Khanty-Mansiysk. In addition to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the World Chess Olympiad, which will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk from September 19 to October 4, 2010, can be visited by His Highness Sheikh Butti bin Sukhail Al Maktoum.
According to the Uralinformburo in the International Chess Federation (FIDE), during an official visit to Dubai, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov proposed Al Maktoum to take the post of Director General of the Federation for Financial Affairs. Sheikh "gratefully" agreed to steer the FIDE cash flows.
Obviously, K. Ilyumzhinov took this step in order to win over the national chess federations of the Arab countries to his side during the election of the FIDE President, which will be held at the September 29 Olympics. According to the regulation, at the elections, representatives of the federations will vote not only for the candidate, but also for his entire international team of deputies. According to available information, Ilyumzhinov has already enlisted the support of 81 out of 168 national federations with the right to vote. His only rival, the 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov, is significantly inferior to the current FIDE head in this indicator.
