Gadhafi battles with chess czar in Tripoli
Source: Agencies |
June 14, 2011, Tuesday
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MOAMMAR Gadhafi is calm and plays a decent game of chess, eccentric Russian chess supremo Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said yesterday, describing a weekend match with the embattled Libyan leader.
Ilyumzhinov - the head of the World Chess Federation who said the game was handed down from outerspace and aliens once abducted him - judged Gadhafi only an "amateur" player and boasted he easily got the best of him on Sunday.
The chess czar's visit to Tripoli - which Moscow says was purely a private affair - gave a rare, if offbeat glimpse of Gadhafi's surroundings four months into the rebellion against his rule.
"He is very calm. He plays chess normally, adequately," Ilyumzhinov told radio Ekho Moskvye.
"Yesterday's match with Gadhafi ended in a draw. I offered the drawn game. After all it is impolite to win when you're a guest," Ilyumzhinov said.
Russia's Africa envoy said he advised Ilyumzhinov to tell Gadhafi his game was up, when the Chess Federation head called him to inform him of the trip.
"I advised him to play white ... and to give Gadhafi to understand that he was nearing an end game," Mikhail Margelov said.
On Libyan state TV footage, Gadhafi looked relaxed and Ilyumzhinov beamed as they faced off over a crystal-studded chess board in an office decorated with a portrait of Gadhafi in military dress.
Ilyumzhinov said he took on Gadhafi in an "administrative building" in Tripoli. He added that he later played the leader's eldest son and visited the bomb-scarred family compound where Libyan officials said NATO air strikes had killed several of Gadhafi's relatives last month.
Chess-mad Ilyumzhinov claimed aliens brought the game to Earth and has built a sprawling complex devoted to chess in Russia's southern Buddhist region of Kalmykia, where he ruled for 17 years. He also told Russian TV earlier last year that aliens took him for a spin in their spaceship in 1997.
Gadhafi, who has kept a low profile since NATO began bombing, was shown in broadcasts of Sunday's chess match wearing his characteristic dark sunglasses, black cap and brown robes.
Ilyumzhinov said the Libyan leader told him he had no intention of stepping down or leaving the country, despite being weakened by defections in his entourage, sanctions on supplies and the effects of NATO air strikes on his compound.
The chess czar quoted Gadhafi as saying: "I am neither premier nor president nor king. I do not hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position which I should give up."
At the G8 summit last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined Western partners in urging Gadhafi to step down. Margelov will travel to Tripoli soon for talks with Gadhafi's government as part of a mediation effort by Russia.
Ilyumzhinov - the head of the World Chess Federation who said the game was handed down from outerspace and aliens once abducted him - judged Gadhafi only an "amateur" player and boasted he easily got the best of him on Sunday.
The chess czar's visit to Tripoli - which Moscow says was purely a private affair - gave a rare, if offbeat glimpse of Gadhafi's surroundings four months into the rebellion against his rule.
"He is very calm. He plays chess normally, adequately," Ilyumzhinov told radio Ekho Moskvye.
"Yesterday's match with Gadhafi ended in a draw. I offered the drawn game. After all it is impolite to win when you're a guest," Ilyumzhinov said.
Russia's Africa envoy said he advised Ilyumzhinov to tell Gadhafi his game was up, when the Chess Federation head called him to inform him of the trip.
"I advised him to play white ... and to give Gadhafi to understand that he was nearing an end game," Mikhail Margelov said.
On Libyan state TV footage, Gadhafi looked relaxed and Ilyumzhinov beamed as they faced off over a crystal-studded chess board in an office decorated with a portrait of Gadhafi in military dress.
Ilyumzhinov said he took on Gadhafi in an "administrative building" in Tripoli. He added that he later played the leader's eldest son and visited the bomb-scarred family compound where Libyan officials said NATO air strikes had killed several of Gadhafi's relatives last month.
Chess-mad Ilyumzhinov claimed aliens brought the game to Earth and has built a sprawling complex devoted to chess in Russia's southern Buddhist region of Kalmykia, where he ruled for 17 years. He also told Russian TV earlier last year that aliens took him for a spin in their spaceship in 1997.
Gadhafi, who has kept a low profile since NATO began bombing, was shown in broadcasts of Sunday's chess match wearing his characteristic dark sunglasses, black cap and brown robes.
Ilyumzhinov said the Libyan leader told him he had no intention of stepping down or leaving the country, despite being weakened by defections in his entourage, sanctions on supplies and the effects of NATO air strikes on his compound.
The chess czar quoted Gadhafi as saying: "I am neither premier nor president nor king. I do not hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position which I should give up."
At the G8 summit last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined Western partners in urging Gadhafi to step down. Margelov will travel to Tripoli soon for talks with Gadhafi's government as part of a mediation effort by Russia.
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