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Tuesday, November 6, 2018

How the U.S. Dethroned the King of Chess (?)

     I didn't bother to vote in the mid-term elections today because it's impossible to know who you are voting for. None of the political ads appearing on television tell us where the politicians stand on the issues. All they do is inform us that their opponent is either grossly incompetent or a crook. 
     There's also an issue on the ballot called Issue 1, Drug and Criminal Justice Policies Initiative (2018). One ad claims it will help drug addicts by offering treatment; immediately following is an ad that says it will result in the end of medical help for addicts. One site I went to lists the benefits to passing the bill and the disadvantages of its failing, but nowhere on the site did I see what the bill actually says. 

     And so it goes. Apparently the voters' choices are vote for the idiot or vote for the crook.  
     I didn't follow the recent FIDE political machinations either, but I did come across an article titled "Russia Made The King Of Chess. The U.S. Dethroned Him"  that purports to tell the story of Ilyumzhinov's run in with the U.S. government: 

In the days following the 2016 election, a large group of Russians gathered in New York to watch one of their own wage war in miniature. They were at the World Chess Championship, where a patriotic Russian grandmaster was challenging the Norwegian defending champion in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. Members of Russia’s business and political elite gathered in the venue’s dimly lit VIP lounge and whispered over martinis as their countryman tried to restore Russia to its former chess glory. One person was especially conspicuous, and he wasn’t even there...READ MORE

Also, if anyone is interested, you can read the FBI's declassified 12-page report on Bobby Fischer on the FBI's site HERE.

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