Under the headline "Exposed: The links between world chess and Russia's war machine," Ukrainian sports journalist Daria Meshcheriakova reports on Russia's ties to the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the international chess scene, and the methods Russia and Putin use to exploit chess and chess tournaments to further their political goals.
Born in Crimea and later emigrating to Russia, Sergey Karjakin is a staunch supporter of Putin's United Russia party and, among all Russian chess grandmasters, the biggest propagandist for Russian policy in the occupied Ukrainian territories. On his social media channels, Karjakin shows himself bringing weapons to Russian troops on the front line. After beginning his activities, he was suspended for six months in 2022 and was unable to participate in the Candidates Tournament in Madrid. However, Karjakin's continued activities were not further sanctioned by FIDE. This was particularly criticised by Peter Heine Nielsen, Danish grandmaster and coach of Magnus Carlsen. Nielsen is married to Lithuanian politician Viktorija Cmilyte and is a particularly critical observer of Russian politics and Russian influence in FIDE.
Nielsen called for a longer ban for Karjakin. However, this is likely to be prevented by Russian FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. Dvorkovich was once an economic advisor to the Russian government and deputy prime minister. Later, Dvorkovich was a member of the presidium of the Russian technology innovation centre Skolkovo. In 2018, he was elected FIDE president, succeeding Kirsan Illyumzhinov. Dvorkovich's wife, Zumrud Rustamova, also headed the Cyprus office of Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov's investment holding company Nafta Moskva for almost ten years and holds important positions in Russian metal companies, according to Daria Meshcheriakova.
Former world champion Garry Kasparov also criticises the role of FIDE as a tool for Russia's political goals. He was active as an opposition politician in Russia for a time, but left the country after some of his political friends were murdered.
The Russian state, state-owned companies and some Russian oligarchs were long the main financiers of the World Chess Federation. In return, Russian delegations used international chess tournaments in various countries to establish political and economic contacts. Kasparov described FIDE as the "foreign hand" of the KGB.
Meanwhile, English chess organiser and journalist Malcolm Pein points out the delicate role played by Dvorkovich, who is trying to strike a balance between Russian and international interests. Following Russia's attack on Ukraine, Russian sports federations were sanctioned and excluded from international competitions, including chess. Russian athletes can participate in individual chess tournaments, but only under the FIDE flag and without the national anthem being played at high-level competitions. The Russians have been pushing for the sanctions to be lifted for a long time, but international resistance is (currently) too strong.
Russia is organising a large number of chess tournaments in the occupied territories, which is a violation of international law. Ukraine protested against this to the World Chess Federation. However, according to research by Daria Meshcheriakova, attempts to ban the Russian Chess Federation were blocked by FIDE commission members with ties to Russia.
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