Lawyers say ex-champion’s nomination as World Chess Federation president illegal

MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) - A Russian law firm has said last week's nomination of former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov as a candidate for World Chess Federation (FIDE) president is illegal.

Karpov's nomination was done on May 14 by "an illegitimate body," EPAM said in a statement.

Karpov was nominated by the Russian Chess Federation's supervisory board.

However, the revised version of the Charter of the Russian Chess Federation that was to bring the board into existence had not undergone government registration by the moment the nomination was made. This means the board "did not exist as of the moment of the decision," the lawyers said.

The board's nomination of Karpov may be annulled by court if it "violates anyone's rights or legitimate interests," the statement said.

Arkady Dvorkovich, an aide to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, hailed the law firm's dictum.

"Those who try to split the Russian Chess Federation from within and without will be well-advised to think not only of practical but also of legal consequences of their actions," Dvorkovich said.

"I expect that federation officials who have exceeded their powers by informing the public about their illegitimate decisions on candidates for president of FIDE will be called to account and resign."

Dvorkovich expressed hope that "the situation will normalize soon."

"We will do our best for this. The Russian Chess Federation will resume its full-scale routine business very soon," he said.