18-07-2014, 10:45 PM
Andy Howie Wrote:Damn right I would(go to Sochi and vote against Kirsan)
If the Olympiad is moved to Sochi then it will only be because Kirsan thinks he has a good chance of losing the election in Tromso. Presumably, he would also know that moving to Sochi would antagonise some of the delegates (to put it mildly). Therefore Kirsan would have to believe that he could put an awful lot of pressure on delegates and when we are potentially talking about state sponsored pressure. I just think I would need to weigh things up and decide whether it was worth it. Would Kasparov feel able to travel to Sochi and if he couldn't could he expect his supporters to do so?
For what it is worth I think it is very, very likely that the Olympiad will take place in Tromso and it is quite likely that Kirsan will win the election. If the Olympiad moved to Sochi then I think it is certain Kirsan stays in charge of FIDE, but far from certain that FIDE stays in charge of International Chess.