The FIDE General Assembly did not lift sanctions against Russia and Belarus

The General Assembly of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), held in Budapest, did not support the proposal to completely remove restrictions on participation in competitions for chess players from Russia and Belarus.

At the same time, the assembly accepted the proposal of the FIDE Council and decided to contact the International Olympic Committee with a request regarding the possibility of lifting restrictions for a number of categories of athletes from Russia and Belarus, in particular children under 12 years old and disabled people.

After the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, FIDE, like the IOC and the vast majority of international sports federations, introduced restrictions on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in competitions. Chess players from Russia and Belarus can compete in tournaments as individuals under the FIDE flag. The national teams are suspended from tournaments, in particular, they are not participating in the Chess Olympiad currently taking place in Budapest.

The Federation of Kyrgyzstan proposed to completely cancel all restrictions. In particular, the authorities of Ukraine, the US State Department and the strongest chess player in the world, ex-champion Magnus Carlsen, spoke against it. He referred to the opinion of another ex-champion of the world, a Russian living in exile, Garry Kasparov, who actively supports Ukraine and opposes the power of Vladimir Putin.

During the voting at the General Assembly, 21 countries voted for the lifting of restrictions, 41 were against any weakening of sanctions, and the majority – 66 – supported the proposal of the FIDE Council.

• The International Chess Federation is headed by the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich, former assistant to the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and vice-premier of the Russian government. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in an interview with the American magazine Mother Jones, Dvorkovich condemned “any war, including this one”, and said that “he thinks about the civilians of Ukraine, including many players who are in danger and cannot participate in competitions or even think about chess during the war”. Russian grandmasters expressed different opinions about the war – some, like Sergey Karyakin, recently appointed senator from the annexed Crimea, supported the invasion, others, for example, Yan Nepomniachy, spoke against it.