The news has reached the mainstream media, for no small reason, as the venerable British newspaper and website, The Telegraphreported in detail on the forthcoming FIDE vote to try to overturn the ban, which, following the example and guidelines of the IOC, has imposed similar restrictions on chess players to those faced by other sportsmen and women. In the face of this, Russia has launched a campaign to circumvent certain sanctions, with Kyrgyzstan proposing a vote at the forthcoming General Assembly on September 22 to overturn the ban on Russian teams in chess jousts, as reported by The Telegraph:
Malcolm Pein, delegate of the English Chess Federation, told the Telegraph“It is clear that Kyrgyzstan is merely a proxy for Russia in this case, and is clearly aligned with Russia. This can be seen from the sudden and colossal increase in trade between Western countries and Kyrgyzstan, which began after the sanctions were imposed, and which clearly shows that a large number of actions aimed at circumventing the sanctions are also taking place in the country.”
Mr. Pein warned that if the motion were passed, “chess would risk becoming a pariah in world sport.”
It should be added that neither Ukraine nor Russia take the issue of banning chess lightly. An estimated 21 Ukrainian chess players have died as a direct result of the conflict.
Chess is so important to Russian pride that Volodymyr Zelensky has stepped in. Last month, he commissioned Alexander Kamyshin, the former Minister of Strategic Industries, to take up the fight as the new president of his national federation.
Mr. Kamyshin called the struggle for control of the chess game “a difficult and important battle on the international front”.
While Western blindness may lead their citizens to believe that such a vote would be easily blocked by the overwhelming number of nations in Europe and elsewhere who veto the very idea, the reality is quite different:
Kyrgyzstan is expected to enjoy broad support in the vote at the FIDE congress scheduled for September 22. Under FIDE’s “one member, one vote” system, smaller federations – sometimes consisting of a handful of members – are placed on an equal footing with larger members such as the USA and Germany.
Whatever may displease the West living its fall from Rome, it is indeed likely – or at least desirable – that this principle of muItipolarity will cause a new setback to those whose va-t-en-guerre imperialism is draped in good feelings, and who like to shamelessly call themselves “the international community”.
