CHESS#1290

Ilyumzhinov, who has been Fide President since 1995, intends to run again.

Fide's bank account has been frozen, according to a statement by the world chess federation treasurer, Adrian Siegel. This was on the cards after the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in 2015.

The sanctions were due to  Kirsan's ties with the Russian Financial Alliance Bank, which processed transactions for Bashr-al-Assad. Ilyumzhinov tried to stave this off by recusing himself from an operational role. Fide is headquartered in Switzerland with an account at the UBS Bank. The Swiss authorities gave Fide time to try and resolve the problem but they have run out of patience.

This isn't exactly great