Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, leader of Kalmykia and incumbent president of FIDE, the world chess federation, has sued Anatoly Karpov, who beat him to the nomination for the upcoming FIDE elections, for defamation.

The lawsuits were filed with Moscow and international courts, Ilyumzhinov said in an interview with Gazeta.ru on Thursday. He did not specify the courts but cited Karpov’s allegations of corruption in FIDE as the reason.

Ilyumzhinov — who failed to secure a nomination from the Russian Chess Federation despite the support from its head, Kremlin aide Arkady Dvorkovich — said he had also filed a complaint with FIDE’s ethics commission.

(MT)