Eurasia on the Edge

12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is careful to dissociate himself from the Chess Federation of Russia’s resolution to shift from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation, but it’s not what one might think of as a geographical prejudice. He simply argues, with a maximalism not absolute, that Russia, because of its particular position on the map, should belong to both the continents. “We’ve been in the European Union since joining the FIDE (International Chess Federation) — this happened immediately after the war. And for some reason everyone forgot that most of our country’s territory is located on the Asian continent. I think that we should have remained in the European Union and joined the Asian Federation. There is no ban on it anywhere”, Karpov said to a RIA Novosti correspondent.

俄罗斯国际象棋联合会 (Chess Federation of Russia)

Today, Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in the presence of FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich and Chess Federation of Russia President Andrey Vasilievich Filatov (both pictured above), the Continental Assembly of the Asian Chess Federation held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, has voted by large majority in favour of the Chess Federation of Russia’s joining the Asian Chess Federation, thus marking an epochal shift in the history of the royal game. The passage will take effect on May 1, 2023. In thanking the delegates for their trust, Filatov said: “I hope for further fruitful cooperation and participation of Russian teams in the continental championship and for holding of Asian competitions in Russia, which has many times successfully held tournaments at the highest level and has all the associated infrastructure”. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Chess Federation of Russia.

Geography in a Time of War

On April 14, 2022, the Supervisory Board of Chess Federation of Russia unanimously voted to switch the Chess Federation of Russia’s membership from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation — a no-return move aimed at breaking up the conventio ad excludendum against Russia. As has now been reported, the application will be taken into account in the first quarter of 2023. It should be stressed that for most Russian Grandmasters the Chess Federation of Russia’s change of continent is the only alternative to a personal change of sporting nationality. Speaking with the TASS correspondents, Russian Grandmaster Alexander Igorevich Grischuk very prudently said that “The matter is difficult, because no one knows what and how will happen in the world. In the short run, that is good, at least for chess. I don’t know about football. But in the long run, it’s difficult to predict — even for chess”.

Sewing the Rainbow

In the aftermath of his electoral victory, Andrey Vasilievich Filatov gave a long interview to Danila Borisovich Zhilyaev of Gazeta.Ru, in which he spoke about many hot topics such as the sporting bans on Russia that, in fact, preclude any national team from entering international team competitions. This is surely a sore point, but Filatov can at least console himself with the fact that the International Chess Federation (FIDE), despite the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), still enables Russian players to individually enter international tournaments around the world, provided they do it under FIDE flag — a compromise which probably averted a mass exodus of Russian chess pros to other federations. When asked to guess when, and if, peace and brotherhood would prevail over base instincts, Filatov replied: “Everyone has to do their job — we do ours. Our task is first to enter into the Asian family. Then we’ll raise the question of how to fully participate in competitions with our coat of arms, our anthem and our flag. This is the path we are on. For now, the main issue, our goal, is that there should be no discrimination against children, veterans and disabled players. Next, we’ll take care of the national team. We’ll get everything back, we will fly our flag”.

Once Upon Another Time

The incumbent Andrey Vasilievich Filatov was re-elected for a third term as President of the Chess Federation of Russia on Saturday at 15th CFR Congress in Moscow, Russia. He secured 58 votes against 7 for the only other candidate, Russian Grandmaster Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, with two votes invalid. The Congress then named and appointed 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov as Honorary President of the Chess Federation of Russia. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili and Vladimir Leonidovich Barsky.

Heart of the Brush

12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov dismissed the declarations of 8th State Duma deputy Roman Igorevich Teryushkov equating the change of sports citizenship with treason as fatally anachronistic. “I think such an idea goes back to the Stalin era or the Middle Ages. Does he want to take away from people the freedom to choice? That is a Stalinist repression”, Karpov told RBC. “No, I never thought of leaving the country, but nevertheless there are people who believe their best interests are served in another country. We cannot paint everyone with the same brush”.

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?

Socratic Circles

The banned Russian Grandmaster Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin has vehemently attacked the top officials of Chess Federation of Russia, including its President Andrey Vasilievich Filatov, for the lack of support they gave to the needs of the national chess élites. His resentment is undoubtedly increased by the cynicism with which his bosses sacrificed him on the altar of the “real-politik” of times of war, but his vision of how the Chess Federation of Russia should be run is not only a matter of vengeance. And thus, “After much thought and deliberation, I found who I think can be the ideal candidate for the post of President of the Chess Federation of Russia — it is Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov!”, Karjakin said through his Telegram account. And Karpov is, it might be said, a heavy candidate, though perhaps not the most welcome one for wide-scale communities — not necessarily for demerit of his own.

The East in the West

President of Chess Federation of Russia, Andrey Vasilievich Filatov, expressed full satisfaction at the unanimous vote by the Supervisory Board on his proposal to transfer the Chess Federation of Russia’s membership from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation. “We noted that not one single important competition has ever been held in Russia in 30 years. Now chess life has just come back to Asia, and our future is there. We technically agreed on the membership switch issue. The Asian Chess Federation’s Assembly will vote in favour of our joining in the very near future”, Filatov told Матч ТВ (Match TV). “It would be great if all companies operating in the sports sector, especially small and medium-sized businesses, were exempt from taxes”.

Asian Odyssey

On April 14, 2022, the Supervisory Board of Chess Federation of Russia unanimously voted in favour of the switch of the Chess Federation of Russia from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation. The transfer procedure will be initiated immediately, and it will take all the time it needs, for, as Albert Azarapetovich Stepanyan, one of the members of the Board, said to Матч ТВ (Match TV), “We still do not know what the deadlines are. I do not remember such a case before”.

A Spell is Cast

Russian Grandmaster Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin — the banned man — also commented on the eventual switch of the Chess Federation of Russia from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation. “That’s a great idea! I feel positive about it, and I think it’s right. I welcome such a decision. The European Chess Union is treating us quite badly, so such a measure is justified. It is very important not to hold on to Europe, because our allies are not in Europe, but in other countries”, Karjakin told Metaratings. “I don’t think there are fewer prospects in Asia than in Europe. There are also a lot of chess countries in Asia. In Europe, we are allowed to play only on individual terms and under a neutral flag. With such an attitude, I think, it is better not to play than play under such conditions”.

Nowhere Somewhere

Russian Grandmaster Alexander Igorevich Grischuk commented on the news that the Supervisory Board of Chess Federation of Russia will submit to a vote the switch of the Chess Federation of Russia from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation. “That is a quite inevitable outcome, everything points in that direction. It is clear that chess in Europe is on a slightly higher level than in Asia, but nowadays, China, India and Uzbekistan are in the élite group. Twenty years ago there was much difference of class, now it is not that much. On the other hand we need to be somewhere where we are allowed to play and compete”, Grischuk said, as quoted by Metaratings. “Surely some will think about changing sporting nationality. Well, that is a personal matter for each individual — as for me, I’m not going to change sporting nationality”.

俄国际象棋联合会 (Федерация шахмат России)

“A meeting of the Supervisory Board of Chess Federation of Russia is to be held on Tuesday”, Albert Azarapetovich Stepanyan — one of its members — told Матч ТВ (Match TV) on Monday. The issue on the agenda (to be submitted to a vote) is a big one: that is, to switch the membership of Chess Federation of Russia from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation. “The initiative comes from the Chess Federation of Russia, namely from its President Andrey Vasilievich Filatov”, Stepanyan said.