A former Russian deputy prime minister was yesterday re-elected as head of international chess federation FIDE, its electoral chairman said, seeing off a Ukrainian challenger who accused him of being part of Moscow’s “war machine.”
A crushing majority of 157 out of 179 national chess associations voted in a meeting in India to re-elect Arkady Dvorkovich as FIDE president, said Roberto Rivello, the chair of the body’s electoral commission.
Ukrainian grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets, who challenged Dvorkovich with running mate Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark — coach of Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen — won just 16 votes. There were five abstentions and one invalid vote.
Photo: Reuters
Numerous Russian officials have been hit with sanctions since the invasion of Ukraine in February, and Russian competitors have been banned by numerous international sports governing bodies.
Dvorkovich, 50, who served under Russian President Vladimir Putin as deputy prime minister from 2012-2018 when he was elected FIDE president, has retained his position at the chess body.
Baryshpolets told member countries before the vote in Chennai that Dvorkovich has “tremendous ties to the Russian government.”
“You, Arkady, are responsible for what happened in Ukraine now. You are responsible for building up the Russian government and Russia’s war machine. And we as a chess world, how can we afford this?” the Ukrainian said.
Dvorkovich said that he took “a strong position of tragic events in Ukraine, as well as supported throughout the Council decisions regarding scaling down Russia’s involvement in FIDE.”
In March, Dvorkovich appeared to criticize the Russian invasion, saying in an interview that his “thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians.”
“Wars do not just kill priceless lives. Wars kill hopes and aspirations, freeze or destroy relationships and connections,” Dvorkovich told the Web site of US magazine Mother Jones.
The comments drew flak in Russia and Dvorkovich later issued a statement saying that there was “no place for Nazism or the domination of some countries over others,” which was seen as coded support for the Kremlin.
Russia has long controlled chess politics, including a more than two-decade stint by eccentric politician Kirsan Ilyumzhinov — who claimed to have encountered aliens and that the game was invented by them.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said