Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Re-elected FIDE President

The biggest contest taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk has been decided.  The incumbent FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has been re-elected for another 4-year term after beating Anatoly Karpov by 95 votes to 55.

It was a bitter and unpleasant political campaign for the presidency, but it seems that whatever Kirsan's faults, he knows how to win FIDE elections.

Perhaps one day the chess world will have a professional governing body that is free from scandal, widely respected, and attracts generous commercial sponsorship.

Until then, the chess elite and the rest of us will have to rely on the deep pockets of a billionaire, alien obsessed sugar daddy.