Kasparov loses to man who believes chess was invented by aliens

Bad news for world chess: Garry Kasparov has failed in his attempt to become president of FIDE - the World Chess Federation (or Fédération Internationale des Échecs).

He was defeated by the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Let the New York Times introduce you to Mr Ilyumzhinov:

Mr. Ilyumzhinov, 52, a native of Kalmykia, a poor Russian republic on the Caspian Sea, has led the chess federation since 1995, but not without controversy. He cultivated friendships with Saddam Hussein, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and claims that he was abducted by space aliens one night in 1997. He also claims the game was invented by extraterrestrials.

But why did national representatives from around the globe vote for such an obvious fruitcake?

In part because Kasparov is a liberal critic of the Putin regime, so the Russian government lobbied against him.

But largely because, in the words of a sensible British player and journalist:

I just did BBC World Service interview "FIDE makes FIFA look like pure transparent organisation" #4moreyearsinwilderness
— Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) August 11, 2014