking, wouldn't it be neat if I made Kalmykia the center of world chess? He had already mandated that the first three years of elementary school include chess as a compulsory subject, but clearly that was not enough. This will not be the last we hear of Kirsan's cozy relationships with evil dictators. After massive international outcry he moved the match to his own backyard in the Kalmykian capital Elista.
In 1996 he announced the FIDE world championship would be held in Baghdad. This unwavering Russian support was maintained when Vladimir Putin eventually took over as president.įrom the very beginning, Kirsan's attitude towards brutal and internationally condemned dictators was seen as a bit too friendly. Using Kirsan's own wealth and Russian backing he garnered enough international support to be elected, so that for years he was able to maintain the presidencies of both Kalmykia and FIDE. This means that with a coordinated effort one country could use various incentives, largely financial, to get the smaller chess federations to support a candidate of their choosing. Each country’s federation gets one vote, no matter its membership size. It's very similar to how it works with FIFA, the mechanics of which were brought into the public eye a few years ago during the scandals surrounding the football body’s then-president Sepp Blatter. (Side note: Fischer was, without a doubt, the biggest drama queen by far in all of chess history.)Īnyway the new Russian president Boris Yeltsin supported Kirsan and used his influence to have the Kalmykian president elected to the head of FIDE in 1995, and this seems like a good time to explain how FIDE elections work, because it's central to the drama that we will eventually get to, I promise. This investment paid off, and the world chess championship title was held continuously by a Soviet player from the end of World War II until the fall of the USSR, with the exception of the period from 1972-1975 when the American Bobby Fischer was world champion. Chess was used as propaganda, and Soviet superiority on the world chess scene was pointed to as evidence of the superiority of communism over capitalism. After World War II Soviet-born world chess champion Mikhail Botvinnik began a rigorous and systematic approach to training students and received generous support from the regime, the likes of which was not seen in practically any other country. Lenin and other early Soviet leaders had been chess aficionados so the game had a tradition of being held in high esteem (whereas in the US chess had been looked down upon as akin to gambling for many years). In the USSR, chess had not just been a game, but also a political tool. He consolidated the power of the presidency to levels that might be described as autocratic. At the same time Kirsan was elected the first president of the Republic of Kalmykia, still an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation. When the USSR fell Kirsan became rich in the newly-emerging private sector.
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Just a heads up, I’m going to call him by his first name from here on out even as I use last names for everyone else, since there’s a realistic chance I might actually remember how to spell Kirsan. He was interested in chess from an early age, winning the Kalmykian chess championship at the age of fourteen. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was born in the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic which was a state that existed within the Russian Federation of the USSR. This one's going to have a lot of backstory to cover, but the ensuing fireworks are worth it.
Since my last post was well received, I thought I'd write more about one of the colorful bit players from that story and the massive amount of drama surrounding his 23-year reign as president of the International Chess Federation which is commonly known as FIDE. An additional music track, Dearly Beloved -Swing Version, will be added to this game for those who have played KINGDOM HEARTS Melody of Memory.My previous post about the 2006 World Chess Championship and the infamous Toiletgate incident can be found here. Ultimate, an orchestral rendition of Hikaru Utada’s “Simple and Clean” played in the background."Īlthough we won't get to hear this song in Smash, there are still nine other new tracks to enjoy if you've picked up the second Fighters Pass or Sora as a standalone purchase.Īfter downloading Challenger Pack 11, players will also receive nine music tracks from the KINGDOM HEARTS series. About the only other alternative was Sora's reveal, as highlighted by Kotaku:
Sora is finally here! #SmashBrosUltimate /jWKtbL7tSI- Alexander Trevino October 19, 2021Īs much we would like to have seen this Kingdom Hearts track (also known as Hikari) in the game, it seems this unofficial one is as good as it's going to get. the stars of Kid Icarus: Uprising will sing Simple and Clean.