Friday
Apr012022
Karjakin Out of the Candidates, Ding Liren (Probably) In
Friday, April 1, 2022 at 12:31AM
There's much to say about this, but I want to let all of you have at it - and at the broader topic of whether Russian players should be banned. (And if them, why not others?)
Reader Comments (2)
I disagree with what Karjakin says, but I defend his right to say it.
Karjakin has declared that, without any need for reflection, he supports his country and government unconditionally.
This is a 'My country, right or wrong!' position (with which I strongly disagree) that is common in wartime.
I believe that players should be banned from chess primarily, if not only, for offenses (such as cheating) related to chess.
Should a chess coach convicted of sexually abusing his or her students be banned from playing chess?
There are 'chess in prison' programs that encourage even convicted murderers to play chess.
I do not believe that Klaus Junge, if he had survived the war, should have been banned from chess because he had fought for
the Third Reich. I do not believe that a Ukrainian should have been banned from chess because he had fought for a Ukrainian
nationalist army that was allied with the Third Reich. (The Ukrainian would have been boycotted by the USSR.)
Should Alekhine have been banned from chess because he wrote (which he denied) bigoted articles about Jews in chess?
I have read or heard some strong players make bigoted or racist comments about non-white players, such as Asians until
fairly recently and Africans to this day.
Anna Netrebko, a Russian opera singer, declared her disapproval of Russia's war on Ukraine. Yet the Metropolitan Opera
terminated her because she declined to make a public statement condemning Putin by name. She endorsed Putin in a
2012 election, but that does not necessarily imply any endorsement of his decision to go to war in 2022.
I don't believe that, as a condition of their employment abroad, Russians should be required to condemn their government.
Karjakin has been intentionally much more provocative and offensive than Anna Netrebko.
Karjakin has declared that being a patriotic Russian (as he perceives himself) is more important than his chess career.
So he seems fully prepared to live with the consequences.
When Karjakin returns to international chess, perhaps FIDE should find a way for individual players to signify their disapproval
of his statements (such as by not shaking hands) without requiring them to refuse to play with him.
From the Russian website RT:
[DM: I'll provisionally assume that the following is true, but in general I'd put as much trust in them as a Biden supporter places in FOX News and a Trump supporter places in MSNBC.]
"Ukraine chess sisters refuse to sign anti-Russian letter
Mariya and Anna Muzychuk are facing expulsion for declining to support a total ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
Chess officials in Ukraine say they will punish former world champions Mariya and Anna Muzychuk after the siblings refused
to sign a letter calling for the total exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from international events.
[DM: The UCF letter is more understandable than what FIDE is doing - Ukraine, unlike FIDE, is facing a mortal threat to its existence, and a threat to the lives of at least tens of thousands of citizens. It also makes more sense to ban those countries' players in toto rather than picking out those whose opinions are especially obnoxious. Still, I'm not sure that the UCF is right, and am very sure that they are wrong to punish the Muzychuks for their decision. Their not signing the letter doesn't mean that they approve of what Russia is doing.]
The Lvov Chess Federation issued a statement this week listing a host of requests for world governing body FIDE, including the
expulsion of the Russian and Belarusian federations from the organization and a complete ban on players from the two countries.
The letter also demanded that Russian FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich step down because of his supposed association with
“bloody dictator” Vladimir Putin."
[DM: Also somewhat strange. Yes, Dvorkovich has a history in "real" (i.e. not just chess) politics, but given that it was his administration that DQ'd Karjakin from the Candidates, it's weird to single him out as a bad guy. The logic here is strange, though. If he's supposed to step down *not* because he's a Russian, but because of his association with Putin, that suggests that being Russian is not a sufficient condition for being sanctioned. But that seems inconsistent with their demand for a complete ban on Russians and Belarusians, which renews my suspicions about material from RT.]
"The letter from the Lvov federation, which was shared on Facebook, contained a host of signatories but noted that 2015 world
champion Mariya Muzychuk and 2017 world championship runner-up Anna Muzychuk – who is a former rapid and blitz world
champion – did not support the calls.
As a result, the organization said it would “cease cooperation” with the Lvov-born sisters and initiate proceedings for their
exclusion from the federation."
"Karjakin, 32, admitted that he and the Muzychuk sisters were on “opposite sides of the barricades” but added he respected
their refusal to back a blanket ban on Russians, saying “sports principles are not just an empty phrase for them.”
Anna Muzychuk had criticized Karjakin in a Facebook post at the end of February, stating her opposition to Russia’s actions
in Ukraine and calling on more Russian players to speak out against the conflict."
[DM: I'm sure the Muzychuks will cherish this approving statement from Karjakin - maybe he can even eulogize them if Putin's troops or missiles happen to kill them.]