Walking through the World Rapid Chess Championship in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, you can meet film characters among the 319 players (202 men and 117 women) from 46 countries. Like the Argentine prodigy (resident in Spain) Faustino Oro, 10 years old. Or the Uzbek-American Teimur Garéyev, world record holder for simultaneous blind games (48 in 19 hours) and sanctioned in the USA for sexual harassment. Or former Iranian Sara Khadem, who fled to Spain because she played without a veil at the last edition of the tournament in Kazakhstan. The most controversial, however, is Russian Denis Jismatullin, an ardent supporter of aggression against Ukraine who, unlike other compatriots, has never been sanctioned without being allowed to play.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a statement on the 8th, the third point of which (concerning who can participate in the 2024 Paris Games) reiterates that organization's policy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022: “Athletes who actively support the war are not eligible to participate or participate.”
Jismatulin (left) greets Carlsen at the start of his game at the World Rapid Chess Championship this Tuesday in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).
In line with that directive, the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which brings together 200 countries or autonomous territories, sanctioned world runner-up Sergei Kariakin, who was born in Ukraine in 1990 and gained Russian citizenship in 2009, from playing for six months March 2022 for their enthusiastic support of President Vladimir Putin's decision.
Among other demonstrations and events, Kariakin recorded a video in which he called for a collection to finance military equipment: “The occupiers desperately need ATVs, helicopters, thermal imaging cameras and bulletproof vests,” he said. Having achieved his goal, he traveled to the war front several times in the company of Jismatullin (Khismatullin on the world list) and both were photographed with soldiers. Kariakin's FIDE sanction expired in September 2022, but he did not want to play outside Russia after that as he would have to do so without the Russian flag.
Jismatullin (hired by Kariakin as a coach), like all Russians who compete internationally, plays under the FIDE flag, but appears on the official world list under the Russian banner. There are compatriots of his who do the same, but with one essential difference, which the two-time vice world champion Ian Niepómniashi explained to EL PAÍS during his duel for the world title against the Chinese Liren Ding in Astana (Kazakhstan): “I signed this manifesto [contra la invasión] wth the heart.
This war is terrible, a tragic catastrophe. I understand the sanctions against Russian athletes to a certain extent, although I have serious doubts that they will help improve the situation. If I am forced to play under the FIDE flag, as was the case when Russia was punished for the massive doping scandal, then I will do it. But I do not identify the Russian flag with the war that scares me, but with my country that I love.” Niepómniashi continues to live in Russia, although under current law these demonstrations are enough to warrant an immediate prison sentence.
Kariakin and Carlsen greet each other in Stavanger at the start of a game in 2021. Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess
This newspaper asked FIDE why Jismatullin, whose statements of support for the aggression are also clear, was not sanctioned like Kariakin. His chief legal adviser, Russian Aleksandr Martynov, responds: “FIDE has no procedure to verify players' statements. In this area, we follow the decisions of our Ethics Committee (which sanctioned Kariakin in 2022 for violating its Code). It seems to us that the judicial process is the best mechanism for these matters. If any interested person appeals to this Commission and disqualifies this Grandmaster Jismatullin, this decision will be strictly respected.”
Jismatullin met and lost this Tuesday in the second round of the World Rapid Chess Championship against the number one, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen). In 2022, Carlsen expressed his categorical rejection of Kariakin's stance, but expressed doubts about whether sanctioning him would be best for two reasons. First, it sets a precedent that can lead to sensitive situations; And secondly, the sanction helps Karjakin portray himself as a martyr before Russia.
“No comment,” was the short answer from Carlsen's father and representative Henrik when this newspaper asked him for an update on Magnus' opinion. Other questions planned included whether he feels the same about Yismatullin today, or whether Israel's invasion of Gaza (after a gruesome Hamas terrorist attack) or Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh are the kinds of sticky situations his son finds himself in in 2022. This unusual silence from Henrik comes two weeks after Magnus expressed his relief that the FIDE Ethics Committee fined him just 10,000 euros (he earns several million every year) for withdrawing from a tournament (the Sinquefield Cup of Saint Louis, USA, 2022) without a valid reason after accusing the American Hans Niemann of fraud without evidence in a very controversial case.
Putin has said publicly at least twice that reclaiming the world chess title is a major priority for Russian sport. The Russian Chess Federation, chaired by Putin-aligned billionaire Andrei Filátov, has left the European Chess Federation to join the Asian Chess Federation. And it has set up a financial aid fund for its young talents, with the condition that if the flag changes, they must pay back the money they received. This is an attempt to stop the diaspora of Russian stars who now live in other countries (several in Spain) or have already adopted another nationality. Among the beneficiaries there are some, like Andrei Yesipenko, who signed the anti-war manifesto and play under the FIDE flag, but continue to live in Russia. Or the amazing Roman Shogdzhiev, 8 years old, who, like the aforementioned Argentine Faustino Oro, amazes those who walk through the Samarkand gaming hall these days with his courage to beat some established grandmasters.
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