FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich speaks out against the war in Ukraine

by ChessBase
3/15/2022 – The American magazine "Mother Jones", seven times winner of the "Magazine of the Year" award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, just published interviews with 36 prominent personalities from the world of chess about the war in Ukraine. One of them is FIDE President and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who spoke out against the war: "My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians. ... Wars do not just kill priceless lives. Wars kill hopes and aspirations, freeze or destroy relationships and connections." | Photo: David Llada

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From "Mother Jones"

Exclusive: Former Top Kremlin Official Who Chairs Global Chess Federation Decries Russia’s War on Ukraine

"My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians," says Arkady Dvorkovich.

Two weeks ago, the world’s top chess authorities voted to sharply rebuke Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The unanimous decision by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to ban Russians from competing under their own flag, and strip the country of the Chess Olympiad slated for Moscow this summer, is extraordinary not just because it sidelines Russia from the game it had dominated for half a century, but because of who joined the chess world in repudiating Russia: former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

In an interview with Mother Jones, Dvorkovich, who is now president of FIDE, voiced his opposition to the war, becoming one of the very few, or only, former senior Kremlin officials to openly criticize it. "Wars are the worst things one might face in life…including this war," Dvorkovich tells me from Russia, where he says he is "safe with my family and friends."

Dvorkovich, who served at the Kremlin for 10 years, joins scores of chess leaders in decrying Vladimir Putin’s invasion. "My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians," Dvorkovich tells me. "Wars do not just kill priceless lives. Wars kill hopes and aspirations, freeze or destroy relationships and connections."

Read the full article and interviews with 36 top chess personalities at Mother Jones...

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siciliov siciliov 4/24/2022 04:32
I wish there was a Solidarity match for Palestine!
Pionki Pionki 3/23/2022 06:49
He will resign. It will take him and FIDE some time, though.
Quanber Quanber 3/19/2022 02:49
News for today :
Arkady Dvorkovich has been removed from office by Nazi Putin as chairman of a fund for innovation and technology - the Skolkovo Foundation. His desire for peace in Ukraine has been called national treason by Russia's Secretary General Andrei Turchak and Nazi Putin.

In addition to his position in the Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich is a former Deputy Prime Minister, and he was also financial adviser to former President Dmitry Medvedev from 2012 to 2018. Thus, he is one of the few former Kremlin top officials to openly criticize the invasion and war in Ukraine.

Nazi Putin does not tolerate any other opinion. He has killed thousands of prominent citizens of Russia who have had a different opinion. So a good piece of advice for Arkady Dvorkovich is to look to get away from Russia now.

Nazi Putin is also responsible for all criminal acts against Russians in Ukraine. It is he who has ordered Russians shot in the Donbass to create a popular mood in Russia facing Ukraine. That method he has used hundreds of times before when he has to create a popular mood.
ChessTalk ChessTalk 3/19/2022 02:39
@michael Jones, I love your post on many levels. But it's also true that the FIDE president must represent chess and that means the Ukrainian chess players and international concerns. He's an international arbiter, not a Russian pawn. Perhaps Russia will punish him in some financial way. So he is brave. He cae through on behalf of players like Ponomariov and didn't cave to putin.. I hope people appreciate him the way you do and I do. I hope stays the course.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 3/18/2022 01:20
@Leavenfish I did not cite numbers regarding Iraq. Are you sure you wanted to address me in your response?
arzi arzi 3/18/2022 09:07
chessdrummer:"They won't institute a 'no-fly' zone. It is quite a revelation. The west only fight fights that are easy wins. Ironically, they actually emboldened Russia to settle their scores in the same way."

Really? If they, our "west" guys Nato, send troops, airplanes, tanks to Ukraine, it means a real war between "west" and "east". That war may escalate even to WW 3, with nukes. So chessdrummer, why don´t you pray with us that will not happen, because then even you have some issues to fix and bunkers to look for.
chessdrummer chessdrummer 3/18/2022 03:35
So many misstatements here on both sides. Iraq invasion 2003-2013 was catastrophic and was based on false pretenses and killed about 250,000 with over 1,000,000 casualties/injuries. There was more than Saddam Hussein, but here is the real question. Why is it fine for the West to militarily engage Iraq, Libya, Somalia, and Syria (smaller countries) dropping bombs and putting "skin in the game" with boots on the ground, but they won't engage Russia? They send artillery and serve as cheerleaders to a hobbled Ukraine. They won't institute a 'no-fly' zone. It is quite a revelation. The west only fight fights that are easy wins. Ironically, they actually emboldened Russia to settle their scores in the same way.
robinh00d robinh00d 3/18/2022 01:01
Just saying that you are for peace and against war... sounds very poor
and a bad loser excuse, considering his status as a deputy in russian
parliament. Another case of whataboutism (read the letter).
robinh00d robinh00d 3/18/2022 12:35
Words, surely, don´t come easily, speak for themselves:

Europe Echecs @EuropeEchecs - 16 de mar Georges Bertola, rédacteur en chef d'Europe Échecs,
avait écrit sur notre site que Karpov était "complice de cette agression" (l’invasion de l’#Ukraine).

Droit de réponse [in the free world] du 12e champion du monde Anatoly Karpov au rédacteur
en chef d'Europe-Echecs, Georges Bertola:
"(...)
Les questions d'application des forces armées relèvent de la responsabilité d'autres niveaux
de pouvoir : Le Conseil de la Fédération (Sénat), le Conseil de sécurité, le Président de
la Fédération de Russie.
Je n'ai pas voté en faveur de la guerre comme vous l'affirmez, C'EST UN MENSONGE.
(...)"
https://www.europe-echecs.com/art/guerre-en-ukraine-8748.html
klklkl klklkl 3/17/2022 08:53
@Leavenfish, you are right, but you can't easily wave away that counterpoint as 'whataboutism'. What's happening now is actually something opponents of the Iraq & Libyan wars warned about 10 & 20 years ago: if the west ignored international norms to invade / attack, what was stopping their rivals doing the same? & in that case where would the west's authority come from in opposing them? Russia's invasion & belligerence is despicable; if only our leaders (ie in the west) could denounce it unhypocritcally.
Leavenfish Leavenfish 3/17/2022 05:02
@lajosarpad - why must you engage in 'whataboutisms'?? That is just plain sophomoric arguing...which serves in the end to only deflect from the issue at hand.

The numbers you cite about Iraq - you should actually read that article! It is ONE polling group saying this and based on extrapolating from a small group...and even they had to revise the number down by some 200,000. Others say far less. Even then, the US did not kill everyone. You should read more about the Shia and Sunni conflicts there...some stoked by Iran. Pretty ugly struggle for power.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 3/17/2022 12:25
Dvorkovich was brave to speak up against the invasion and deserves utmost respect for it.

@polecateddy unfortunately I do not understand Russian articles.

My position is that Russia commits war crimes and I denounce them. Also, the USA committed war crimes as well and I denounce them too.

@Quanber IP addresses can be tracked by any sites, Russian or non-Russian. If you are afraid about this, you can use a proxy server to visit sites you are afraid to visit and then the proxy server's IP address will be seen by the sites you visit. Calling others names here and bashing them is not a civilized conduct.
arzi arzi 3/17/2022 10:42
Gerald C:"And what has to say A. Karpov, ex world champion and active politician of the Douma ?"

As long as there is Putin in power A. Karpov will probably be silent from a health point of view of his own?
Gerald C Gerald C 3/17/2022 09:44
And what has to say A. Karpov, ex world champion and active politician of the Douma ?
polecateddy polecateddy 3/17/2022 08:39
As I said down the thread he very quickly changed to a pro Putin stance literally the next day; http://chess-news.ru/node/28842
arzi arzi 3/17/2022 06:23
oxygenes:"@chessgodo, Greeneyed used similar technique like arzi."

Is it winning technique? Is Russia losing the war? Poor Putin, everyone is betraying him, even the close rich friends.
Michael Jones Michael Jones 3/17/2022 05:03
The reason Dvorkovich is speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine in particular, and that the media consider it to be newsworthy, is that he was formerly a senior member of the Russian government. Is that not obvious? There is no reason he should be commenting on other wars. It would be equally newsworthy if an official of the Israeli government criticised the atrocities which it has committed in Palestine, or an official of the US or UK government spoke out against the invasion of Iraq - which some of them did: there were senior military officers who advised against the war, at least four US diplomats resigned because of it, as did Robin Cook, a UK government minister. The big difference between the two cases is that people in the US and UK are free to criticise without being imprisoned for it - Russia has a track record of cracking down on opposition and has arrested many anti-war protesters. Dvorkovich should be praised for taking a stand, not faced with people complaining that he hasn't also condemned other wars.
oxygenes oxygenes 3/17/2022 12:59
@chessgodo
Greeneyed used similar technique like arzi.
But real danger is here.
https://youtu.be/RM0uvgHKZe8
Mamack1 Mamack1 3/17/2022 12:53
The Iraq war went on (way or another) for decades, this one is now reaching three weeks.

Your inability to grasp this very basic concept frankly makes the rest of your output disposable.
Quanber Quanber 3/17/2022 12:31
Here's what the lie factory chessgod0 actually wrote (just scroll down a bit here):

"The 2003 Iraq invasion was far, far worse than what Putin is doing in Ukraine and it caused a great many more deaths"

Later lie factory chessgod0 intimidate greeneyed and writes

And now here is what I actually said: "The 2003 Iraq War ultimately killed 1 million Iraqis. Putin's war on Ukraine has killed thousands. Both are horrible crimes against humanity but the Iraq war is quantifiably worse."

Try to compare the two quotes. Then everyone can see which lie factory chessgod0 is. He actually writes that what Putin is doing is not as bad as what the United States did in the Iraq war. He compares how bad the two wars are based on the numbers of dead. Where one war has so far lasted for 3 weeks and the other lasted for 10 years if you go up to the number og dead chessgod0 mention.

Everything chessgod0 writes is lies and deception. Terrorism. It is Saddam Hussein who is to blame for the deaths in Iraq and not primarily the United States. And you can not compare a war that has lasted 3 weeks with a war that lasted for 10 years. What idiotic name, by the way, does he think he is god?
Quanber Quanber 3/16/2022 11:57
Chessgood0 constantly manipulate with numbers. The Health Ministry of the Iraqi government recorded 87,215 Iraqi violent deaths between January 1, 2005, and February 28, 2009.. That is 4 years

For the moment the war in Ukraine has lasted 3 weeks and 14.000 has been killed. If it continue 4 years the number can be extrapolated to (14.000 /3)(5)2(4)= 970.668 .

Because chessgodO completely ignore the time factor he can come up with the idiotic conclusion that the Iraq war was quantifiably worse. He lie and cheat this way all the time. Moreover, only a moron would decribe crimes against humanity as worse or lesser worse given the number of casulties. Hateful terrorism.
Quanber Quanber 3/16/2022 11:56
3 million people from Ukraine is on the run as refugee´s within 3 weeks of war. This nummer is 1000 times above the number in Iraq within the first 3 weeks, and tells how terrible this war is. Russia try to bomb Ukraine to submisison and clear the country so people from Russian can move in.
Quanber Quanber 3/16/2022 11:26
In the debate here,some ( examples WillScarlett, chessgodO) often use the method of referring to particular link that is alleged to document or elaborate on his content-reading views. The link has often nothing to do with the subject, it is pure Russian propaganda aimed at intimidating the West.

All the criminal war crimes Putin and his bandits have caused are reversed and the West blames them. So when the Russians have killed 100 children in Ukraine, reference is made to a link that "documents" that, conversely, it is the Americans who kill children.

I would like to strongly warn against clicking on these links. My research shows that most contain malware, program snippets that identify the user's IP address. . Which can be particularly worrying because the Russian security service is actively persecuting people who criticize Russia. Therefore, do not click on a link.
chessgod0 chessgod0 3/16/2022 09:07
@greeneyed

Here is what you said I said: "Iraq War killed 1 million Iraqis, THEN it is justified to kill thousands in Ukraine"

And now here is what I actually said: "The 2003 Iraq War ultimately killed 1 million Iraqis. Putin's war on Ukraine has killed thousands. Both are horrible crimes against humanity but the Iraq war is quantifiably worse."

Are you illiterate? Or just dishonest? Because dishonest, angry & illiterate is no way to behave on the internet.
greeneyed greeneyed 3/16/2022 08:43
A stupid reasoning: Iraq War killed 1 million Iraqis, THEN it is justified to kill thousands in Ukraine. chessgodo you need help!
chessgod0 chessgod0 3/16/2022 05:31
@Mamack1

The 2003 Iraq War ultimately killed 1 million Iraqis. Putin's war on Ukraine has killed thousands. Both are horrible crimes against humanity but the Iraq war is quantifiably worse. It's just math (unless human lives lost don't matter to you).

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-deaths-survey-idUSL3048857920080130
polecateddy polecateddy 3/16/2022 05:09
Why this war is different? Try this article; https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/briefing/ukraine-russia-war-pax-americana.html
Mamack1 Mamack1 3/16/2022 04:55
Please quantify exactly how the Iraq War - which I opposed at the time and still do - was "far worse" than what Putin is doing now. Russia's president has said Ukraine has no right to exist - did GWB ever say that about Iraq?
Quanber Quanber 3/16/2022 03:06
chessgod0 not for a second are you able to relate to the war in Ukraine. Not for a scond can you feeel sorry for the people in Ukraine.

And you wonder why Palestine never got a country ? I tell you why. It is because people like you are unable to feel any empathy with other people. Its all about me,me,me,me,me,me....go to h.... with all your lies and hate.
arzi arzi 3/16/2022 01:16
chessgodo:"You guys are complete hypocrites and should be ashamed of yourselves."

Oh no, we all? I`m happy that you are guiding us, all.
chessgod0 chessgod0 3/16/2022 12:59
@Leavenfish, Mamack1

It has been well-documented by multiple news sources that the US caused the deaths of 1 million Iraqis between 2003-2008. I will provide one source here and you can google dozens more for yourself:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-deaths-survey-idUSL3048857920080130

It does not matter what your opinions are on this because it is well-documented fact and has been for a very long time now.

The 2003 Iraq invasion was far, far worse than what Putin is doing in Ukraine and it caused a great many more deaths---it does not matter what the US intended to do.

You guys are complete hypocrites and should be ashamed of yourselves.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 3/16/2022 10:05
It's good that Dvorkovich stood up against the war and it is even more important that he is a Russian. I would not expect him to speak up against all the problems of this world, but it is good to see he has spoken up against this one.

As about coercing Russians to have a certain opinion, like the ECU does is something I still cannot agree with.

Let's pressurize Russia with whatever means we can, as long as we do not start discriminating Russians.

@chessgod0 agreed, double-standards are applied.
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 3/16/2022 09:24
Mamack, I'm still interested in your source about Dvorkovich backtracking.
Quanber Quanber 3/16/2022 06:18
Arkady Dvorkovich takes a bold step and speaks out against the war in Ukraine.

After which chessgod0 once again demands that we talk about something completely different. It's the same manipulation every time. Yes, the war is bad in Ukraine. But now you have to hear about something that is much worse. After which he demands that we relate to his undocumented stories of a 30-year-old war that was only started because Saddam Hussein was invading Kuwait.

Siciliov goes even further back and complains that the West has been silent for 74 years around Palestine. That is not right either, and no one can resolve this conflict because the demand from Palestine is that Israel should be removed from the map. They want to solve a wrong decision with a wrong decision so we can start all over.

The exercise is always the same as the right-wing circles in the United States. Yes, it was bad with this school shooting. But now you have to hear about something completely different that is really bad. Manipulations and skipping actions.

The sympathy would certainly be greater if not chessgodO and siciliov are so noisily silent about other wars, with far more fallen. No, it's just their little corner that's interesting. This thread is about Ukraine. Take and relate to this, and show empathy for the citizens of Ukraine.
Leavenfish Leavenfish 3/16/2022 01:56
@chessgod0...you need to read a history book, man! "The American's killed 1 million people in Iraq from 2003 to 2008" Such a lie loudly says 'buyer beware' to anyone who would listen to anything that comes out of your mouth.

Beyond that, 'Whataboutism' is for people who have nothing to say... but just can't help themselves. Such is the age in which we live.
Mamack1 Mamack1 3/15/2022 11:55
Iraq was bad, Ukraine is worse.

The US never intended to actually annex Iraq, did they?
manu1945 manu1945 3/15/2022 10:43
Nothing has changed , big powers rolling the tanks on smaller countries is nothing new.
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 3/15/2022 09:36
Mamack1,
Interesting. Sources?
chessgod0 chessgod0 3/15/2022 09:21
There is no justification for what Putin doing in Ukraine. But the Americans killed 1 million people in Iraq from 2003-2008 and the perpatrators are still walking around as free man...but no one is saying that top American players or head of US Chess federation should make a statement about this or resign his position. Too much hypocrisy for my tastes.
JanneKejo JanneKejo 3/15/2022 09:16
"Wars are the worst things one might face in life…"

Really? Is it so difficult to understand that sometimes "peace" is worse to face? Do people really believe that wars are started just for fun?