Arkady Dvorkovich Interview

[Wayne Komer]

Arkady Dvorkovich Interview

April 18, 2020

From the FIDE official site:

https://www.fide.com/news/488

Arkady Dvorkovich: I have no regrets

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich gave a big interview to a popular Russian newspaper Kommersant. This is the first part of this interview.

Let's start with the Candidates Tournament. You opened it in the middle of March, exactly on the day the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation issued an order imposing severe restrictions on sports events in the country. Do you have any regrets about your decision to run this event? After all, you had to put in on hold halfway through.

Arkady Dvorkovich: I have no regrets. It was a conscious decision. I personally weighed all the factors that had to be taken into consideration before the event. First and foremost, it was about chess fans all around the world as so many people were looking forward to watching this competition. I was 100% sure that we would provide the health security of all the participants and people involved in the organization of this tournament. It was a critical factor. Besides, it was very important not to disrupt the World Championship cycle and to do our best to keep to the schedule. Another key factor was providing equal rights and conditions for all the participants. For example, Ding Liren arrived in Russia in advance on March 1, to get the required 14-day quarantine. Had we failed to ensure his participation in the Candidates Tournament (the decision was being made at the end of February) the entire event would have been in question.

The final line-up was formed 10 days before the event. All the participants reaffirmed their willingness to contend for the chess crown. We did not have sound reasons to postpone the tournament.

Some participants, for example, Alexander Grischuk complained about the atmosphere and the problems with concentration during the games. Were you aware of that?

A.D.: First of all, there were no official complaints. We quickly reacted to all requests, made many concessions, took into considerations even tiny details to create a comfortable psychological atmosphere. Don’t forget, that all the players are real professionals.

Allow me to remind you about the order by the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation. Essentially, this order canceled all the sports competitions in Russia, didn't it?

A.D.: The Candidates Tournament is not a mass sport event as there were only eight players participating. It was not affected by these restrictions. We were in constant contact with regional authorities, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare) regarding the event and got the green light.

I understand that it is very hard to make projections right now. Do you have any scenarios regarding the completion of the event – plan A, plan B, and plan C?

A.D.: We do. Plan A – the optimistic scenario – is to hold the second part of the event in August or September. Many experts believe that this is a realistic timeframe bearing in mind how the situation with the COVID-19 has been evolving. We might return to normal life by the middle or the end of the summer. In this case, the winner of the Candidates Tournament will have enough time for thorough preparation for the World Championship match – approximately 3 months. But again, this is an optimistic scenario, under which the title match will be held in December of 2020 as planned.

Are there less optimistic scenarios?

A.D.: A less optimistic plan is to move the entire cycle a few months later. However, this is an undesirable alternative for us. We believe that the first, optimistic scenario can materialize.

Let me clarify just in case. Will the second part of the Candidates be held in Yekaterinburg?

A.D.: It will. I see no obstacles. We have the confirmation from our key partners, SIMA Land company and the regional authorities. They expressed their willingness to hold the second part of the event in Yekaterinburg. Naturally, if some other location wants to host it, we will consider such a request. At present, Yekaterinburg remains our priority.

Let’s return to the World Championship match. Will it be held in Dubai in December as you mentioned before?

A.D.: We hope it will take place in December in Dubai. In the case of force-majeure, we will be considering the alternatives. Presently, our partners are still willing to hold this match.

If there is any contract?

A.D.: We agreed on the terms. It remains just to sign the contract.

At the beginning of the year, FIDE published the terms and conditions of bidding for the right to hold the World Championship match. One of the key conditions was a guaranteed prize fund of at least €2,000,000. Is this condition met?

A.D.: Sure.

Why Dubai, exactly?

A.D.: The idea came about several months ago in connection with EXPO-2020 that will be held in this city. The World Expo will provide maximum interest to the venue. Plus, its theme – The Global Mind – is consonant with chess. We entered into the negotiations and reached a mutual understanding. Dubai was not the only bidder. We considered several options but Dubai looks the most attractive one.

I am a little concerned that you are going to hold the title match as part of EXPO. Do you think it might downgrade the event, make it some sort of a side order to the main course?

A.D.: Of course not. This match is not a part of EXPO, we will just use its platform. It will be one of the central events of this period, which is going to attract the maximum audience.

In other words, you are confident that this symbiosis will increase the exposure of the match.

A.D.: Definitely.

You already mentioned that in the best-case scenario there would be three months between the completion of the Candidates tournament and the start of the World Championship match. Indeed, it is enough for the participants to prepare for the competition, but is it a sufficient period to promote and advertise the match? Previously this process took twice as long.

A.D.: We will start to promote the match as soon as the contract is signed, plain and simple. If it happens shortly, we will have enough time. On the other hand, our partners might postpone the match, but even in this case, we will also have plenty of time. We have no concerns about it.

Are you in contract with the titleholder Magnus Carlsen, the central figure of the World Championship match? What does he think about the whole situation? It sounds like he is not much worried about it.

A.D.: We keep in touch with Magnus and his father. He reacted positively to our decision to hold the Candidates Tournament as an effort to preserve chess life in this complicated period and supported our initiative. As for the dates of the World Championship match, we held consultations with Magnus in advance. He had no objections.

[Wayne Komer]

Arkady Dvorkovich Interview

April 19, 2020

From the FIDE official site:

https://www.fide.com/news/491

Part II

Arkady Dvorkovich: FIDE is moving online

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich gave a big interview to a popular Russian newspaper Kommersant. The first is given in the post above. This is the second part of this interview.

When announcing the suspension of the Candidates Tournament you told that FIDE would try to make smart use of this period of self-isolation to search for new ideas. What is the International Chess Federation doing right now?

Arkady Dvorkovich: We are moving many of our activities online, to digital platforms. There have been already several unofficial competitions on different websites. We carefully reviewed this experience and worked out our own strategy. First of all, we are going to organize team events for the leading chess countries including a “digital copy” of the Chess Olympiad that was scheduled for August. Now we are planning to hold it in the online format. That is a big project. We are also considering the formats involving competitions among schools, universities, corporations, and cities. The rapid chess championships are also on the menu. I think we will organize one massive tournament with a wide range of players taking part.

Are regional federations active as well?

A.D.: They are. The European Chess Union (ECU) has planned the European Championship for May. Magnus Carlsen with his team announced Magnus Invitational tournament with all the top players participating. The event starts on April 18. Many of our activities also go digital – seminars for trainers and arbiters, tournaments organizers and chess players. We will be very active in these spheres for the next several months. Currently, the lectors are intensively preparing for the planned seminars. All these measures will help people all around the world to be part of the chess life even in this difficult period.

Am I right that this crisis in a way gave chess some boost?

A.D.: There is one problem with that – in addition to an emotional aspect – after all chess players prefer to get together in clubs, to socialize and play live (most of them enjoy it much more than online). I am talking about cheating. Unfortunately, no one can be trusted, except maybe for the top-players for whom their reputation is the key asset. On lower levels, anti-cheating is highly relevant. We are working together with chess platforms and cybersecurity companies on the solutions to these problems.

It is too early to summarize the results of the World Championship cycle which coincided with you taking the office. Maybe you can specify some trends? Has the popularity of chess increased?

A.D.: All that we have done over the last two years, was done on a higher level than previously. I am referring to both marketing efforts and engaging leading companies into chess. I am talking about such companies as Coca-Cola, Total, RZD, Rosseti, Gazprom. The same applies to the coverage of the tournaments. For example, we provided coverage for the Women’s World Championship match and the Candidates tournament in several languages (Russian, English, and Chinese), whereas our partner Chess24 added several extra languages to the broadcast. This is a great improvement of the situation as language diversity attracts extra users to the World Championship cycle. Plus, the look of the chess broadcasts is much more professional now. I hope that it will measure up to the highest standards to be broadcasted on TV.

Is the chess audience growing?

A.D.: We saw an exponential viewership growth in women’s chess. The size of the audience is still not that great in absolute numbers but we are talking about tens of thousands of people following the games. As far as the open category is concerned, we expanded our audience by hundreds of thousands of people by involving Chinese viewers.

FIDE made an experiment by making the Grand Swiss a part of the World Championship cycle. It was a Swiss-tournament, the format that often produces unexpected results. Are you happy with this event?

A.D.: This tournament on the Isle of Man brought together the participants from different rating categories. It was different from the elite Grand Prix in which only the best compete in a playoff format. I would compare Grand Swiss with the FIDE World Cup, but unlike the latter, it attracted virtually all the best players. This is a more democratic format that gives a chance to the maximum number of players to distinguish themselves. We saw two biggest sensations of this cycle come out of Grand Swiss. Thanks to this event, not only the top players qualified for the Candidates, but also two “dark horses” – Wang Hao (China) and Kirill Alekseenko (Russia). Summing up, we are quite happy with this tournament and hope to continue.

Some advocates of chess traditions argue that two random players qualified for the Candidates in Yekaterinburg but their level is below the rest of the field.

A.D.: Going by this logic we should hold no qualifying events, just take eight best players by rating and that’s it. All in all, we think that the qualifying process has to be as open and democratic as possible.

Have you planned any experiments in the new cycle?

A.D.: We would like to stick to the principles of the current cycle. Maybe we will make some changes in the qualifying for the Candidates. First of all, it is about determining the best-rated player who gets his spot in the Candidates. The current system has drawn a fair amount of criticism because from a mathematical standpoint the rating points earned several months ago are more valuable than those picked up right before the Candidates. We are working with the experts in math and statistics on possible corrections of the current system. One of the solutions might be using so-called performance, i.e. how good a particular player was in the period right before the Candidates.

Many of my friends play online either rapid or blitz. Don’t you think that these formats are not represented enough at the highest level?

A.D.: I don’t think so. All top players constantly participate in various online rapid and blitz tournaments. The Rapid and Blitz World Championship is one of the most interesting and prestigious competitions organized by FIDE. The last World Championship in Moscow was a great success. There is no shortage of such tournaments. Moreover, this year almost all the events will be played in this format. It is really hard to hold an event in any other format.

All sport bodies suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. How big is FIDE’s financial cushion?

A.D.: The traditional chess activities are migrating into online formats. On the other hand, operational costs are also substantially reduced. We don’t spend on travel, boarding, rent of playing venues, etc. From a financial standpoint, the situation doesn’t look catastrophic. We have a financial cushion. Being spent efficiently it is enough for one full operation year.

Do FIDE’s commercial partners have any complaints because the events were stopped and canceled? It is a real problem in football, for example.

A.D.: There have been no complaints. All our partners are willing to continue our cooperation hoping that in fall chess life will recover in full. We are grateful to our parterres — CISCO, Total, Kaspersky, Coca-Cola, RZD — for their advertence and support of chess. Some of them offered to hold online tournaments. More specifically, the government of the Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous district is going to support online team competitions.