“I'm not afraid of something happening to me, but I do suffer pressure,” admits Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).. He does not usually allow tension to show on his face, but since the war in Ukraine broke out his situation is much more delicate, inside and outside his country.. He was the first former Russian ruler to publicly oppose the invasion, a brave move but not enough to appease critics.. Dvorkovich receives EL MUNDO without conditions, although it does not take long to warn: “In the current situation, there are some sensitive issues that I prefer not to delve into.”
Before presiding over FIDE, he was Deputy Prime Minister to Dimitri Medvedev and Economic Advisor to Vladimir Putin, and led the organization of the 2018 World Cup.. Now he presides over a gigantic organization, to which 200 countries belong and where a moment of chess boiling is going on, with several open fronts: the abdication of Magnus Carlsen as champion, fear of cheating and some case of sexual harassment that hinders the desired female chess growth. The best news is that the recent World Cup was a highly celebrated spectacle, a relief from those who have been announcing the death of classical chess for some time: “Yes, it was great.”. Despite the doubts related to the absence of Magnus, we showed that the World Championship is still the World Championship.”
Dvorkovich receives EL MUNDO in Cyprus, during the celebration of the last women's Grand Prix of the season, sponsored, like the recent World Cup, by the Freedom Finance Europe group. On the island we also meet its founder, Timur Turlov, 35, a Muscovite billionaire who decided to emigrate to Kazakhstan “in search of freedom”.. He even renounced Russian citizenship to “not be part of the huge mistake made by Russia”. Despite this, his alliance with FIDE has been highly criticized by Peter Heine Nielsen, Carlsen's second. As in the case of Dvorkovich, the broken ties become entangled and provide arguments for defenders and detractors of the new world order of chess.
women in chess
In Cyprus women play and we therefore begin by talking about the boost that FIDE wants to give to their presence on the boards. “We are experimenting a little. We don't know what the ideal format is. In chess it is a tradition to have open competitions, where women can compete without problems, but in team tournaments it is even more necessary.. For this reason, during the pandemic we organized two Olympics online with mixed teams. It worked very well and we want to repeat it at the World Rapid Chess Team Championship to be held in Düsseldorf in August. Also in Dubai, in the first Global Chess League, where each team will have at least two women. The future is mixed tournaments”, adds Dvorkovich. “That does not mean that we are going to change the Olympic Games, which have a long tradition, but it does mean in other competitions.”
Despite everything, progress is not evident. “In terms of visibility, the gap is closing, but the numbers still do not show great progress,” acknowledges the FIDE president.. “We did a lot to develop women's chess, but it takes time. The women's world championship cycle has an optimal format and we have a sufficient number of competitions. We increased the prize funds, although not enough. We need to do more, but we started the process and again, it takes time.. Hopefully very soon the world will see that there is a massive development of women's chess on the internet.. We also encourage professional women as referees, fair play officials, appeal committee members, organizers and in the press so that there is a real balance.”
Did you feel supported by the results of the World Cup?”Yes, I think that classical chess is alive. That's not to say we don't see the trend toward faster models.. In the team world championships, for example, we already use formats of 45 minutes or two games a day. But that does not mean that blitz and rapid chess should completely replace classical.. In the World Championship, any change must be supported by the vast majority of professionals, the media and the community in general.. So we are not going to do experiments with this. Only if there is a broad consensus will we change the format. but we are open. The ideas exist and we will discuss them.” Can you tell us more about your meeting with Carlsen in Madrid? Just reconfirm that Magnus did not make any requests and that we did not put conditions on him. It was just a friendly discussion about possible ways to develop the World Championship cycle in general. Deep down in your Russian soul, did you wish to see the crown go back to your country? From a human perspective, of course, I have personal preferences, but that does not affect my professional work. We create equal conditions for both players. I think everyone can confirm. Of course, I'm Russian, so it's normal that I usually support Russian athletes, but I also really like Ding Liren.. He is a very nice, modest and talented person. Just because he is Russian and because of his ties to the Government, some believe that he should not preside over FIDE. First of all, I think that we should treat people according to their professional level and performance, not of nationalities, races, religion, gender and other things. I hate when people base themselves on those criteria.. I will not allow it to prevail in FIDE. We are a family and we must treat everyone equally, be they athletes, officials, coaches or any other member of our community. Secondly, we have a lot of pressure from all sides. From the beginning, we adopted the IOC recommendations and that is why professionals have the right to play and earn a living from chess, which is why we allow them to participate in individual competitions.. This does not solve all the problems and it is very unfortunate that Ukrainian players are subject to restrictions from their own government due to the participation of Russian chess players.. We seek solutions to preserve the rights of all, but it is very difficult. Do you feel in zugzwang? (chess term, of German origin, which refers to a position in which all possible moves are losers) Not exactly, since until now we have always been able to find a solution, suboptimal, but a solution. We are making progress or at least we are not yet in zugzwang. The Niemann-Carlsen case is another open front. First of all, it is open in the courts of the United States and that is why we do not interfere. I understand that the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission will wait for the judicial resolution. Another unresolved matter is the accusations of sexual abuse against Alejandro Ramírez. We do not discuss this individual case, but we do suspend his participation in one of the FIDE commissions.. We also discussed in detail the problem of sexual harassment and abuse in the FIDE council and prepared to regulate those issues.. Do you think it is a widespread problem, as Susan Polgar says? I personally don't know of cases, but there are signs and I have received letters that the problem exists, so we have to deal with it. What can you tell me about cheating in the chess? I am used to working for the Government and your obligation is always to find a solution and improve the situation. We invest a lot, in terms of human resources and money, to minimize cheating. On the internet it is much more serious. We know the efforts of the main platforms, only partially successful. On the board, the problem is not that big, although there were some cases and sanctions were applied, not many. The Fair Play Commission has developed more effective procedures based on collecting all kinds of data on player behavior, not just based on algorithms and using scanners. We have more extensive techniques and we train our officials and experts in fair play. Cheaters will know they are more likely to get caught and I think this will work.. Another crucial aspect is educating young people. Technology allows more and more things to be done. That does not mean that all people tend to do them. Not everyone steals money from the bank, only a tiny percentage. At least I hope that the percentage of cheaters in chess is not higher. Is there a possibility of seeing a cheating world champion? I'm sure not. At this level, at least on the board, I know all the best ones personally and reputation is important to them. It is true that many on the internet do not consider chess to be something serious and unfortunately some cheat: That is bad, but the most important thing is to avoid cheating in a World Championship cycle. Chess has its own Olympics. To what extent is it important to also enter the Olympic Games? Will we see it? I think so. I would love to see a chess player celebrating an Olympic medal. It would be something wonderful. That does not mean that chess cannot exist without the Games. Everyone would win and we worked on that, on quite a few projects with the IOC. In addition, this year we will be part of the Olympic eSports Series for the first time, whose final is held in June in Singapore. Of course, they are different from the traditional Olympic Games, but it is still a good pilot project. In addition, chess has been included in many continental competitions and this year it will be exhibited for the first time at the European Games, in Poland. Chess is already part of the Olympic movement. You just need to take a few more steps. This is your last year as president. Do you feel freer for that? No. I have a great responsibility, leave a strong legacy, and I am fully focused. Anyway, I will stay in chess for sure. In which place? Time will tell.