Termed as the dirtiest ever, the FIDE election is drawing more attention than the Olympiad itself as the 19-year regime of Ilyumzhinov and his team comes under a threat for the first time.
A recent article in a popular chess magazine (New In Chess) is going viral on social networks. Written by former world championship challenger Nigel Short, the article strongly supports Kasparov's cause calling the present regime 'morally bankrupt'.
It also points to changes in leadership of some countries like Afghanistan because, apparently, they sided with Kasparov.
On Ilyumzhinov claiming to have spent more than 70 million of his personal money on Chess, Short writes: "A statement as implausible as it is unverifiable".
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Kasparov has been crisscrossing the world last few months promoting his candidature. According to his website, he is ahead in Asia and Africa while Europe also seems to be on his side.
The picture will be clear in a few days' time but according to his website, Kasparov has a lead of 18-14 in Africa and 15-8 in Asia with remaining as undecided votes.
Ilyumzhinov also claims the backing of Asia and his site claims that Kasparov will not get more than 14 votes out of 48 from the continent.