Behind the Scenes

Grandmaster Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, the anti-hero of Russian chess, is more than ever determined to “refound” the Chess Federation of Russia, which he does not hesitate to regard as a vile “fifth column” — serving private interests of profiteering. Now the target of his attacks was Russian Chess Federation Executive Director Mark Vladimirovich Glukhovsky, guilty of fleeing to another country after February 24, thus abandoning the sinking ship. Indeed, it is quite paradoxical but true that the President of Chess Federation of Russia, with regard to the development of chess as a cultural topic, may make history — for good or bad — much more than any FIDE President. 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov, Karjakin’s ideal candidate for President, does not need presentation, he being one of the greatest, if not the greatest, players of all time. Not too jokingly, he could give the odds of a Knight to most of his detractors. But, perhaps, so far, as a politician, he tends to be traditional rather than contemporary. The impression is that the Chess Federation of Russia desperately needs to get out of the still lifes of a falling art. A community is not a mere sum of federated, just as the bio of a champ is not a mere collection of medals and cups and plaques. Karpov knows it even too well, as evidenced by his artistic chess heritage, which marks him as a gifted, intuitive creator and thinker. Maybe he could even do it again, who knows?