Honorary President of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF), the twelfth world chess champion Anatoly Karpov, on February 22, commented to Izvestia on the possible transition of the RCR to the Asian Chess Federation (ACF).
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Council of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) had given permission for the FSR to move to an Asian organization. The decision will be made at the ACF Continental Assembly on February 28.
“In general, I was against us leaving the European Chess Union, because territorially we and two other countries that have the right to be both there and there. These are Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan. I believe that there is no reason to restrain the presence of these countries in both the European and Asian federations. Moreover, interests do not intersect anywhere, both of them hold their own championships. So Russia can easily send from the European part from Europe, and from the Asian part – to the Asian championships, ”Karpov emphasized.
He also expressed bewilderment why the chess organization takes part in political processes.
“Why did the chess organization get into politics at all? Firstly, we have the oldest world title in the history of sports, we had the first world champions in 1886. Our federation will celebrate 100 years next year. There have never been political decisions during this entire huge period, but for some reason they took their lead,” the chess player noted.
According to the FSR, the FIDE constitutional commission studied the option of the federation’s transition from the European Chess Union (ECU) to the ACF and did not find any violations in it.
At the ACF Continental Assembly, where the final decision will be made, the FSR delegation will be headed by its President Andrey Filatov. The Assembly will be held in Abu Dhabi from 26 February to 3 March.
In March 2022, FIDE announced the removal of the national teams of Russia and Belarus from competitions under the auspices of the organization. It was about team tournaments, including the World Chess Olympiad. The team was also expelled from the European Chess Union.
