Moscow advances its pawns on the chessboard of sport and culture – Libération

The International Chess Federation plans to reintegrate Russia, excluded in 2022, this Sunday, September 22 in Budapest. The Ukrainians, in counterattack, denounce a return of soft power in major sporting and cultural events.

Insiders call it a blitz. It did not take more than a few days, after the closing of the Paris Games, for the International Chess Federation (Fide), although associated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to go on the attack to try to make return to its fold the Russian Chess Federation. The latter was sanctioned in 2022, and temporarily excluded from the international organization, following the invasion of Ukraine and the organization of tournaments in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. But through a behind-the-scenes legal combination, Fide is preparing to reintegrate the Russians this Sunday, during a general assembly to be held in Budapest.

The agenda of the General Assembly, in the lands of Viktor Orbán, Putin’s strategic pawn in the European game, could not be clearer: “restore full rights to the national chess federations of Russia and Belarus”so that they can participate in national competitions under their flags and to the sound of their anthems. Fide would also consider once again allowing Russia and Belarus to host international chess tournaments, as the Russians have organized more than 2,600 events in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea over the past two years, while striving to integrate players from the occupied Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

In Kyiv, the matter is taken very seriously and heavyweights are stepping up to the plate. Notably Oleksandr Kamyshin, special advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky for strategic industries, and president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation. “This is a difficult and important battle, comments Kamyshin, a trusted man of the Ukrainian president, who will be present in Budapest to counter the maneuver. Russian and Belarusian flags have no place in tournaments, the Russian anthem has no right to be played in the free world and no self-respecting player who values ​​his reputation will travel to a country that kills civilians from another country every day.”

“This flag represents tyranny”

Civilians, but also athletes. According to the Ukrainian Sports Ministry, more than 500 top Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed in the war, including 21 top chess players, with two others missing. Legend of the discipline, world champion Garry Kasparov was moved: “I was proud to play under the new Russian flag [après la chute de l’URSS]but today this flag represents tyranny and murderhe writes on the X network. We must fight attempts to normalize Russia’s image. The possibility of a few Russians pursuing an activity, even one that I love so much, cannot be put above the blood of Ukrainians.”

The matter is of course eminently political. And for good reason, Fide, which calls for the reintegration of the Russian Federation, is itself… chaired by a Russian, Arkadi Dvorkovich, with a unique CV: former deputy prime minister of Vladimir Putin. The latter only received one “reprimand” in 2022. Which did not prevent him from participating in public in events of the Russian Chess Federation, of which Sergei Shoigu, targeted by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, all these little people loving to meet under the stucco of the famous Chess Central, on Gogol Boulevard in Moscow.

“Nothing has changed”

On September 12, the appeals chamber of the Fide Ethics and Disciplinary Commission published a document canceling the sanctions against the Russian Chess Federation, and against Dvorkovich, with the Kyrgyz Federation rushing to officially request the pure and simple reintegration of Russia into Fide, which would be a precedent in the world of sport since 2022. On the Ukrainian side, they are preparing their weapons. “Our position is as follows: if these sanctions were taken because the war began and it continues, nothing has changed today to modify this initial position,” said Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

While we have recently observed attempts at a surreptitious return of Russia in several institutions in the world of sport and culture, notably international film festivals, such as the Venice Film Festival or the Toronto Tiff, several officials Ukrainian governments have asked Fide to reconsider its agenda. “If this appeal is ignored, this will constitute a sufficient basis to consider sanctions against the President of the International Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich, and we will address our partners on this matter,” warned Heorhii Tykhyi. Thursday in Budapest, the world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, received the Fide prize for the best chess player of the last 100 years, presented by… Arkadi Dvorkovich. Under the eyes of the latter and in front of the assembly, he took the opportunity to speak out “against the reinstatement of the chess federations of Russia and Belarus”.