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Courtesy FIDE
President of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, left, meets with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Damascus, Syria on Sunday.
Syria leader Bashar Assad has taken time away from the deadly civil war raging in his country to consider the issue of chess tournaments for school children.
Assad - whose forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the past year, according to the United Nations - held a three-hour meeting on Sunday with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, an eccentric Russian in charge of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), according to a report on Chessbase News.
The pair discussed a project to teach chess in Syrian schools, according to a press release that said an international youth chess tournament could be held in Damascus in early June.
Last week a bomb attack in Damascus killed nine people, part of ongoing bloodshed around Syria.
Ilyumzhinov, a Russian politician who used to the run region of Kalmykia. has previously visited world leaders including former Libya despot Moammar Gadhafi.
He did not rule out the possibility that Assad could take part in the proposed tournament, telling Chessbase: "TheSyrian President plays chess very well – since his studies in London".
He also revealed that Assad wants to invite the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and a leading figure in world Buddhism, to sanctify an ancient Buddhist temple in Syria.
The Independent newspaper in London reported that Ilyumzhinov told Russia’s Interfax news agency the pair had also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
"Assad says he is adhering to the Kofi Annan peace plan,” Interfax quoted Ilyumzhinov as saying. “But the situation is being destabilized by the opposition, who are receiving huge numbers of weapons from neighboring countries."
The Independent also reported that Ilyumzhinov has previously claimed to have been abducted by aliens, and Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein, since killed, was among his friends.
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Leave a Comment:
I don't think this is as bold as MSNBC would want us to think. Asad does not care about the sanctions the U.S. is trying to put on him. He can make time for what ever he thinks is important. It is like saying bold move president Obama going to Columbia risking exposure of the things Secret Service Agents do in countries such as those.
I don't know anything about his skill as a chess player, but it appears he would be pretty good at poker.
Phenomenal112 Colombia, going to Colombia.
Maybe letting the Syrian chidren live would be a good way to preserve the future of chess - among other things.
you right Greenpoint , maybe if we leave people alone and tell NATO and the oil rich states to stay out other Arab countries affairs it will be a good start, We need to quit arming these Al Qaeda thugs in Syria and Quit bringing them from Libya and Iraq , maybe that will save lots of children's lives, Oh boy all of sudden every body cares about Syria's children's and civilians , I wonder these people in Africa were not humans . or the children's in Lebanon when Israel were bombing the hell out these civilians and still do , nobody cares, How about these civilians in Bahrain and Sadie Arabia , Oh sorry these are allies they have the right to kill civilians , come on people give a freaking break.
Yep Greenpoint. To be able to teach childen - first you have to allow them to live - and if this keeps up - there will no schools or children to populate them. This man (I can't call him a leader or even a man for that matter), is incredibly stupid.
Green point, are you implying that Assad's responsible for killing children?
You're typical of us on Newsvine who form opinion on the fly; after learning Assad is mulling over introducing chess or chess tournaments to schools you decided to take a swipe at him with a derisive irony.
I know you meant no harm; but where did you get the idea that Assad could do all those dreadfu things they (the opposition and friends of Syria's opposition) accused him of doing, or capable of doing?
Do you read other newspapers other than MSNBC; you should, you know, do some googling sometimes, or hop over to Youtube to read and see alternative opinions or news sometimes..
Recently the BBC investigated a news portal in Asia, a very big portal, as big as MSNBC, for falsifying or doctoring news attributed to BBC for a reason.
This is in no way implying that MSNBC is lying; just read third party party news too, then form your opinion.
Never form your views on the fly.
I hope you take this friendly advice with an open mind.
I used to dislike Assad too because of his stand against Israel, but I changed; as you too will change after you realize the accusations against Assad are myths; nothing but myths.
Have nice day.
SyriainTurmoil, you must have your kafia tied too tightly. You also sound like you are one of Assad's mental midgets. Anyone who can kill 9,000 of his own peoplewould probably use chess to round up children so he can kill them too, just like the Nazis used to round up innocent victims. Go hop on your camel and be on your way...
Take this a_— hole out and place him right next to Osama as soon as possible.
OMG…Chess he plays chess…hahaha.. You guys are funny!
Krazy Klown meets Arrogant Clueless Prick. Luckily, they have their priorities in order....
This must be MSNBC's way of insinuating that Assad will get axed soon. I could swear that I read about this chess guy and Gadhafi last year.
Wait I got it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43379910/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/what-fighting-gadhafi-plays-chess-visitor/
Who is the man, I was just going to say the same thing. I hope there is a trend being set here.
Here's the key to the article:
"But the situation is being destabilized by the opposition, who are receiving huge numbers of weapons from neighboring countries."
Anyone that thinks Israel isn't in the middle of this, essentially creating the de-stabilization, is sadly naive. As usual (just as spying in the US), Israel never gets mentioned by name even when they're flagrantly violating international law.
Want peace in the Middle East? Regime change in Israel's the only chance.
Bob, you are in denial of the truth. It is an insult to Syrian people who yearn for a better government to claim Israel is driving them. Wake up.
I'm in denial of truth? Really? So who's arming them? And how many Syrian people do you know? And what neighboring countries is the World Chess Federation president speaking of?
Quit lapping up the propaganda.
Who's arming them? They are arming themselves with help from ALL neighboring countries. And the World Chess Federation has no business there.
Wow, Gary. You're really showing your ignorance on the Middle East geopolitical realm - so let me help you out.
Syria's one of the last countries to have a state-owned bank that loans money to the peope at near-zero interest. Libya used to be that way, but see, in the name of rubbish....I mean "freedom", western powers had to go in, dissolve the state bank, and institute a private banking system controlled by the same pigs that own the World Bank and the IMF.
So, y'know - you can keep living in your denial of truth - with that truth being there really are good guys and bad guys (mean old dictators - booga, booga) - and western imperialism really is about democracy and human rights and freedom and all that other crap. I, on the other hand, subscribe to realism.
King takes pawns, so much fun.
ya Gary-Chicago ABC today ( Dozens of Syrian army were killed by ambush by the rebels ) . I guess they fed them bad doughnuts from crispy creme , 3 Libyans were killed in Aleppo , I guess they got lost on the way from Libya to Turkey or Saudi Arabia , Its funny when we decide to go after a regime change everything they do is wrong and all these Al Qaeda fighters are again freedom fighters , its sickening buddy,we kiss up to these rich oil countries and we will destroy the whole world if we have to , to protect Israel from anything that Israel tell us is a threat to Israel , shame I wish our politicians felt the same way about our country , I see senator Lieberman in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia plotting to over throw the Syrian Regime he is even on the border between Syria and Lebanon, Wow , I winder why doesn't ever go to the border between the US and Mexico and see about all these Drugs that killing our kids and destroying families in our country , why don't him and McCain visit our troops in Afghanistan and try to see what they can do to help them and their families , Oh Sorry , they are not getting any money from the oil Rich state and that do not help them with the Jewish voters and lobby in here , another word , they are not getting paid for it, I hope they come out and tell us the truth, Just when Pres. Bush went to Iraq if he only told us the truth , that it is not about WMD it is about revenge and about weakening that part of the world to make Israel strong , It was a plan to Attack other countries not thinking about the lives of our troops and what would to our economy and the money and lives we had to lose. not one senator asked that question back then and nobody dared to ask later. If you want to keep on there is lots of things happening that is not in the interest of this country , but who cares not our politicians.
it figures its russan that visits assad because russians can turn blind eye easy to slaughter they done most of it themselfs
The Most Uninteresting Man In The World. Kills 10,000 of his own people (women and children). Plays chess (like who gives a rats patootie). Idiots!
There is an obvious solution our problem:
Nancy Pelosi be a good friend of Asaad. she visited him with proper headdress and all. That be a couple weeks after she became Speaker of House, Number two in line for the Presidency.
We should enlist Queen Nancy for her help.
Are you still recovering from that head trauma?
Does anyone else besides me see the similarities between this guy playing chess while Damascus explodes and Nero fiddleing while Rome burned?
Unlax. I do not think Obama even plays chess. Racism gotta stop, please.
Yes, it's either the head trauma or a bored troll. OK....
Yes, it's either the head trauma or a bored troll. OK....
Yes, it's either the head trauma or a bored troll. OK....
Hey girl, should not you be in school already?
If he's smart he lets the dictator win.
What a sleeze bucket this guy is. Doesn't it seem people at a high level in chess are very stange? I mean, let's face it, the game is about as boring as you can get. It's right up there with watching a golf or sailing tournment.
I guess when you are that smart (and weird), you can't be choosy about your friends (or people that seem like your friends).
Neither of these two qualifies as "high level" in terms of chess-playing ability. If you want a high-level (Grandmaster) player who was born in Syria, raised in the U.S., and who's a really nice guy, check out Yasser Seirawan.
But they're still wierd.
The guy playing chess or whatever , I remember our Presidents going to play Gulf and went on vacation and joked around , while our troops getting killed in Iraq and Afghanistan , who are we to tell people how to live, Assad protecting his people from all the thugs and A l Qaeda fighters that NATO , SAUDIS , QATARIS , TURKEY , and whole lot of other countries , to them his time is up because he does not fit in their scheme of things , So its time to go , Just like Qaddafi and Saddam , when ever we had them where we want them and they were working with the Europeans , they went and killed them with whole bunch of civilians , and did you know that Qaddafi gave Pres. Sarkouzy of France 50 million dollars for his election , Strange , he must have refused this time , and since when France runs the world, they stole Syria's wealth years ago and gave Turkey the best part of Syria and now they are trying again to do the same thing , I hope Assad put them in there place them and NATO and the Al Qaeda loving rich gulf states.
Play more chess and we would have less war. Chess actually had in the past help started friendly relationship between the US and Russia, just as ping pong help started friendly relationship between the US and China. Play games and sports instead of shooting at each other.
USA is trying to destabuluze Syria regardless of its cost. I wonder why can they accomplish that? Are they afraid of Russians or unwilling to piss them off.
About Regime change in Israel I don't know; but if there is regime change in Syria, the one who's going to be sorrier is Israel.
If they have a hand in anything, they should stop on the double or they will end up shooting themselves in the foot.
I have come to understand, that after this guy visits, the other usually dies in a short span. He is the messenger of death.
The truth is that the gods up in the heaven, are playing Chess with the folks on earth. It is their entertainment. We are all just pawns. Sometimes one side is stronger, then the other side. Its been going on for thousands of years.
Chess! You wanna talk about chess! Lol for those of you who saw the replay of the Iverson derision about the importance of practice on Sports Center earlier this week.