Anatoly Karpov

With Karpov standing for FIDE president (assuming he gets it) does this mean he will be retired from competitive chess? In fact, is the FIDE president allowed to play in FIDE rated tournaments? I know his rating has slipped a bit recently, but he is still a competent GM and it would be a shame if we were never to see his chessboard magic again.... imo he should continue playing like Korchnoi and Spassky.

Karpov has been retired from classical chess for years I believe. He still plays rapid chess from time to time. He will be 59 this year and I think he could do more good now as the FIDE president than as a player.

Interesting question; I would guess he's still allowed to play.  However, Karpov's game has been in serious decline, and he's no longer anything near a championship-caliber player anymore.  He still enters strong tournaments from time to time but tends to get crushed when he does.

There is some precedent for the situation -- Max Euwe was the first president of FIDE; did he ever play then?

What's interesting to me about Karpov's candidacy is how he's regarded as this beloved teddy bear these days.  I guess everyone seems to hate Ilyumzhinov so much that anyone half-respected is an appealing alternative, but back in his prime Karpov was often regarded as the villain -- the guy who benefitted from the shady machinations of the Soviet chess machine.  In his various matches with Fischer, Korchnoi, and Kasparov, he didn't exactly come out smelling like roses.  One could debate how much of that he really had any control over (especially with Fischer), but it's striking how much his image has changed.

What possible shadiness?

Oh cmon, is there any doubt of shadiness? He and Sovjet replaced Max Euwe and put in a puppet doll, also known as Camponades and then they did everything in their power to make sure Karpov never lost the belt.

Is there any doubt that Korchnoi got misstreated? Hardly, is there any doubt that Kasparov got mistreated? Ofcourse not.

With that said, I still believe he can do alot of good for the sport as Fide president.

Was Max Euwe the first Fide president? When did Fide start handlingt he WC? I know he played in Zurich 1953, I believe Fide was already handling the WC back then, but my history knowledge of FIDE is really lacking.

With Kasparov, do you mean the neverending match being suspended? well, I sort of agree that decision was in favor of Karpov. But I doubt Karpov was responsible for that. I don't know any details about the incident, but as far as I know, Karpov didn't propose the postponement.

To be honest, Korchnoi is probably the one player that I dislike most (together with Topalov). What happened with him and Karpov?

Basicly, Korchnoi got F'ed in the A, majorly, there is to much about this to write it all down here. Whole books exists on Karpov - Korchnoi drama, and how the team Karpov and Camponades (aswell as sovjet officials) corrupted the WC crown for their own selfish purposes.

But I can give a quick example, Fischer proposed that if the game becomes equal with 5-5 then he would retain his crown, this was a no-no from the sovjets.

As soon as Karpov became WC, they removed Max Euwe, replaced him with Camponades and they implemented this rule. A rule that was severily critised by Karpov before he became a WC, he himself helped to implement as soon as he became a WC. Funny enough, when he lost the belt, he complained about a similiar rule in one of his return matches against Kasparov.

And yes, as I thought, Max Euwe wasn't the first Fide president, Fide handled the WC-matches and rules long before Euwe took the presidency over.

Karpov was very active in the various power struggles concerning his carrier. I agree that he looks like a friendly fella, but that is hardly a reason to ignore his somewhat shady past without actually reading up on it. He had friends in high up places and he actively used them.

Well, Korchnoi's son was imprisoned during the match, and it wasn't a coincidence. Karpov may not have been personally responsible for it though, it may have been the Soviet government free-lancing. There was also the use of "psychics" to influence / destract Korchnoi, which I don't think could have been done without Karpov's consent at least.

I think he would win.

I'm not sure if evil or good is the correct terms to be used, but he used the opportunities available to his advantage. With that said, I would still want to see him as FIDE president. As Botvinnik said, only a top level chess player can lead the chess world.

Okey okey, that's not the exact words he used, but it's the gist of what he said.

Karpov is not even inactive on the FIDE list. He has been playing classical chess for the last time in September, 2009. Neither has he announced his retirement.