The Russian Chess Federation has been evicted from its premises after refusing to back Kremlin aide Arkady Dvorkovich in his bid to elect Kalmyk President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to a new term as head of an international chess organization.
The security guards at the Central House of Chess Players building in downtown Moscow were replaced and its rooms were sealed Friday, Anatoly Bakh, the federation chairman, told Ekho Moskvy radio.
Bakh said the takeover was orchestrated by Dvorkovich, who chairs the supervisory board of the Russian Chess Federation.
Bakh and Dvorkovich were unavailable for comment Sunday.
In April, Dvorkovich said Russia would support Ilyumzhinov's re-election as president of the World Chess Federation, or FIDE, which he had helmed since 1995.
But last week, the federation supported a bid by former chess champion Anatoly Karpov instead.
Dvorkovich has said the federation's support for Karpov lacked “legitimacy” on technical grounds.
Ilyumzhinov has ruled Kalmykia, one of Russia's poorest regions, since 1993, but his term in office expires this year. The Kremlin has not said whether President Dmitry Medvedev will reappoint him.
Oleg Smolin, a State Duma deputy with the Communist Party and an avid chess player, said Ilyumzhinov had lost the Kremlin's support and the FIDE post was supposed to be a “consolation prize."
Karpov's candidacy is supported by a number of European sport federations, as well as Garry Kasparov, his former rival turned liberal politician.
In a May interview with the Ogonyok magazine, Karpov said he wanted to “restore the prestige” of FIDE and claimed that only one of the 165 FIDE member states supported Ilyumzhinov, who has raised eyebrows with a story about being visited by aliens in 1997.
FIDE has said the incumbent is supported by its four continental presidents.