Waiting for Godot

A minor Ukrainian Grandmaster, Andrey Vadimovich Baryshpolets, has advanced his candidacy to the post of FIDE President, in an attempt, whether seriously or not, to set a challenge to incumbent Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich. On the wings of enthusiasm Danish Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen, also known as the coach of 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, announced that he will run as Baryshpolets’ Deputy. The apparent naïvety of their electoral programme is in itself a manifesto for captatio benevolentiae, if not for change. So, the question arises, who would Carlsen vote for?

Last Christmas

If nothing else, in his bid for reelection for FIDE Presidency, incumbent Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich can rely on the vote of his own federation, just as the President of Chess Federation of Russia, Andrey Vasilievich Filatov, told TASS on Thursday. “The discussion of the candidacy for the 2022 FIDE Presidential elections took place at the Supervisory Board of the Chess Federation of Russia on December 17, 2021. As an outcome of the discussion, the Supervisory Board unanimously backed Dvorkovich’s candidacy with a marginalia reading ‘if he decides to run’. Members of the Supervisory Board noted the high quality of the work carried out by the International Chess Federation in 2018–2021, as well as a qualitatively new level of competitions and interaction between FIDE and the Chess Federation of Russia”, Filatov declared. “Today, as soon as Arkady Vladimirovich announced his readiness to go to the 2022 elections, the Chess Federation of Russia backed his candidacy, wishing him victory and success. The development of chess in all its diversity is our common cause”.

Gotta Move On

12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov welcomed the decision of incumbent FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich to run for reelection. “Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich has already put forward his candidacy. He did the right thing”, Karpov said, as quoted by RBC. “I do not understand why he shouldn’t participate in the election. It is clear that European countries won’t back him, America won’t back him, but the International Chess Federation comprises 191 countries. In order to win one must get somewhere around 97 votes. It is not known who will be his opponent. But if we talk about the situation, then somehow we believe that Russia is isolated. I can’t agree with that. Ya gotta try”.

A Passage to India

In spite of the many oppositions, FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich was reported by Sport-Express as feeling quite optimistic over his chances to be reelected for a second term. In an official statement to ChessBase India, Dvorkovich said he will make public the details of his electoral program in the very near future, anticipating, however, that, in case of his victory, 15th World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand will be named his Deputy, Jøran Aulin-Jansson from Norway and Mahir Alasgar Mammadov from Azerbaijan will be appointed as Vice Presidents, and 9th Women’s World Chess Champion 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) from China will be confirmed as Treasurer.

Bees and Honey

Today (May 8), the International Chess Federation (FIDE) officially opened the call for candidates in the presidential elections which will be held concurrently to FIDE Congress in Chennai, India, July 31–August 9, 2022. Togo’s Enyonam Sewa Fumey and incumbent Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich are so far the only candidates who have declared their intent to run for Presidency. So, who else will join them?