Is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov facing his endgame? The bizarre power struggle at the top of chess

Popcorn time, suggested British grandmaster Nigel Short as reports came in of an alleged coup at the top of the chess world.

And he wasn't wrong.

In an extraordinary turn of events yesterday Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the embattled head of Fide who believes the game was brought to Earth by aliens, appeared to be facing his final endgame.

After ruling the game's governing body for 22 years his own organisation announced he had finally thrown in the towel at an extraordinary meeting in Athens on Sunday.

Ilyumzhinov's response was immediate - he denied it, alleging on Russian television that there is a US-led plot to oust him.

Two hours later Ilyumzhinov followed up his vehement denials - supported by his ally, president of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov - with a signed letter on Fide headed paper reiterating his position.

This morning Fide's statement on Ilyumzhinov resigning was still on its website, and Ilyumzhinov wrote to his employer claiming it was untrue and urging Fide to publish his response.

It did, and added a response of its own from executive director Nigel Freeman claiming Ilyumzhinov said "I resign" three times before leaving the meeting and reiterating that a board meeting will be held next month to discuss the matter.

Within minutes Ilyumzhinov hit back, saying he intends to work his full term until 2018 and "I think that we need to do real work instead of wasting money of Fide on for an unnecessary meeting".

The plot thickens. So what on earth is happening?

"It's quite difficult to work out," said Malcolm Pein, the English Chess Federation's international director.

"An official announcement, I put 'official' in inverted commas, appeared on the Fide website saying that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had resigned.

"I then heard the Fide treasurer Nigel Freeman had been quoted as saying that Ilyumzhinov had told him he had resigned, however just two hours later a statement from Ilyumzhinov appeared on the internet, and of course it appeared on Fide headed notepaper, saying that he hadn't resigned.

"So I think that there's a power struggle going on at the moment."

One thing is clear: the knives are out for Ilyumzhinov.

The Russian millionaire, who has enjoyed the unwavering support of his country's president Vladimir Putin, was considered untouchable after he crushed chess legend Garry Kasparov's challenge at the 2014 Fide presidential election.

But since being placed on a US sanctions list in November 2015 for alleged business dealings with the Syrian regime - allegations Ilyumzhinov strongly denies - his grip on power has loosened.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Facing pressure to act, Fide announced its head had agreed to temporarily hand over the day-today running of Fide to his deputy Georgios Makropoulos.

But that didn't appear to last long. Ilyumzhinov conspicuously continued to carry out his role attending events, accepting awards and making speeches as president of Fide.

In January last year he appeared at the high-profile Candidates tournament, the contest that decided who will take on the world champion, in Moscow handing first prize to the winner Sergey Karjakin.

Then in November, despite being banned from entering the US under threat of arrest, Ilyumzhinov beamed himself into the Magnus Carlsen Vs Karjakin World Chess Championship match held in New York via Skype to address the audience.

This, however, may have just been the appearance of power - many have suggested that he has become increasingly isolated and become something of "lame duck" president.

Rumours have circulated for months that Fide officials have been scheming against Ilyumzhinov.

Following a worrying report into the Fide's financial state at last year's biannual Fide Congress, held in Baku before the Chess Olympiad, there was open talk of removing him.

Among the many issues cited in the report were the multimillionaire Ilyumzhinov's travel expenses.

IM Pein added: "When I was representing the English Chess Federation at the Fide Congress last year it was clear the organisation's finances were in a mess and the treasurer's report was pretty damning.

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"There were references to the president's travel expenses, for example, and the organisation really appeared to be running out of money.

"When Ilyumzhinov came to the head of Fide in 1995 he certainly did bring some money to the organisation. But now it seems like a lot of the people he put in place are now getting fed up with him because a lot of the things Fide does that it needs to survive it simply cannot do.

"It works from what it calls its commissions and the budgets for its commissions have been cut drastically."

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A series of scandals have also taken place culminating in Fide's controversial decision to award last month's Women's World Championship to Iran.

Protests against the decision, which required competitors to wear the hijab in the strict Islamic state, led to several top stars refusing to enter.

In January Bulgaria's former world champion Veselin Topalov launched into a bizarre tirade against Ilyumzhinov's running of Fide on his website.

Ilyumzhinov's leadership has also faced open criticism from the influential US and English chess federations which have called for him to step down.

Now it appears Ilyumzhinov may be battling opposition from within Fide itself.

But what does this power struggle mean for the game in general?

"I think it is potentially great for chess," said IM Pein.

"If Ilyumzhinov is removed then I think the main impediment to the game being modernised, and facing towards companies in the West to get sponsorship, that pathway is suddenly opened. So I'm hopeful that he will indeed go."

In chess, it seems, scheming and intrigue isn't confined to just the game. 

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