Autocratic leaders have a tendency to imprint their own passions on their subjects, but the former president of the Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a former chess champion and the head of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), has taken the phenomenon to a completely new level. He has made chess mandatory in schools and founded a private school for exceptionally gifted players. "The king is the most important piece," – chant generations of Kalmyk children about to learn the most important rule of chess, but also of political life in their country. Elected president of The Republic of Kalmykia within the Russian Federation in 1993 and staying in office through 2010, Ilyumzhinov required every student to study chess in the first three grades, as part of a wider plan to turn Kalmykia into a future world capital of chess. The game is expected to change everything. As the game clock is set, a fascinating journey into the workings of an authoritarian government begins.