New move: Chess group wants to buy New York mosque building

Sep 16, 2010, 17:03 GMT

New York - The World Chess Federation (FIDE) is reportedly bidding for the Manhattan building where an Islamic centre is projected to be build, the New York Post said Thursday.

The newspaper said that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov of Russia has sent a letter on the group's behalf to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg offering to buy the building, which is just two blocks from the World Trade Center site, and convert it into an international chess centre and an academy.

'We named the sum of 10 million dollars because last week billionaire Donald Trump gave an offer of 7.5 million dollars, and we decided to outdo him,' The Post said, citing a report of the Russian RIA Novosti.

Ilyumzhinov was president of Russia's Buddhist region of Kalmykia until last week. He was reported to have built a complex that he called 'Chess City' in Kalmykia's capital Elista. He is currently serving a new term as FIDE president after a fierce contest with Russian chess champion Anatoly Karpov.

The mosque project at 45-47 Park Place in Lower Manhattan under Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has sparked a strong opposition in the United States because of its proximity to Ground Zero. The building is owned by Egyptian businessman Hashim Elzanaty, who bought it for 4.8 million dollars wanted to sell for a profit after the project became hotly debated.