Mr. von Weizsäcker, your way to ECU Presidency in Khanty-Mansyisk will surely not be easy especially when you think about the habits of past voting procedures. Aren´t you afraid a little bit?

The mentalities within Europe are very different not to speak about mentalities worldwide. What we might consider as morally questionable is regarded as normal in many Eastern and Southern European countries, in Latin and South America as well as in other parts of the world. Therefore, it is difficult for me to predict the behavior of the delegates in Khanty-Mansiysk. I am afraid that corruption and money will have a substantial influence.

You are an economist. Don’t you think that money is the best backhander?

This is a legitimate question, but of course we refuse this. Our team wants to win, for sure, but not by corrupting. We are all supporting the sport, we play chess for a long time, four of us are Grandmasters, so we know what we are talking about. Furthermore we all have abilities beyond our sport, which we want to use to make changes within European chess.

What is your intention in doing so?

To bring chess back to the chess players. We want to be credible, reliable and transparent. We will have to see whether the delegates stand behind us. There is no guarantee since officials and not players are voting.

Well, that sounds good but the past has shown that depending on the amount of money there is definitely a point where delegates become weak and influenced in their voting behaviour.

I admit – this may be a danger but we do have better long-run arguments and we do hope that these arguments are stronger than money. A lot depends on how delegates react to our proposals. We do not have a guarantee but we have to take the risk.

What were your thoughts when Kasparov suddenly calls you submitting the proposal that you run for ECU Presidency?

That was a very special feeling. I first met him some 25 years ago at a simul. At home my bookshelves are full of his chess books and then he suddenly calls me.

How do you organise the election campaign?

We started to talk things over in Berlin and formed our ticket. We are connected with Karpow and his campaign. We travel a lot and carry on negotiations. As you know, I am very busy at Munich University of Technology; that means I have to use my spare time at weekends and holidays for chess work.

Recently there has been a public discussion about Germany’s Olympic team. The top players have refused to participate under the financial conditions offered. The Presidential Board of the German Chess Federation with its President Robert von Weizsäcker has clarified the facts and has rejected the non-objective arguments.

• Supporting the top level sport is a main task of the German Chess Federation. More than 100,000 € are spent every year for the top players and talented youngsters. Administrative costs and salaries for the trainers have to be added. No other department has a similar budget at its disposal.
• All projects of the top level sport are published on the website of the German Chess Federation. The budget includes, for instance, the costs of the Chess Olympiad, European team and individual championships, bilateral matches and supportive measures for young players.
• The top players have publicly complained that they do not profit from this programme. This assertion is not true. Two of the top four German players (Naiditsch and Meier) have received grants of totally 57,479 € in the period 2005 to 2010.
• Due to tax reasons the German Chess Federation cannot pay any honorarium for the members of the national team. Such payments have to be done by sponsors or – if necessary – by the “Deutscher Schachbund Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH”, a limited liability company.
• The amount of the honorarium is always discussed by a commission. Representatives of the players are members of it. It has been agreed to offer the players of the men’s team for the participation in this year’s Olympiad an honorarium of totally 15,000 € which means approximately 3,000 € each (depending on the individual result).

• The Presidential Board of the German Chess Federation rejects the reproaches of GM Arkadij Naiditsch and GM Georg Meier towards those being responsible for the top level sport (President, Director of top level sport, Tournament Director, National Coach and the Executive Director of the limited liability company). The Board is prepared to discuss issues but condemns the personal defamation and reserves for itself further consequences.

Prof. Dr. Robert K. von Weizsäcker

Dear Mr. Weiszaecker,
GERMAN CHESS FEDERATlON
Mr. Robert von Weizsaecker
President
8 E R L I N, GERMANY

After the meetting with Mr. Ivan Sokolov, Croatian Chess Federation fully supports
Presidential nomination of Mr. Weiszaecker with his team and wishes them success in
forthcoming elections.
Yours sincerely,
Stjepan Sturlan
President ofCroatian Chess Federation

Ljubljana, 28.7.2010
Prof.Dr. Robert K. Frhr. von Weizsäcker
c/o Geschäftsstelle Deutscher Schachbund e.V.
Hanns-Braun-Str., Friesenhaus I
14053 Berlin
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
Dear Mr. President,
Chess Federation of Slovenia had a meeting with our chess friend GM Ivan Sokolov on
Tuesday 27th July, where we discussed about the forthcoming elections for FIDE and ECU.
Mr. Sokolov introduced your program in details and presented your team for the candidacy to
lead ECU in the future. We were very satisfied with the presented information and we support
your program.
Chess Federation of Slovenia declares full support to your ticket for election as ECU President.
Our delegate will vote for your candidacy at the ECU elections.
We thank Mr. Sokolov for meeting with us, and wish you and you team much success.
Sincerely yours,
Milan Kneževic, President of CFS

Education

1983 – Master’s Degree at “Mechanics and mathematics” from Kiev University,

1991 – Doctor’s Degree at “Mechanics and mathematics” from Academy of Science of Ukraine.

Employment

1983 – 1986 Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery,

Sciences division – Engineer

1986 – 1989 Computer center of the Ministry of Health of the Ukraine

Head of Department

1989 – 1991 JV “New Information Technology”

Head of Division

From 1992 Dr. Kaplun resides in the USA (Chicago, IL), in 1997 he obtained a USA citizenship.

1992 – 2004 Comtek International, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA (http://www.cmtk.net/about.html)

Co-founder, President

Comtek International, Inc. is a leading provider of information technology [IT] services. Comtek integrates onshore and offshore resources to deliver complex solutions spanning from IT consulting services to full cycle of IT application design and development. The company provides services for such companies as: Motorola, Abbott Laboratories, ADP, Experian, IBM, MCI, Verizon, Motorola, ABN AMRO bank, Navtech, Nokia, etc.

Dr. Kaplun sells Comtek International, Inc. in 2004.

2004 – present City-State LLC, Kiev, Ukraine

(http://citystate.com.ua/main/en/first_page/init.html)

Co-founder, CEO

The company is focused on Financial Investment, Land banking and Real Estate Development in the Ukraine.

Services provided by the company include all phases of Real Estate Development, such as:

- Market research

- Feasibility analysis / Due diligence

- Property acquisition, rezoning etc

- Architectural design

- Financing

- Construction

- Lease / Sale

- Property management

Born in Reykjavík, Iceland 1963, where he still lives.

International Master 1984, Grandmaster 1985.

Successes in the field of chess include tying for the first place in the Interzonal tournament in Szirak Hungary 1987, thus qualifying for the 1987-1989 Candidate matches of the World Chess Championship where he defeated Victor Kortschnoi in Saint John 1988.

Qualified for the 1988-1991 PCA World Cup, five times German Team Champion with the chess club of F.C. Bayern Munich between 1989-1995, once European Champion with the same club, Nordic Champion 1997 and five times Icelandic Chess Champion ’80, 84’, ‘94, ‘95 & ‘97. Finished first or tied first in the International Chess Tournaments in Gausdal 1983, Reykjavik 1984 & 1992, Commonwealth Championship London 1986,  München 1988, Akureyri 1988, World Open Philadelphia 1991, Linares Open 1995, Wintherthur 1996, Stockholm 1996-7, Copenhagen 1997.

Member of the Icelandic National Chess team from 1980 until retiring from professional chess in 1998 to pursue a career as an attorney. Represented Iceland in ten Chess Olympiads and numerous Nordic-, European- and other international team competitions.

Teaching and training promising chess players in The Icelandic Chess Academy in Reykjavik 1985-1998. Wrote numerous articles on chess in Icelandic and international publications on a regular basis as a freelance writer.

Cand. Juris degree from the University of Iceland 1992. Licensed to practice before district courts in Iceland 1998 and the European Patent Office in 2006 (European Patent Attorney).

Johann has been practicing law since 1998 as a General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of a leading international biotechnology company based in Iceland & USA.

Member of Icelandic & EU committee and work groups preparing legislation and initiatives in the field of science policy and intellectual property.

Ivan Sokolov, born 13/06/1968 in Jajce, Bosnia & Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia),

he lived in Sarajevo until 1992, graduated in Sarajevo 1^st Gimnazium in 1986.

He is resident of The Netherlands since 1992, currently lives in Lelystad, citizenship is Dutch

Chess CV:

Learned chess from father in 1974

FM1985   IM1986   GM1987

Yugoslavian Champion in 1988, Dutch Champion in 1995 and 1998

Best World ranking on the FIDE ELO list 12^th (several times)

Won many GM top events, the most important ones are Hastings, Sarajevo, Selfoss, Reykjavik, Hoogeveen, Lost Boys, Staunton memorial etc

With the Chess Club Bosna he won the European Clubs 4 times

With Bosnian team he won the silver medal on OL Moscow 1994 and with a Dutch team gold at the European Team Championship in Gothenburg 2005

In May 2010 he successfully performed in the function of the Tournament Director in Bosna Open (82.500,- Euro prize fund) one of the biggest Opens in the World in 2010

Deputy President: Nigel Short, England

Nigel David Short, born in 1965, a former World Championship Finalist (against Garry Kasparov in London 1993) is considered to be the strongest British chess player of the 20^th century.  He won the English Championship in 1991, the British Championship in 1984, 1987 and 1998, the Commonwealth Championship in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and the EU Individual Championship in 2006.

He has finished outright first, or tied for first, in dozens of other international tournaments including Geneva 1979, the BBC Master Game (1981), Amsterdam OHRA (1982), Baku 1983, Esbjerg 1984, Wijk aan Zee (1986, 1987), Reykjavik (1987), Amsterdam VSB (1988, 1991, 1992, 1993), Hastings (1987/88, 1988/89), Parnu (1996), Groningen (1996), Tallinn/Parnu 1998, Dhaka 1999, Shymkent 1999, Pamplona(1999/00), Beijing 2000, Malmo (2002, 2009), Gibraltar (2003, 2004), Budapest  2003, Skanderborg 2003, Taiyuan (2004), Tastrup 2006, Bazna 2008 and London 2009.

He has won silver medals in Chess Olympiads (1984, 1986, 1988) one bronze (1990) and one individual gold (1986). He led England to victory at the European Team Championship in 1997.

He has defeated Alburt, Sax, Gelfand, Speelman, Karpov, Timman, Gulko, Adianto, Bacrot, Stefansson, Ghaem Maghami and Efimenko in matchplay.

He has written chess columns and book reviews for The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Spectator as well as articles for numerous chess periodicals.

He has coached the national team of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2006-7) as well as young grandmasters, Pentala Hariskrishna, Sergey Karjakin, David Howell and Parimarjan Negi.

He was President of the Grandmasters Association (GMA), a Director and founding member of the Professional Chess Association (PCA) and President of the Commonwealth Association (2006-8).