Belgrade Grand Prix Final - Games and results

Amazing interview by Alexander Grischuk... bow down to you sir.

@Masquer He won't be written out of history, he'll be remembered as a propagandist and war criminal.

https://www.championat.com/other/news-4626621-veduschie-shahmatisty-rossii-napisali-obraschenie-k-prezidentu-rf.html
Statement of several Russian Grandmasters from this afternoon:
An appeal to President Putin to stop the war.

Feel free to spread the link.

Ingo Althoefer.

A German translation may be found at
https://de.chessbase.com/post/friedens-appell-der-russischen-schachspieler

Quite right - it is the smart thing for Russian players to simply say 'nothing'...or the brave thing (I am against war, this war, etc...). Either is fine really - I would not want to be in their shoes...because their shoes have to travel back to the motherland.

Russian chess masters could mind their own chess pieces.
Or they could in public condemn the invasion of another country.
Their choice.

Lajosarpad:" I strongly disagree with discriminating people because they happen to be Russians."

Quite right. However it is easier for the Russians, athletes and chessplayers, that those individuals are banned from playing competitions. They don’t have to give themselves dangerous interviews in the press. They don`t have to lie in interviews.

Gens una sumus! That includes Ukrainian, Russian and other chess players. I strongly disagree with discriminating people because they happen to be Russians. This war is terrible and Russia violated international law. But individuals who happen to be Russian are not responsible for his actions.

To Minnesota Fats "Or i am exagerating now?"

No, it is the most natural thing to say. The Russians have never lived in a democratic society. They have lived always in a land of Tsars. Tsar Peter the Great, Red Star Tsar Lenin the Great, Red Star Tsar Stalin the Second Greatest and Tsar Putin the Greatest (sorry Muhammad Ali). How could the Russians have been learnt anything about democracy, freedom of speech, liberty? From books, War and Peace? Russia is not any more Russia but Putinia. Old Tsar has died, long live new Tsar. Good bye Russia, welcome Putinia!

The Russians! Are you mice or men and women? Where are the great heroes of your great books? It is ok to be afraid, but now you have a chance to eternal glory and fame, like president Boris Yeltsin had and he took it. Maybe not the perfect hero but a man who is remembered in the run-down of the Soviet Union.

There is no more Russia but Putinia. There are lot of people like GM Svidler but I`m afraid it is not enough. All military men and women, all politicians, all ordninary people, all the Russians should be saying "NO", to Putin, "NO MORE". "GET A FUCK OUT FROM UKRAINE."

Piece of cake.

@genem, it's easy to give your real name when you're oozing out political correctness. Others may have a lot to fear for their differing/dissenting views.

How about you write out Karjakin out of history, like a true Orwellian in the Stalinist era ?!

There is no need to ban other Russian players from competing - it is not their fault that they happen to come from the same country as a dictator who has just launched an unprovoked attack on a neighbouring country, and the recent comments from several of them show that they are just as horrified by the invasion as the rest of the world. Karjakin is another matter; his comments are abhorrent, and he has effectively ensured that no tournament organiser or sponsor outside of Russia will ever invite him to play again. He has qualified for the Candidates, but I suspect he will be kicked out of it. It is right that they should play under a neutral flag, though - when a player in any sport is successful, a certain amount of glory rubs off on the country he represents, and no-one (except Karjakin) wants to glorify Russia now. On a different note, @Leavenfish - there is clearly no collusion among Chinese players, each of them tries his best to win regardless of the others. Wang Hao beating Ding at the last Candidates was a clear demonstration of that.

GM Peter Svidler is a great and courageous man, a great chess player, and I'm sure he will continue to have lots of fans all over the world, including in the United States where he is very popular.

"I do not agree with the war my country is waging in Ukraine. I do not believe Ukraine, or Ukrainian people, are my enemies, or anybody's enemies." -- GM Peter Svidler

Reactions against tyrants like President Putin and even Chairman Kim should always be measured. If you completely isolate their nations to the point that they don't give a ____ then it becomes more dangerous for everybody.

Sergey Karjakin's heavily biased comments on Twitter sound like those of a citizen whose country lacks a free press (twitter.com/SergeyKaryakin , Feb 28 2022). Karjakin's comments sound like those of America's disgusting Fox News (run by the Murdoch family), a right-wing opinion-soaked "news" entity that strongly supported America's outrageous 2003 war against Iraq.

Alexander Grischuk's comments expressed direct rejection of this terrible violent invasion. His words and body language radiated a deep sadness over this unproved war (youtube.com/watch?v=QFN0s53RpGY&t=260 , at the 4:20 mark). On this war of conquest against Ukraine, the contrast between Grischuk vs Karjakin is stark. [By the way, who is the interviewer who absurdly interrupted Grischuk at the 6:40 mark?]

Karjakin carefully picks which data he is willing to consider, so as to ensure the conclusion he emotionally desires. His comments show no attempt to balance the enormous evil of Russia's actions in Ukraine against the relatively tiny injustices he chooses to believe in and cite.

Yet Karjakin has traveled the world outside of Russia like few Russians ever can, and Karjakin has had ample opportunity to pay unbiased attention to the larger world beyond Putin's controlled state media. For his comments and attitude, Karjakin lacks the excuse that his non-traveling countrymen could at least attempt as an excuse.

I am well aware of the water crisis in captured Crimea, which Russia must solve if it is to retain its hold on Crimea. I am aware that after 2014 Ukraine diverted water that used to flow through mainland Ukraine into Ukrainian Crimea. If Karjakin had an intelligent assessment of Russian aggression, he would have tweeted about something substantial like this water problem.

Also, most posters in this Comments section hide their real name, even when they criticize other people. Such name hiding seems ethically dubious. My name is Gene Milener, and I live near Seattle WA USA.

Yeah, it's definitely the war elephant in the room. No, it is not politics. I'm glad Ian Nepo... was solemn on the matter of 'war'. And I read a quote from 19 yo Russian chess player, Esipenko: “I really hoped for a peaceful solution to the situation... It’s terrible to realize that all this is happening...” As a fan, it would be difficult for me to like any player that expressed anything but sadness at what is going on. It feels senseless.

Do you know what is so bizar? Most Russian oppose to the war now...but are also some months ago proud to be a Russian. Isn't this contradictorary?
It is like they have no self opinion but a group opinion to adhere to? Or they are all silenced because they are afraid to oppose the regime? And will be in prison locked like most opponents of Putin ..like the Gulaghs...?

To me the most superficial people last years were Russians, as they were afraid of the regime. Just like Chinese .. to say something that doesn't agree with the government...they are like so soulless people...

Or i am exagerating now?

OK, Karjakin's attitude is a shocker. Maybe not for life but at least for a few years he will not be invited to major tournaments - I wonder if he's aware of that, while boxing in Dubai...

But I didn't know that Grischuk declared that about Stalin. I did read some interviews of him in the past years where he defended Russia and I think even USSR on debatable matters, and if I remember well he also sided a bit with Putin on one or two occasions. Fortunately though (for his image and career), he managed to distance himself from Putin's horrible deeds this time. Also Svidler made a similar declaration.

I think people (in sports, or whatever international events), if considered individually, should be treated according to their expressed opinions on this exceptional issue, and not have to suffer because of the actions of a dictator he disagrees with.

Good on Giri for that win against Vitiugov! He played like young Alekhine, or somebody!

Russia is no longer a part of the sporting world.

That's a fact of life. The immediate cause is war. Yesterday, they bombed at least 2 different holocaust memorials, both with civilian casualties. They bombed the children's cancer hospital in Obolon. They've bombed childrens hospitals all over the country. When their paratroopers landed in Kharkiv yesterday, what did they attack? A hospital. They also demolished an art gallery. Today they bombed the civilian rail station in Kyiv, where people were trying to flee the bombardment; this after telling civilians to flee the city! In Enehodar today, they attacked civilians with machine guns and grenade launchers. I've seen the video of this horrific attack. It is a war crime in Europe, in the style of WWII war crimes. It will not be quickly forgotten.

In sport, we've seen decades of doping, bribery for higher scores, strategic team-work in "individual" events, etc., etc., etc., nearly without end. They were already not allowed to compete under their own flag, because it was a flag of cheating.

Russia is no longer a part of the sporting world. This is not a proposal, or an idea. It is a fact. They are not part of the family of nations that come together for chess, or for any other sporting activity. To include supporters of war criminals at the board would not leave the game "noble" at all, in any way. Players who feel they are affected unjustly should move to a country that isn't committing war crimes, and compete under that flag.

Karawhateverkin will never play in a major international tournament again; he is more likely to end up in The Hague as a war propagandist defending war crimes against the nation of his birth.

Russians get home

@ s8977. It's not 'politics', it's WAR. It's also the elephant in the room...you simply can't ignore it.

No Wesley So in this event? maybe he's in the 3rd one

The player Kariakin as well as commentator Shipov clearly side with the Russian government and this at a time when the FiDE under the leadership of the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich had already returned the Olympics from Moscow.
Kariakin's comments are very objectionable but it proves the well-known wisdom that excellence in chess can be a one-sided form of intelligence. Or to put it another way: While mathematical geniuses are usually good at chess, chess geniuses can be astonishingly unfit for life.
Kariakin is the example that proves this thesis.

One might have thought Yu Yangyi (not quite the same level as Ding Liren) might have 'stepped aside' ala Pal Benko doing so for Fischer. But no...

Who cares about politics? I'm here for Chess!

Not seeing much of a path for Ding Liren to make it into the Candidates. Plenty else to worry about in the world today, but that saddens me.

Looks like Chess.com decided to remove it.

Adressed to FIDE (and "others"): "Quo vadis" - why not strictly follow international skating federation,
World Rugby, finally, IOC, FIFA and UEFA?

I'm okay with the Russian flag remaining. Not everything has to take politics into consideration.

Can you remove the Russian flag from broadcast?