Russian who heads world chess wants powers suspended

Russian who heads world chess wants powers suspended

Published Dec. 6, 2015 7:42 a.m. ET

MOSCOW (AP) The longtime head of the World Chess Federation has asked the federation's presidential council to suspend his authority temporarily.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is an eccentric, wealthy Russian businessman who for 20 years has headed the governing body of chess, known as FIDE.

His assistant, Berik Balgabayev, said in a Twitter post Sunday that Ilyumzhinov has asked the FIDE presidential council to suspend his authority temporarily. He did not give a reason.

Ilyumzhinov was put on a U.S. sanctions list on Nov. 25 for providing support to the Syrian government. This means that any assets he have in the United States are to be frozen and U.S. citizens are generally prohibited from having any dealings with him.

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The FIDE council was meeting Sunday in Athens.

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