AN AUDACIOUS CHALLENGE - THANK YOU GARRY KASPAROV!! On August 13, 2014, a rainy Wednesday in Tromso, Norway, I and eleven other candidates from four continents faced the polls in the elections for the Vice-Presidency of the World Chess Federation (“FIDE”). I knew that I had an uphill task due to the inevitable fall-out from my association with the legendary Garry Kasparov who was unsuccessful in his bid to unseat the incumbent FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, in the Presidential election two days earlier. Nonetheless, as a point of principle I was committed to going forward and did so with what I hoped was the perfect, sagacious blend of humility and pride. The twelve candidates were competing to fill five spots and needed support from seventy-five (75) countries to do so. When the ballots were counted I had obtained “decent” support from thirty-eight (38) nations finishing 8th and ahead of candidates from traditional Chess powerhouses such as Spain and Ukraine. I would like to congratulate the successful candidates. More significantly, however, I want to use this additional medium to say “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU (!!!) to Garry Kimovich Kasparov, the 13th World Chess Champion and, arguably, the best player in the 1,500-year history of Chess. Garry, we owe to you a debt of gratitude for affording Jamaica (through me) the unmitigated privilege of walking by your side during your historic campaign and for raising the profile of Chess in the Americas, especially in Jamaica and, indeed, throughout the world in just a few months. You were successful in so many ways and on so many levels. PICTURES: 1. Yours truly at the FIDE Congress in Tromso, Norway on August 13 during the Vice-Presidential elections. 2.The legend Garry Kimovich Kasparov and yours truly during the FIDE Congress on August 11, the day of the Presidential election. Report and photographs by Ian Wilkinson QC Jamaica’s Chef de Mission Tromso, Norway August 15, 2014
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:48:51 +0000
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