CARL PORTMAN: Don't say I didn't warn you

Don’t say I didn’t warn you some time ago. Us chess players are weird, that’s true, but we are led by the chief of hyperbole – or is he in fact telling the truth?

Here you go…

The New York Times was approached by the President of the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who offered to answer readers’ questions. The result is a Q+A which deals with all aspects of Ilyumzhinov's career and work, including the perennial question about alien abduction and the galactic origin of chess. Turns out he will be publishing a book on the subject.

· What about his belief in alien abductions? "Many in this world believe in God although it would seem that no one has yet seen him. Many people also believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, and I am one of them. But my faith is underscored by the experience of humanity. It is no coincidence that every year NASA registers over 4,000 contacts with extraterrestrial civilizations. I have decided to write a book about my contact with extraterrestrials, and it will be published in the United States in 2011. In it, I will speak of my personal experience communicating with extraterrestrials and my view on the question of extraterrestrial civilizations."

· Was chess given to Earthlings from extraterrestrial visitors? "I do, indeed, consider chess a gift from extraterrestrial civilizations. Chess is one of the world’s oldest games. But where was it invented? In India? But an ancient set of figures was also found at excavations in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv. And two years ago, the president of Mongolia showed me chessmen discovered when they were searching for the grave of Genghis Khan and excavated a kurgan. There have been similar finds in Latin America and other parts of the world. And in those times, of course, travel was almost impossible. But the rules of chess were almost identical everywhere. It is hard to imagine that people in different parts of the world many thousands of years ago simultaneously thought up an identical game with the same rules just by chance. But again, I will set forth my opinions in the book, and we can discuss my theses in greater detail”.

I will keep you posted,

Carl Portman