In India quite a few married couples change their lives in order to promote their children’s chess talent. In China, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the government seeks and nurtures the miracles. Also in Iran, but then he abuses them for political and religious reasons. Asian dominance seems inevitable, all the more so if Russia manages to switch from European to Asian federation in order to circumvent part of the sanctions for aggression against Ukraine. In a way it is a return to origins, as chess is believed to have originated in India more than 1,500 years ago.
Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion and amazingly persistent in his achievements (he’s still 9th in the world at 53), is as famous in India as Rafa Nadal is in Spain. With the important difference that chess is the cheapest sport in terms of infrastructure and the only one that can be played online. Anand’s charisma sparked a talent explosion across the subcontinent (population 1.4 billion and counting). There are many stories of mothers and fathers who changed cities, jobs and lifestyles because their son (and to a lesser extent their daughter) has the potential to be the next Anand.
Although it is common for them to find sponsoring companies or official help, the risk is not small as the competition is fierce and there is no money for everyone. The internationally renowned young Indian powerhouses are already so numerous that a charter flight could be manned to bring them to the international Open tournaments in Spain, the country that has organized the largest number of competitions of this type every year since 1988. Of the top ten under-20s in the world, four are Native Americans: Gukesh, Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin. Another problem is that almost everyone quits school very early, although their great idol Anand advises them not to because they need to receive a comprehensive education.
In chess, women can choose to play open tournaments, with men, or only women. That makes sense, because there is only one woman among the top 300 in the world, mainly because of the parenting clichés that still prevail in many countries: Dolls are for girls, chess is for boys. But not in China: Of the top seven in the world, four are Chinese, one is Indian and two are Russian. In addition, the Chinese currently occupy the four most important positions: number one (almost retired) is Yifán Hou; the champion, Wenjun Ju; and Candidates Tournament finalists Tingjie Lei and Zhongyi Tan.
The Chinese team that won gold at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in Astana (Kazakhstan), David Llada
The great paradox is that chess was banned in China during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) during the death throes of the great leader Mao Zedong; anything with a Western flair was banned, including Beethoven’s music. Police fined street players and searched homes for technical books to burn in the courts.
But with the change of leadership, the Deng Xiaoping government made a radical change of course: the aim was to transfer all possible players from Chinese chess (including a cross river in the middle of the board) to international chess; and give priority to women, because China would make faster progress in this field since there are far fewer practitioners in the world. In fact, Xie Jun was the first Chinese world champion in 1991. The men later began to be successful, winning gold at the 2014 Chess Olympiad (Uzbekistan did it with a very young team last July). Among the under-20s, alongside the Russians, Kazakhs and Indians in particular are emerging as future threats to China.
Chess was also banned in Iran (1980s and later in Afghanistan) for very different reasons related to a radical interpretation of the Koran. The situation today is as striking as it is absurd: the Federation of Iran has done a magnificent and gigantic job in producing boys and girls of immense talent. But not a few are fleeing, sick or tired of losing to Israelis by default, or having to play with the veil. Best of all is Alireza Firouzja, a French national who now embodies the great Western hope against the Asian threat.
Russia wants to be Asia
LG
Chess and Russia have been almost synonymous for almost a century (1926), when the new Soviet government decided to massively promote it for its great educational qualities. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is the largest country in the world with eleven time zones. Of these, only three belong to geographical Europe. This is how President Putin is arguing millionaire Andrei Filátov, close to President Putin, to demand that Russia transition from the European Federation (ECU) to the Asian Federation (ACF) to circumvent international sanctions.
The International Federation (FIDE) and the ECU allow Russian chess players to play individual tournaments under the FIDE flag, but Russian teams are banned. For reasons that are not clear, the ACF has been more lax in this regard, and the matter will come up at the next session of its General Assembly at the end of February.
The matter is very sensitive judging by the statements collected by EL PAÍS this Wednesday. The President of the ECU, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, a Georgian, sees a conflict: “I know from unofficial channels that many Asian countries are in favor, although they know that Russia is sanctioned in Europe and they only want to move there to avoid sanctions.” And he adds: “Apart from the fact that I don’t know the official position of FIDE, one must leave the other before entering a continent. It is difficult to imagine that Russia could be a member of two continental federations at the same time.
Russian Arkady Dvorkovich admits that “FIDE will not decide until Asia does”. In principle, he sees no legal obstacles and, in his opinion, neither does the International Olympic Committee. But he warns: “FIDE sanctions do not depend on what the continents do.” In other words, the Russian teams could only aspire to become Asian champions…if they beat China, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Iran, among others.
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