Do you want to invite Anatoly Karpov to Tirana? Or even Mikhail Gorbachev?
We were sitting at ”Sofra e Ariut”, a nice restaurant in Tirana, and the President of the World Chess Federation, Iluzhminov, with his typical Mongolian face was trying to please me. He was interested to organize the Women’s World Chess Championship in Tirana and he knew that I had some influence on this decision because I know the president of our federation …
Anatoly Karpov and Hose Raul Capablanca are my greatest chess idols. For a long time since when I was at school, I have kept the book of Capablanca under the pillow, and often, when I am sad, go back to it. Some times ago Edi Rama gave me Karpov’s book in Lushnja. I copied it all by hand because it was not allowed to keep it for a long time…
I want to invite them both, “I told the President, who, without wasting any time, proposed Karpov first. The great chess player who has an important role in the Russian Duma, could not come and I had to meet him three months later at the World Chess Olympics in Norway …
Gorbachev it was.
I told him over the phone laughing, that he had to come to the last place or last domino that fell after the communism time.
Gorbachev laughs, and also adds that he couldn’t come to a place that has stolen the beautiful Russian girls before… I wasn’t born yet and I am not responsible for them, and now I am almost too old to cause any harm like this, – I replied, laughing.
The oldest old man who is chess president in schools around the world seems to have received this new post as a gift from Iluzhminov, or perhaps an honorary ‘debt’ from him. Gorbachev nominated him as the USSR parliament member by the end of his career. As I was told later, the return of this debt was important from another perspective for Gorbachev, who struggles with very modest income …
The old man told me he would come, but maybe at the end of the world championship. He had just had an eye surgery and the doctors had prohibited flying for a few days.
The comic arrival and reception
Gorbachev was not welcomed by any state official one at the airport.
The man who is responsible for the fall of communism, is in fact, undesirable by the authorities, even though they do not formally say that … In Germany, however, I have noticed that they respect him, and perhaps in Albania, they should do much more.. I told Berisha and Rama (who back then was only the SP leader) … Interest was lukewarm, but there were also practical reasons. I was undesirable, in this kind of reception, for the rightists.
The main sponsor of the trip and the chess federation president, Rezart Taci was interesting to them for the money he gave or they took from him. And somewhat undesirable for the leftists … Hell of a situation. Berisha gave a private lunch, and as I was told later, this was briefly announced in the press, and that was it. However, at Rinas airport, the famous Gorbachev, was welcomed by only two people…
This complete indifference did not matter at all to the old man, who once possessed ten thousand nuclear heads from which the whole planet could vanish in a few seconds. I thought he was lost, when after a few minutes at the Rinas table, he said something that had nothing to do, at least with the people who welcomed him…
– I told the Americans that this was not the way to do it… Everything had to be done together… They did it alone and, here they are, now let them reap what they have sown …
I thought he ought to be tired. Not only the charter trip from Moscow, but also the time zone difference, should have done it…
Then I remembered Balzac the elder, who says that even the kings should not be left alone for more than fifteen minutes with someone, because they would reveal the secrets of the state…
Perhaps Gorbachev was in his coherent world and was not trying to clarify something to us. Somewhere I have read that the former president of Israel, who had traveled with Einstein in a ship for some days, complained to his friends about the meeting. “There is something wrong with him,” he told about Einstein. – He explained me to the Theory of Relativity for five hours, until I realized that he had really understood it well.
It seemed to me that this should be it. The elder, rather than with us, was having his internal dialogue with himself. I was convinced about this a little later. A few minutes later, drinking ‘Lajthiza’, he made a fine remark about it. –This water comes from the mountain, – he said. – It should come from an altitude of at least a thousand meters.
At the dinner, again at the “Strofa e Ariut”, after a television interview that he did not complete, because of the great fatigue, after he complained about his health, I said:
– You don’t have to worry (in fact, he has passed the 80s and has made a few bypasses).
“Why do you think so?” he asked.
-With the correct observation for the water you’ve been drinking in the morning, it shows that you still have strong senses, similar to the animals, which means you will live long.
In fact, the elder is still alive and once in a while comments on politics.
In contrast from the earlier times I had met him, when it seemed clear that there was a sense of annoyance as well as fear of Putin, who has isolated him and keeps under control, he now approves the attitude and actions of Kremlin’s chief. At the airport he was like those elders who are afraid that someone will steal something from them, and check all around if someone is watching him. When I mentioned my observation to Kadare, a couple of days later, he told me that this should be written.
He’s still really strong. At the dinner, at the “Sofra e Ariut”, continues to drink a terrific cocktail, beer and vodka, for three hours. At the same time, for three hours, he sings almost over and over again. – We are Russians , – he says – we drink, we love and sing…
The next day of return
Eventhough in the last days of November, it is still very warm. The old man with no exact time for the return flight, as there is always one available to him, does not want to leave the table. He found it very warm and turning the back of the sun says:
– Twenty-five years ago, I took the office in Kremlin. And it was too many degrees below zero …
-Twenty-five years ago, I said, if I was seeing you at the mountain Cika e Vlores, where we were searching for oil. As a man with dark biography, I was not allowed to enter the office, where the television was commenting through two analysts, one from the east and the other from the west. Both had the idea that you needed approximately five years to really take the complete control or that all system started to obey to you…. In fact, in a few years everything was over and the system collapsed entirely, together with you …
Gorbachev does not comment on this. It seemed to me that he could start again with the idea that Americans had deceived him etc. , etc.
I did not say anything …
In Germany, where I was a refugee, after the 90’s, when I was following his destiny, it seemed to me that he had improvised himself “the coup d’état”. It wasn’t a great surprise. His predecessors from the horrible Ivan to Stalin in the second war had improvised such jokes to regain lost powers…
I refrain myself to say that he was overthrown by his own communist administration, that similar to Albania, felt that it had lost the privileges of the system.
It leaves you alone when it doesn’t need you anymore, and all your dreams vanish.
Maybe the old man is right … Although the West was praising him as a Democrat, he was basically afraid of what he was doing. Russia was killing all the communist slaves that once accepted their services, and now had to feed them because they did not work anymore …
Without them, Russia could actually become more powerful. Russia possessed all resources of the world and the expansion of the territories was worthless … In reality, many of the former republics seeking independence, rushed back to Yeltsin’s knees shortly after the USSR broke away. Russia had gas and oil, wheat and forests, etc. His present successor feels this kind of superiority. But with his incapability like all his ex-communist comrades and him being in his previous duty of ex-spy, has started to consider territories again…
I can neither explain nor bother Gorbachev with this line of thought, with my inadequate Russian to go through the whole conceptual framework.
Gorbachev begins to talk about literature and politicians of our country … He did not recognize our old politics as we thought . He did not even know Ramiz Alia, but he once mentioned that his wife had Albanians in a class and mentioned someone called Enver Halili, if I am not wrong, whom she had known in those courses.
After a brief silence, and Iluzhminov says:
– Mr. President, Shpetim is very crazy. He wants to get in contact with some physicists to help him… Will you invite him to Moscow to meet there? Gorbachev watched me sympathetically when I explain what I ask and then says:
– Lagunini, who was an old friend and rector of the State University, died a few months ago from a heart disease … He had similar views with yours… Yes, you can come and meet me.
Then adds thoughtfully: – If you really get me in Moscow…
-Why can’t I meet you if I come? – I asked. (and I really go to Moscow for a while and meet him).
– Well, they move me around a lot from here to there, he says sadly smiling… Like in an exhibition. (He added some more that I do not want to write here, because they do not add anything else than sadness to me) I can only say that his last words reminded me of a letter that Einstein sent to an old friend, Sollovin, that served as his translator until death. “Here in US, life is similar to Europe. You have to work a lot not to fall into poverty.. They still respect me, but only as an old relic to show to the others. I can still think, but the ability to work is lower.. And, in the end, dying is not all that bad.”
This is the destiny of normal and great people. Sometimes after 199o’s, I sent to the garden of my house, to my parent an old colleague of Gorbachev, Ramiz Alia. This person has made your life miserable regarding the schooling of your boys, I said. You used to write a lot of letters, but he never answered. Here he is, kill him…, and I smiled.
My parents were looking at him with surprise. But after 10 minutes everything was resolved. My mother packed for him a liter of raki from Skrapar, because he had a heart disease.
Human fate!
I see Gorbachev off alone, by reminding once again that time at Mali i Cikes, where from the half closed door I hear the commentators talking about the new leader of the half of the world.
