During the FIDE Awards on Friday, even five-time world champion GM Magnus Carlsen made headlines when he surprisingly urged FIDE to uphold the restrictions, honoring his former coach GM Garry Kasparov, a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin.
Summary:
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) voted to maintain sanctions against Russian and Belarusian chess teams during its General Assembly in Budapest. A proposal by the Kyrgyz Chess Federation to lift all sanctions was rejected, with 66 delegates voting to keep restrictions, while only 21 supported lifting them. Instead, FIDE will consider easing sanctions for vulnerable groups, such as children under 12 and disabled players. The decision aligns with the International Olympic Committee’s stance.
Delegates like England’s IM Malcolm Pein and Ukraine’s Victor Kapustin argued passionately to maintain sanctions, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the deaths of Ukrainian chess players. Russia’s delegate Sergey Janovsky called the sanctions discriminatory, but his argument was refuted by others who highlighted Russia’s political influence on its chess federation.
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During the FIDE Awards on Friday, even five-time world champion GM Magnus Carlsen made headlines when he surprisingly urged FIDE to uphold the restrictions, honoring his former coach GM Garry Kasparov, a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin.
Summary:
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) voted to maintain sanctions against Russian and Belarusian chess teams during its General Assembly in Budapest. A proposal by the Kyrgyz Chess Federation to lift all sanctions was rejected, with 66 delegates voting to keep restrictions, while only 21 supported lifting them. Instead, FIDE will consider easing sanctions for vulnerable groups, such as children under 12 and disabled players. The decision aligns with the International Olympic Committee’s stance.
Delegates like England’s IM Malcolm Pein and Ukraine’s Victor Kapustin argued passionately to maintain sanctions, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the deaths of Ukrainian chess players. Russia’s delegate Sergey Janovsky called the sanctions discriminatory, but his argument was refuted by others who highlighted Russia’s political influence on its chess federation.