The news made it to the mainstream media, for no small reason, as the venerable British newspaper and site, The Telegraph, reported in detail on the forthcoming vote by FIDE to try to overturn the ban. Among the many obvious consequences and sanctions incurred by the invasion in Ukraine was the ban by the IOC to athletes in events under its auspices. It was not a ban on the athletes themselves, unless they were so unwise as to public declare support of the military attack, but on the flag they would be proposing to represent and honor with their participation and potential victories. It is therefore no coincidence that not only were there no Russian teams in the Paris Olympics, but nor were there any athletes under the flag as well. 

This had a similar effect in chess, whereby FIDE, following the lead and guidelines of the IOC, imposed similar restrictions on players. It is no coincidence that in the current Chess Olympiad in Budapest there are no Russian teams, but that because of the sheer length of the conflict, professionals have left their former country to play under a different flag. Unsurprisingly, a large number of countries now feature talented Russian expats in their team lineups. For example, Vladimir Fedoseev stars in Slovenia, Nikita Vitiugov plays for England, Sanan Sjugirov bolsters Hungary, and Alexandra Kosteniuk represents Switzerland.

Needless to say, overturning the IOC ban is impossible, so Russia has begun a new campaign to circumvent some of the sanctions with Kyrgyzstan proposing a vote in the forthcoming General Assembly on September 22 to overturn the ban on Russian teams.

As reported by The Telegraph:

Malcolm Pein, the English Chess Federation’s delegate, told The Telegraph: “It’s clear that Kyrgyzstan is just a proxy for Russia in this instance, and they are clearly aligned with Russia.

“This can be discerned from the sudden colossal increase in trade between Western countries in Kyrgyzstan that started once sanctions were imposed, and clearly shows that a lot of sanctions busting is going on through the country as well.”

Mr Pein warned if the motion passes ”there’s a danger that chess will become a pariah in world sport.”

It is worth adding that neither Ukraine nor Russia are taking the matter of the chess ban lightly. An estimated 21 Ukrainian chess players have died directly from the conflict.

Chess is seen as so important to Russian pride that Volodymyr Zelensky intervened. Last month he tasked Alexander Kamyshin, the former Minister of Strategic Industries, to take up the fight as his national federation’s new president.

Mr Kamyshin cast the ongoing struggle to control chess as a “challenging and important battle on the international front”.

While it might seem as if such a vote would easily be blocked by the overwhelming number of nations in Europe and elsewhere to veto the very idea, the reality is altogether different.

Kyrgyzstan is expected to get widespread support in the FIDE congress vote scheduled for September 22. Under FIDE’s one-member-one-vote system, small federations – in some cases made up of a handful of members – are given equal sway with larger members like the U.S. and Germany.

Click here for the full article in The Telegraph