Governing body FIDE softens stance on some banned Russian, Belarusian players

The FIDE General Assembly is being held over the weekend in the Hungarian capital alongside the 45th Chess Olympiad, the world’s largest chess team event with almost 2,000 participants.

FILE - “We believe this approach upholds FIDE’s commitment to inclusivity while respecting the international framework”, the organisation’s deputy president and also a former world champion Viswanathan Anand told the assembly before the ballot. | Photo Credit: The Hindu/DEBASISH BHADURI

Chess governing body FIDE’s general assembly agreed to consider lifting parts of a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in a vote on Sunday in Budapest.

The Ukrainian government, the U.S. State Department and players, including former world champion Magnus Carlsen and members of the Ukraine Olympic team had urged chess federations to reject an initial motion by Kyrgyzstan to fully reinstate the two nations.

In the end, delegates from 66 countries supported a last-minute proposal by the FIDE Council to consult the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about letting some players and teams from Russia and Belarus, such as those with disabilities or children aged under 12, return to international events.

“We believe this approach upholds FIDE’s commitment to inclusivity while respecting the international framework”, the organisation’s deputy president and also a former world champion Viswanathan Anand told the assembly before the ballot.

Forty-one delegates voted not to readmit the players, 21 countries favoured lifting the ban entirely and 27 abstained or were absent.

Russian and Belarusian players, including 2021 and 2023 world championship runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi, are allowed to participate in international events under a neutral flag, in line with the IOC’s stance on the two countries.

“The International Chess Federation should not break precedent from the IOC,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday.

“Allowing them back would mean legitimising wars their nations wage,” Ukraine’s ministers of sports and foreign affairs and the president of its chess federation wrote in a letter to FIDE, adding that more than 500 athletes and coaches, including 21 chess players, have been killed in the war.

Russian delegate Sergey Janovsky instead told the assembly that “chess should be out of politics”.

The FIDE General Assembly is being held over the weekend in the Hungarian capital alongside the 45th Chess Olympiad, the world’s largest chess team event with almost 2,000 participants.

The FIDE Council is an oversight body chaired by FIDE president and former Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich.