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Trouble in the Ukraine
I have been watching the events in the Ukraine this last week with some concern. It seemed to me that there were parallels with the Sudetenland Crisis in 1938. Germany demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland and the military occupation of the territories to protect the German-speaking population.
The occupation in Crimea by masked and armed soldiers was not a big news item the first few days. Nobody was killed. A man in one interview I heard said he didn’t care who governed him as long as there was no bloodshed.
There was virtually nothing in the chess press.
Chess-news.ru has two tweets from Natalia Pogonina:
A lot of us are concerned that Ukrainians, especially ethnic Russians, will be discriminated against under the new order. It is so already
and
So sad to hear this “intervention”, military aggression” and “annexation” Cold War nonsense..
Teymor Rajabov tweets “I understand that ignorance is a bliss, but you can’t stop watching news when something like Ukrainian crisis is going on. Venezuela too”
Chess-news.ru is surprisingly liberal. Today they had a story about Ukrainians in the tournament in Cappelle la Grande.
http://www.chess-news.ru/node/14808
Ukrainian GM Evgeny Dolukhanova explained their point of view, “We are in these days, of course, very concerned about the situation in Ukraine.
We read the news and call back to our loved ones. The idea to play today with small flags painted on our cheeks occurred spontaneously. We sat all morning discussing the situation at breakfast, what would happen next. We wanted to do something somehow to express what is happening with the introduction of Putin forces into the Ukraine.
We are against war and for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
All the players painted a flag on their left cheek and posed for a group picture.
_______
I have visited Emil Sutovsky’s Facebook page but found it hard to understand his reference to Sergei Karjakin. Sergei was born in Simferopol, Ukraine and now represents Russia. I imagine he feels very conflicted at the moment.
Where is Kasparov in all this? In the Washington Times:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...obama-admin-r/
Mr. Kasparov has voiced his opinions on the Ukraine crisis via twitter frequently over the last week, drawing comparisons between Putin’s Russia and Nazi Germany.
“So far, the Kremlin & Kremlin stooges in Ukraine are following that same 1938 script. Talk of ‘protection,’ ‘peace,’ ‘self-determination,’” he tweeted on Thursday.
A few minutes later he added, “Putin has little choice but to act in Ukraine. Dictators, without legitimacy of elections, must regularly show their power.”
Mr. Kasparov has also used social media to urge the U.S. and other western powers to intervene in Ukraine.
On Thursday he tweeted: “West will have to act on Ukraine eventually. Question is how long, as price will keep going up. Post-Syria credibility is very low.”
________
The Candidates starts soon. Sergei Karjakin is one of the participants. Anand, Topalov, Mamedyarov and Aronian are the other non-Russians. Do any of them feel strongly enough about the situation to withdraw? I wonder. Is it conceivable that Ilumzhinov would ever postpone the tournament?
_______
I apologize for introducing politics into this forum again but I thought it important to acknowledge the situation we are in now.
I have been watching the events in the Ukraine this last week with some concern. It seemed to me that there were parallels with the Sudetenland Crisis in 1938. Germany demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland and the military occupation of the territories to protect the German-speaking population.
The occupation in Crimea by masked and armed soldiers was not a big news item the first few days. Nobody was killed. A man in one interview I heard said he didn’t care who governed him as long as there was no bloodshed.
There was virtually nothing in the chess press.
Chess-news.ru has two tweets from Natalia Pogonina:
A lot of us are concerned that Ukrainians, especially ethnic Russians, will be discriminated against under the new order. It is so already
and
So sad to hear this “intervention”, military aggression” and “annexation” Cold War nonsense..
Teymor Rajabov tweets “I understand that ignorance is a bliss, but you can’t stop watching news when something like Ukrainian crisis is going on. Venezuela too”
Chess-news.ru is surprisingly liberal. Today they had a story about Ukrainians in the tournament in Cappelle la Grande.
http://www.chess-news.ru/node/14808
Ukrainian GM Evgeny Dolukhanova explained their point of view, “We are in these days, of course, very concerned about the situation in Ukraine.
We read the news and call back to our loved ones. The idea to play today with small flags painted on our cheeks occurred spontaneously. We sat all morning discussing the situation at breakfast, what would happen next. We wanted to do something somehow to express what is happening with the introduction of Putin forces into the Ukraine.
We are against war and for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
All the players painted a flag on their left cheek and posed for a group picture.
_______
I have visited Emil Sutovsky’s Facebook page but found it hard to understand his reference to Sergei Karjakin. Sergei was born in Simferopol, Ukraine and now represents Russia. I imagine he feels very conflicted at the moment.
Where is Kasparov in all this? In the Washington Times:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...obama-admin-r/
Mr. Kasparov has voiced his opinions on the Ukraine crisis via twitter frequently over the last week, drawing comparisons between Putin’s Russia and Nazi Germany.
“So far, the Kremlin & Kremlin stooges in Ukraine are following that same 1938 script. Talk of ‘protection,’ ‘peace,’ ‘self-determination,’” he tweeted on Thursday.
A few minutes later he added, “Putin has little choice but to act in Ukraine. Dictators, without legitimacy of elections, must regularly show their power.”
Mr. Kasparov has also used social media to urge the U.S. and other western powers to intervene in Ukraine.
On Thursday he tweeted: “West will have to act on Ukraine eventually. Question is how long, as price will keep going up. Post-Syria credibility is very low.”
________
The Candidates starts soon. Sergei Karjakin is one of the participants. Anand, Topalov, Mamedyarov and Aronian are the other non-Russians. Do any of them feel strongly enough about the situation to withdraw? I wonder. Is it conceivable that Ilumzhinov would ever postpone the tournament?
_______
I apologize for introducing politics into this forum again but I thought it important to acknowledge the situation we are in now.
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