FIDE on Russia and Belarus

[Dilip Panjwani]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kjgxj40y1o

[Vlad Drkulec]

Canada voted for option 2 with many Western and former eastern bloc countries.

[Fred Henderson]

Help me out. I can't figure it out from the article what exactly option 2 is..Are you saying Canada voted to expel Russia from the Federation?. Also perhaps enlighten us as to HOW Canada voted. Was it a decision made by the president, or maybe a joint decision of some board of director? I don't imagine anyone consulted the rank and file membership.

So chess in Russia is controlled by Putin, is it. Is there anything else, any factual information to support this claim.

This seems rather absurd, nailing chess for political reasons. Like that is going to change Putin's mind. Not a chance.

[Hugh Brodie]

66 voted for option 1 (reject the proposal to re-admit Russia and Belarus (but with the possibility of allowing then in U12 or disabled events, and maybe consultation with the IOC)
41 voted for option 2 (maintain all sanctions)
21 voted for option 3 (lift all sanctions)
11 abstained
60 absent

Voting by federation: Russian / Kyrgyz proposal rejected by the FIDE General Assembly – Chessdom

[Fred Henderson]

Right thinking chess-players from western countries. should refuse to participate in their Federation's activities, in support of fellow chessplayers from Russia who are being screwed royally by political powers. This deision will have no benefit to the Ukraine, if anything it will make things worse. Do you think Putin gives a damn? I don't think so.

Another shortsighted, kneejerk decision by the CFC, that I will never touch with a ten-foot pole.

goodbye CFC, not that anyone gives a shit

[Pargat Perrer]

Right thinking chess-players from western countries. should refuse to participate in their Federation's activities, in support of fellow chessplayers from Russia who are being screwed royally by political powers. This deision will have no benefit to the Ukraine, if anything it will make things worse. Do you think Putin gives a damn? I don't think so.

Another shortsighted, kneejerk decision by the CFC, that I will never touch with a ten-foot pole.

goodbye CFC, not that anyone gives a shit

what is meant by "right-thinking"? who is right-thinking in your definition, Fred?

Personally, I am in favor of ANYTHING that diminishes Russia and points them out as aggressors of the worst kind. Bombing civilians is the height of immorality. It goes way higher on that scale than anything Ukraine might have done wrong in the past, i.e. the "grievances" of Russia towards Ukraine.

Putin has ensured at least a generation's worth of hatred against Russia from Ukraine, and probably MANY generations of hatred.

Putin may not give a shit about Russian chess or chessplayers, he may not give a shit about sanctions, about being excluded from the SWIFT banking system... as long as he has supporters in China that enable him to earn hard currency for Russia's oil.

but nevertheless, SILENCE INDICATES APRROVAL and thus countries like Canada must voice their disapproval, in chess and in all matters international.

There's some 'RIGHT THINKING" for you to chew on. STAND UP FOR MORALITY. Learn the lessons from WWII where Hitler was appeased thinking he wouldn't dare .... he dared, all right.

I for one won't shed crocodile tears for Russian chessplayers. If they are so royally screwed, let them defect. If they support Putin, they support immorality.

[Hal Bond]

Well done Vlad! Being an open vote, it was staggering how many Delegates made sure they were absent rather than go on record and face perceived consequences.

Fred - Putin most certainly does care about chess and FIDE. How do you think Dvorkovich won in 2018?

It is a pity that Russian players and other athletes are adversely affected, particularly when Russians are permitted to continue ruling FIDE.

The current administration is not without its merits, but after attending the Verification Commission meeting in Budapest, I am even more concerned about their spending excesses. Further, this Olympiad was the most poorly organized of the 12 that I have attended. Visa nightmares for many countries, lack of information and even misinformation were rampant.

[Gerry Litchfield]

If this is the choice of the authorities in charge then the CFC going forward should be presenting itself as political organization made clear before members sign up.
In a world full of misinformation and disinformation (a hall of mirrors) it is too presumptuous for one individual or a small group who think they know better to be taking the collective capital of members interested only in chess and weaponizing that capital against their interests.
To get out of this problem chess players should concentrate solely on their local chess initiatives to make it all work for the best on that level.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Gerry:

Since I became a member back in 1965 (Life) I have assumed that I am giving the Executive full power to make whatever decisions they think are in the interest of world chess, and Canadian chess (Not limited to simply technical chess questions).

When I disagree with what they have committed me to, as a member, I will protest (And maybe terminate my membership).

If your idea were to be in force, then CFC must make a full disclosure in the membership application, that they have only fettered discretion. Then members can decide if that is the national representation they want.

Bob A (Former Governor/Voting Member; Past Public Relations Coordinator)

[Victor Plotkin]

I was positively surprised with the voting result as I expected more positive outcome for this Russian-Kyrgyzstan initiative. We discussed this issue with Vlad and had a very similar opinion about this voting.

I disagree that Putin doesn't care about FIDE and chess. Russia spent billions of dollars last 25 years (Putin is president from 1999) on different sport events, like Soccer World Cup - 2018 and Winter Olympiad in 2014. Sure, you can not compare chess expenses with soccer, but many official FIDE events took place is Russia (chess Olympiads, World Cup, Candidates, Title Match).

[Vlad Drkulec]

Russian chessplayers can continue to participate in FIDE. They just can't do it under the Russian flag. This is consistent with the IOC which FIDE really wants to stay on the good side of. As I recall we had the world's finest players in Toronto in April contesting the FIDE Candidates tournaments and we mobilized a significant number of resources and media coverage to get players from Russia and other places into Canada to play. They played under the FIDE flag. We had on the order of twenty or thirty Russians most of whom were part of the organizing committee or staff of FIDE. I did catch some grief from the Ukrainian embassy which wanted the players expelled once the tournament had started.

For those who are unhappy with our decision to support the status quo and maintain the current sanctions Bob Armstrong's post number 9 contains some simple truths. When I was unhappy with decisions made by the CFC, I decided to stand for Masters' representative because I believed that I had little right to criticize volunteers if I wasn't willing to volunteer and become someone who could voice my disagreement within the then governors.

This resolution should not have made it to the floor.

Many of the member federations receive their chess funding through their local Olympic Committee. Getting out of step with the IOC jeopardizes this funding. FIDE has some aggressive sponsorship funds budgeted. There is zero likelihood that this sponsorship could be realized under a scenario where there is a rift with the IOC. The chairman of the Verification Commission Allen Priest stated that it was highly unlikely that FIDE would be able to meet its goals if the IOC cuts them loose and stops recognizing them. FIDE has ramped up the Planning and Development Commission budget. These funds support poorer federations and help them with projects and travel to the Olympiad and congresses. If there is a shortfall in these funds, the money will come from the PDC budget which no one at FIDE wants to cut but when most of your expenditures are contractual like they are with consultants, employees and companies, the funds will have to come from things which are not already in contracts.

[Vlad Drkulec]

If this is the choice of the authorities in charge then the CFC going forward should be presenting itself as political organization made clear before members sign up.
In a world full of misinformation and disinformation (a hall of mirrors) it is too presumptuous for one individual or a small group who think they know better to be taking the collective capital of members interested only in chess and weaponizing that capital against their interests.
To get out of this problem chess players should concentrate solely on their local chess initiatives to make it all work for the best on that level.

So just to be clear, you think that all sanctions should have been removed from Russia and Belarus?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Well done Vlad! Being an open vote, it was staggering how many Delegates made sure they were absent rather than go on record and face perceived consequences.

Fred - Putin most certainly does care about chess and FIDE. How do you think Dvorkovich won in 2018?

It is a pity that Russian players and other athletes are adversely affected, particularly when Russians are permitted to continue ruling FIDE.

The current administration is not without its merits, but after attending the Verification Commission meeting in Budapest, I am even more concerned about their spending excesses. Further, this Olympiad was the most poorly organized of the 12 that I have attended. Visa nightmares for many countries, lack of information and even misinformation were rampant.

Thank you for the kind words. It was nice seeing you in Budapest.

Revenues and expenditures of FIDE have (according to the financial statements that they showed in the Verification Commission report) quintupled from about 3 million euros in 2018, to 18 million euros in fiscal 2023. Revenues have grown in the same proportion as expenses. In most companies profit or non-profit this would be considered hyper growth. Usually when you have such growth there is a dip in profits but this has not really been the case, so far according to those statements displayed at the Congress.

There are definitely some growing pains and FIDE is having to tighten its belt. I heard complaints about this both at the AIDEF FIDE 100 celebration in Quebec City and also at the Congress in Budapest.

A duly elected Russian citizen is the president of FIDE with 90% of the votes in his re-election result. He has been the best president of FIDE in some time growing it significantly and moving things in a professional direction. He has been the most accessible president in my lifetime. There are also many people from other countries in his administration and they have also been very accessible. When we have issues we talk to them and they get resolved.

The players should not suffer for their leaders' failures as long as they aren't cheerleaders for the regime, but neither should we stand by for evil to prosper.

[Vlad Drkulec]

what is meant by "right-thinking"? who is right-thinking in your definition, Fred?

Personally, I am in favor of ANYTHING that diminishes Russia and points them out as aggressors of the worst kind. Bombing civilians is the height of immorality. It goes way higher on that scale than anything Ukraine might have done wrong in the past, i.e. the "grievances" of Russia towards Ukraine.

Putin has ensured at least a generation's worth of hatred against Russia from Ukraine, and probably MANY generations of hatred.

Putin may not give a shit about Russian chess or chessplayers, he may not give a shit about sanctions, about being excluded from the SWIFT banking system... as long as he has supporters in China that enable him to earn hard currency for Russia's oil.

but nevertheless, SILENCE INDICATES APRROVAL and thus countries like Canada must voice their disapproval, in chess and in all matters international.

There's some 'RIGHT THINKING" for you to chew on. STAND UP FOR MORALITY. Learn the lessons from WWII where Hitler was appeased thinking he wouldn't dare .... he dared, all right.

I for one won't shed crocodile tears for Russian chessplayers. If they are so royally screwed, let them defect. If they support Putin, they support immorality.

For once, I agree with one of your posts.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Right thinking chess-players from western countries. should refuse to participate in their Federation's activities, in support of fellow chessplayers from Russia who are being screwed royally by political powers. This deision will have no benefit to the Ukraine, if anything it will make things worse. Do you think Putin gives a damn? I don't think so.

Another shortsighted, kneejerk decision by the CFC, that I will never touch with a ten-foot pole.

goodbye CFC, not that anyone gives a shit

You said goodbye some time ago. You are cementing the decision because we declined to be apologists for pure evil. Have a good life if you can.