Time for change

Former world champion Garry Kasparov has announced that he will stand for president of Fidé, the World Chess Federation, next year. He is challenging the incumbent, the colourful Kirsan Ilumzinov, former president of Kalmykia. The adjective ‘colourful’ is very much an understatement. An openly declared friend of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi, it looked like the death knell for President Assad, when Kirsan popped up in Damascus to discuss the future of schools chess in Syria. So far, though, Assad has escaped the curse of Kirsan. The incumbent also makes no secret of the fact that he is an alien abductee, who could have graced an episode of The X Files. None of this does chess much credit and it is to be hoped that Kasparov’s campaign will be successful, and place a true chess expert in the driving seat. An example of a former world champion who became president of Fidé was the Dutchman Dr Max Euwe (see this week’s puzzle).