Posts Tagged ‘Boris Yeltsin’
The Chessman Cometh
The Chessman Cometh [ En | Ru ]
An interview with globe-trotting chess promoter, former president, and freelance diplomat Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
INTERVIEW BY JOSHUA E. KEATING. MAY 9, 2012
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov garners an awful lot of press for the president of the World Chess Federation. But he’s not exactly your average chess buff. From 1993 to 2010, he was president of the Russian republic of Kalmykia and became known for his efforts to transform the remote Buddhist region into an international chess mecca as well as for his frank comments about an encounter with aliens he claims to have had in 1997. (He was also widely criticized for his autocratic rule over the impoverished republic.) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
Leader of Buddhist republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov about to declare unilateral independence
BBC News
Mr Ilyumzhinov: Not ruling out independence
By regional analyst Malcolm Haslett:
The colourful leader of the small, mainly Buddhist republic of Kalmykia in southern Russia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has threatened to sever financial ties with Russia because he has not received any federal funds for months. Read the rest of this entry »
