The president of the World Chess Federation says he hopes to open a chess academy in New York City in the near future and double the number of people who play chess worldwide. And, yes, he believes that the game was invented by extraterrestrials.

Those are some of the comments from Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, 48, president of the federation — which is also known by the acronym FIDE for its name in French, Fédération Internationale des Échecs — who last week responded to questions submitted by Gambit readers.

On Sept. 29, Mr. Ilyumzhinov was re-elected to a four-year term at the Chess Olympiad held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia; he has led the federation since 1995.

.

.

.

Does Karpov have a role within FIDE? What is it? Would you be willing to give him a bigger role? If so, what would it be?

A minute after the election results were announced, I offered the 12th world champion the position of FIDE vice president. But Karpov requested a different position, and in the end he was appointed the lifetime ambassador of FIDE to international organizations.

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/president-of-world-chess-federation-responds-to-readers-questions/?src=twt&twt=nytimesgambit