Ukraine War: Chess World Remains Loyal to Russia-FIDE President

Kwar or not – at the world chess federation FIDE everything stays the same. The Russian Arkady Dvorkovich, a member of the government for many years and close to the Kremlin, remained FIDE President after the Russian attack on Ukraine and apparently will remain so in the future. It all seems to come down to Dvorkovich being elected to head the world association for a further four years on August 7th. This may seem irritating to outsiders, but there is little resistance in the chess world. Further applicants for the office are expected by June, before which they do not want to comment, it is said German Chess Federation.

Dvorkovich’s replacement is only being demanded by a few countries: loudly from Ukraine, more differentiated from Scandinavia and the Baltic States. “I don’t see any massive movement to get rid of Arkadi,” explains the English chess organizer Malcolm Pein, why a counter-candidate is currently out of the question for him. He sees enormous risks if a Russian remains president: “FIDE can become an outsider in world sport and a forbidden zone for companies from the West.”