Kasparov in Dublin next weekend (March28)

Sparks

From the ICU website (with permission):

Press release available for Kasparov's visit to Ireland

In October 2013 Garry Kasparov announced his candidacy for President of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des échecs or World Chess Federation). He plans to unseat 18-year incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, from Kalmykia, in the election that takes place in August 2014 during the Tromsø Chess Olympiad. To this end, the Irish Chess Union is proud to host Garry Kasparov on this historic two-day visit to Dublin from March 28th. Mr. Kasparov’s visit shall be focused on meeting delegates from Ireland and neighbouring countries to whom he will give details of his presidential programme as well as listening to issues from their home countries. He will also meet both Ireland’s chess playing schoolchildren, and Ireland’s finest and most dedicated chess enthusiasts.

Garry Kasparov’s vision: "to elevate the game of chess from grassroots level; to spread the game in education as a cultural touchstone as well as a successful commercial sport."

For a full press release on the visit (in English or Irish) please contact the ICU Public Relations Officer, Úna O Boyle; publicrelations@icu.ie. Do keep an eye on the ICU website for reports on events surrounding this momentous visit to Ireland from March 28th-30th by the legendary World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov.

Sparks

From the ICU website (with permission):

Garry Kasparov on Late Late Show
During his forthcoming visit to Ireland, Garry Kasparov will appear on The Late Late Show, Friday 28th March, 9:30pm, RTÉ One.

Pretty solid exposure for chess to the general public there, might be a help for pushing to get the ICU recognised by the sports council...

eclipsechaser

It's an exciting time for the ICU - a visit from Kasparov and backing from The President of Ireland. Well done to all concerned.

Sparks

Full press release now up:
http://www.icu.ie/misc/bulletins/kasparov_2014_en.pdf

hinault

Kasparov was on this weeks Late Late Show.

Past sell by Date

I saw the interview, at times it reminded me of a icu agm, it was that bad...

Mojo Man

Kasparov is very likable but the interview was a bit disappointing. Probably not Kasparov's fault. He seems to be obsessed with politics now, which is quite understood having in view what Mr Putin has been up to of late. I thought Kasparov would say something interesting about chess but he wasn't asked questions about it. Those TV presenters...

mikhail

For those who missed it.
http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10267597/
It's about 1:12 or 1:13 in, and is under 15 mins long.

EnPassant

The Irish Times has a report and a video interview by Patrick Freyne here: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/kasparov-warns-of-endgame-in-ukraine-1.1742318

The video is about 3 minutes long.

hotamatua

Hi,does anybody know how the Kasparov visit ultimately went?The fanfare leading up to his visit has not been matched by any reports after his visit.Apart from the interview on the Late Late Show us mere mortals or non pally with ICU types are in the dark about how it went.

bduffy

He never showed up, plenty of people went to a lot of effort.
The Tanaiste, Mayor and plenty of young players were there and TV3 were covering it, but he called to say he was too tired and needed to get ready for RTE.
You could be cynical and say that RTE pulled rank ...

eclipsechaser

I heard it was a delayed flight that caused him to miss the event.

Not sure how accurate that is but it seems more reasonable than just not bothering to turn up.

bduffy wrote: »

He never showed up, plenty of people went to a lot of effort.
The Tanaiste, Mayor and plenty of young players were there and TV3 were covering it, but he called to say he was too tired and needed to get ready for RTE.
You could be cynical and say that RTE pulled rank ...

Past sell by Date

there was a report on the ennis chess website

bduffy

I spoke to the dad of one of the Irish underage players who was invited, and they were told that Kasparov told the organisers by phone that he was too tired. He decided not to attend the event and prepare for the Late Late.

Mojo Man

bduffy wrote: »

I spoke to the dad of one of the Irish underage players who was invited, and they were told that Kasparov told the organisers by phone that he was too tired. He decided not to attend the event and prepare for the Late Late.

If I am not mistaken, lawyers call it hearsay evidence. The evidence of those who tell not what they know themselves but what they have heard from others. This kind of evidence, as any kind of rumours, is inadmissible in court, as it proves nothing.

bduffy

Fair point and I'll rephrase for clarity:
Kasparov did not attend an ICU and Comórtas Fichille Cúige Laighean event on Friday 28th March scheduled for a 1pm start.
He attended other events and was a guest on the Late Late Show.

eclipsechaser

I have just read a post from an ICU executive who was at the airport to meet Kasparov. He said that Kasparov's luggage went missing and this is what caused the delay at the airport.

This explanation seems quite reasonable if not very disappointing for the juniors.

bduffy wrote: »

Fair point and I'll rephrase for clarity:
Kasparov did not attend an ICU and Comórtas Fichille Cúige Laighean event on Friday 28th March scheduled for a 1pm start.
He attended other events and was a guest on the Late Late Show.

Harbour Man

The following is from the Irish Chess Facebook page:

The ICU executive today debated which candidates to vote for in the upcoming elections to be held during the Olympiad in Tromsø. The outcome was as follows:

For president of FIDE the ICU will vote for Garry Kasparov.
For president of ECU the ICU will vote for Silvio Danailov.

If you ask me, this was a wise decision. Well done, the ICU!

mikhail

I think we voted for Karpov too, last time out. Sadly, Ilyumzhinov is rather well entrenched. We'll have to see whether Kasparov has done enough.

Zugszwang

It's worth recalling Larisa Yudina, the Kalmykian journalist who was brave enough to criticise Ilyumzhinov and was murdered by his aides during the build-up to the Elista Olympiad in 1998.

I have always found it hard to imagine that Ilyumzhinov's aides would have carried out this murder without his knowledge and consent. Some people think that Ilyumzhinov is just a corrupt crackpot (his alien story and all that), but there's a very dark side to him as well. I congratulate the ICU on supporting Kasparov; let's hope there's enough support for him to win through.

reunion

The aides could have been devoted fans of Kirsan and did this without his knowledge. You don't really know, there are a lot of crazy people in this world.

It has never been proven that Kirsan was in anyway involved so I think accusations now are a bit late.

Mojo Man

reunion wrote: »

The aides could have been devoted fans of Kirsan and did this without his knowledge. You don't really know, there are a lot of crazy people in this world.

It has never been proven that Kirsan was in anyway involved so I think accusations now are a bit late.

No one is accusing him at this stage but I think the previous comment was just a character piece. We definitely don't need a man like Kirsan at the helm, with or without his 'devoted aides'.

mikhail

Mojo Man wrote: »

No one is accusing him at this stage but I think the previous comment was just a character piece. We definitely don't need a man like Kirsan at the helm, with or without his 'devoted aides'.

I found this article Nigel Short wrote in New In Chess rather illuminating.
https://www.facebook.com/GM.NigelShort/posts/10154220406190094