Viswanathan Anand elected FIDE deputy president, Dvorkovich to continue as president

Viswanathan Anand becomes FIDE deputy president while incumbent Arkady Dvorkovich has been re-elected as the president of International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Dvorkovich and Anand after their successful election campaign in Chennai | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Grandmaster and five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand has been elected as the deputy president of FIDE, the international chess body.

Russian and incumbent president Arkady Dvorkovich was successfully re-elected as FIDE President.

Dvorkovic received 167 votes in his favour while opponent Andrii Baryshpolets got 16.

Anand was nominated by the incumbent president as part of his team to contest the elections. 

The elections took place during the FIDE General Assembly in Chennai, held alongside the Chess Olympiad, one of FIDE’s flagship events. This year, despite the notable absences of Russia and Belarus (banned), and China (citing logistic difficulties derived from the pandemic), the Olympiad reached record participation, with 186 nations represented in the open competition, plus 160 more in the Women’s Olympiad.

Thanks everyone. Congratulations to President @advorkovich for his vision . We hope to make a difference and thank everyone for their trust in our team. https://t.co/yyNWfBB6ct

— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) August 7, 2022

Dvorkovich was first elected as FIDE President in October 2018, succeeding Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He has continued to enjoy support from the chess community despite being questioned by some due to his nationality and to the fact that in the past he held important positions in the Russian government.

Dvorkovich’s second term will also be the last, as one of the first tasks that he undertook shortly after being elected in 2018 was to renew the FIDE Charter, introducing term limits, along with other democratic reforms. Among them, the “FIDE Presidential Board” was replaced by the “FIDE Council”, effectively limiting the President’s powers.

All you need to know about Arkady Dvorkovich

1. This is the second term as the FIDE president for Arkady Dvorkovich. It was in 2018 that got the job in the world chess governing body for the first time, taking from fellow-Russian Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He defeated Georgios Markropoulos in the election.

2. When the 50-year-old contested for the second term, five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand was part of his panel (for the post of vice president).

3. Dvorkovich was Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2018. Earlier, he was the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade. He also served as the head of the Economic Expert Group of the Russian Ministry of Finance. He has a Masters degree in Economics from Moscow State University and Duke University. Before getting elected as the FIDE president the first time around, he was the chairman of the Russia’s Local Organising Committee for the 2018 football World Cup.

4. There had been concerns about Dvorkovich’s candidacy for a second term as the FIDE president, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Under him, FIDE, however, took the 44th Chess Olympiad from Russia and chose India (Chennai) as the venue instead. FIDE also suspended Russia and Belarus from official competitions.

5. Dvorkovich was quoted as saying, “Wars are the worst things one might face in life…including this war. My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians.” He was condemned by some politicians in Russia for his comments and accused him of betrayal. Dvorkovich, however, responded that as the FIDE president he had to find a way to unite people without taking sides. Going by the convincing margin he has been reelected with, it looks like has been able to convince the voters at the FIDE election.