Where Nowhere Begins

FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich gave his second interview since the outbreak of the war, in Reykjavík to NRK journalists Oddvar Sagbakken Saanum and Christian Nitschke Smith, and he spoke about his tough reelection campaign between West and East. Indeed, due to circumstances beyond his control, Dvorkovich ended up being only one of the (too) many nemo propheta in patria, amidst the conflict (not only) of interest between FIDE and Chess Federation of Russia. Last month he shared his anti-war stance with an American magazine, which costed him dearly — politically as well as personally. By this time, he spoke through a Norwegian media outlet. “As FIDE President, I must find a way to unite people without taking a side”, he said. His problem is, however, that his fellow countrypeople are asking him — and even quite vehemently — to take a stand a little out of the Western “politically correct”. On the other hand, some of the Westerners who, whether pretendedly or not, acknowledge him as their President do not cease to ask him insistently for harsh reprisals and purges of Russian people. The ones and the others — although apparently antipodes — do wish him to be like Harlequin, servant of two masters. For him, “East or West, Home’s Best” is not a magic abracadabra since home is at war. And so, apparently, he has no other choice than staying where it is, in the alternate fictional world of FIDE. “As a Russian, I have to do it that way, I care about my country. I think there are ways to unite the world again”, he said. Quod cuncti gens una sumus.