The International Chess Federation has taken the world by surprise with its announcement that the next world chess championship would be held in June in Baghdad.
Federation President Kirsan Ilumjinov made the announcement at a new conference in Paris, where he said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had offered $2 million in prize money for the tournament between Anatoly Karpov of Russia and Russian American Gata Kamsky.
Explaining the decision, Ilumjinov told the French daily Liberation, “Saddam Hussein is not a terrorist. I met him several times. I found him rather pleasant. He is intelligent and analyzes rapidly.”
“A man must always be given the chance to redeem himself, “Ilumjinov added
It remained unclear whether the United States would provide Kamsky with the requisite passport validation to travel to Iraq.
Kamsky’s father, Roustam, said this week that the chess federation was negotiating with U.S. State Department.
If an agreement was not reached, he added, the match would be held either in Moscow or in Baku, Azerbaijan, the two other cities considered for the tournament.
Ilumjinov said he had chosen Baghdad over the other two sites because Iraq’s financial offer was “much more generous.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
