“FIDE follows the recommendations of the IOC, but does not impose additional obstacles”: Interview with Arkady Dvorkovich FIDE Dvorkovich president says Russia will not participate in the Chess Olympiad 12/19/2023, 17:34

— The main event of 2023 for Russian chess is the transition to the Asian Chess Federation. How would you evaluate this from FIDE’s perspective? What does this mean for world chess?

— The transition of Russian chess from Europe to Asia means a clear strengthening of Asia in the world chess arena, because Russian chess is one of the leading ones in the world. The competitiveness of Asian chess has increased. In terms of organizing international tournaments, this means a shift towards Asia. We see that there are more applications from Asian countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Oman, UAE, China, India). In fact, many countries compete to host international chess tournaments.

There are no fewer applications from Europe anymore, there are more applications from Asia. Of course, the Russian factor is one of the important factors in this process.

For Russian chess players, this is a chance to compete in more tournaments. But otherwise, perhaps nothing has changed in terms of holding the World Championship. Russian chess players constitute, as always, 15-20% of all participants, and this percentage does not change, so we think that the situation remains stable despite all the global turmoil.

— How technically difficult was it to organize this transition? Who made the decision and approved it?

— The Russian Chess Federation (RFC) applied to join the Asian Chess Federation, our Asian colleagues, who are associate members of FIDE, approved this application. European colleagues raised the issue on which consensus was reached and the transition took place.

— Is a reverse transition possible if external conditions change?

— Anything is possible in the modern world. But this depends, first of all, on the desire of the FSR.

— We spoke to you in 2018, just after you were first elected as FIDE President. How do you evaluate the achievements of the international federation since then? Which ones do you think are most important?

— During the five years since our team was elected to leadership positions in FIDE, we have succeeded, first of all, in ensuring the sustainability of the largest international chess competitions. Secondly, we went through the difficult period of the pandemic and not only maintained the level, but also sharply raised it thanks to the successful projects of our partners. I mean both film production, the series “The Queen’s March” and the successful Internet platforms.

Together, we ensured the rise of chess, increased interest in chess in the business world, and an increase in the number of spectators. And all this together allows us to draw attention and resources to the development of chess in the future.

We managed to initiate the implementation of the “Chess at School” project in dozens of countries. We are not completely satisfied with the numbers yet, but the process has started anyway. We were able to significantly increase women’s interest in chess and close the gap between men’s and women’s chess, which is very important.

We started to implement major social projects such as chess among refugees, chess in prisons, chess for the disabled, and chess in poor areas. And finally, we moved closer to our Olympic goals; We have succeeded in ensuring that chess is included in many continental competitions held under the auspices of the IOC.

The direction related to e-sports, where chess has become one of the important components, is also developing. So overall there are a lot of positive things, but even more ambition. I want to do much more than what has been done so far.

— Chess is included in the Friendship Games program planned to be held in Russia in September 2024…

– Yes, I know that, FIDE has nothing to do with it directly. However, we are happy to include chess in any major competition, so I hope that chess will take its rightful place here as well.

— How do you evaluate the interaction between FIDE and the Russian Chess Federation now, despite and probably despite the situation in the world?

— FCR is a full member of FIDE. There are restrictions on IOC recommendations regarding the participation of national teams in international sports competitions.

Russian chess players participate in all individual competitions, there are no restrictions here. Yes, FSR and I are partners and continue to interact.

— Do I understand correctly that FIDE’s decision to lift restrictions on team competitions and on the use of flags and anthems directly depends on the IOC’s position and when and in what direction this will change?

— FIDE covers nearly 200 countries, and for most of them, relations with national Olympic committees are extremely important. We cannot ignore this and act in the interests of all our member countries and federations that are members of FIDE. We do not want to worsen the relationship between national chess federations and national Olympic committees in any way.

Therefore, following IOC recommendations is important for the chess community.

At the same time, Russian athletes participate in all individual competitions without any additional conditions or restrictions. Yes, the Russian flag and anthem cannot be used in competitions in tournament halls, but Russian athletes can compete under the FIDE flag – I think it’s worth it. We have an international chess family and no one can be deprived of their right to join this family without sufficient justification.

— Since the introduction of restrictions, many Russian chess players have changed their sports citizenship. How serious a blow is this to Russian chess?

— There are several thousand people in Russia’s rating list. Everyone is free to make their own choice and changing sports citizenship is a fairly common practice in any sport. It is clear that in the current situation there are more such cases in Russian athletes, but still all chess players in the world understand and know history, traditions, respect the Soviet chess school and approach any personal decisions with understanding.

I am sure that chess will remain successful in Russia.

There are many enthusiasts, strong coaches, chess schools, clubs and academies in every region. And the new generation of chess players will grow up no matter what, perform on the international stage and rank high.

— Should we expect Russians to participate in the Chess Olympiad?

— The World Chess Olympiad will be held in Budapest in 2024. This is a team competition, therefore, in line with the recommendations of the IOC, we cannot allow the Russian team to participate in this competition at this time.

However, if we talk about all individual competitions that will take place in 2024, FIDE allows all Russian and Belarusian athletes without any additional restrictions. And from the registrations for all tournaments we see that Russian chess players make up a significant part of the participants. We believe that we create opportunities for the development of sports and the discovery of the talents of athletes around the world and do not create additional obstacles for anyone. We are delighted that everyone is ready to participate and compete for the highest awards anywhere on the planet.

— Talking about FIDE’s achievements above, you outlined a combination of factors that made it possible to maintain and even improve the level of chess. How do you evaluate the growth of the audience, fans and players?

— The number of players has increased about three to four times in the last three to four years – that’s a lot.

Now the growth rate has slowed down, this is normal, but it still continues. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of people, and that’s great.

The business world sees this, our partners see this, and we are getting more offers and negotiating more than ever before. We hope to establish partnerships with large companies that will allow us to develop chess and make chess not only one of the most popular social activities, but also one of the most popular sports in terms of television attention. This is a goal we hope to achieve.