{"id":16877,"date":"2022-04-03T19:43:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T19:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/?p=16877"},"modified":"2022-04-24T05:26:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T05:26:08","slug":"chess-intelligentsia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/chess-intelligentsia","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPropaganda on the back of chess\u201d: The Chess Intelligentsia, part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">\u201cPropaganda on the back of chess\u201d: The Chess Intelligentsia, part 1<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Contents:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#introduction\">Introduction<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#sutovsky1\"><strong>Emil Sutovsky<\/strong><\/a>: FIDE didn\u2019t \u201cgo down this path\u201d of following their own regulation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#tsorbatzoglou\"><strong>\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou<\/strong><\/a>: Appeal to the UN resolution against Russian actions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#nielsen\"><strong>Peter Heine Nielsen<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0 \u201cWe believe in sanctions for a reason: this war has to stop\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#aagaard\"><strong>Jacob Aagaard<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0 \u201cShould chess be used as a propaganda tool? Our opinion is no\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#gormally\"><strong>Daniel Gormally<\/strong><\/a>: We are very hypocritical, but it\u2019s for the sake of human rights.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#garrett\"><strong>Yuri Garrett<\/strong><\/a>: Propagandists, yes, but only if they support our cause.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#sutovsky2\"><strong>Emil Sutovsky<\/strong><\/a>: We should reward those who are \u201c<em>expressing so bravely their stance\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"introduction\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Introduction: The &#8216;chess intelligentsia&#8217; and the banning of chess players<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In a previous article, I talked about the <a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-persecution-of-the-russian-chess-players\/\">decision by FIDE of banning of Russian and Belarus players<\/a> in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I also explained how <a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-tyranny-of-fide-double-standard\/\">FIDE hypocritically prevented the boycott by Iran of the other illegal occupation condemned by the United Nations<\/a>. This article explains how the chess intelligentsia has reacted to these events.<\/p>\n<p>A few days ago, took place an online panel discussion among chess executives and personalities. The order of the day was determining whether FIDE did well banning Russian and Belarus players. During the course of the session, it transpired that chess institutions are being used as tools in a propaganda war. More impressively, none of the participants seemed to be intending to disguise this fact.<\/p>\n<p>By the confrontational attitude with which some of the participants approached the discussion, you may run away with the idea that there is large disagreement among them. In fact, the level of agreement over the central point was staggering. This is very common in western politics: heated debate over peripheral matters, making us feel like democracy is taking place.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sutovsky1\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Emil Sutovsky, Director General of the International Chess Federation:<\/strong><br \/>\nFIDE didn\u2019t \u201cgo down this path\u201d of following their own regulation<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16884\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16884\" style=\"width: 131px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16884\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-1.png\" alt=\"Sutovsky 1\" width=\"131\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-1.png 131w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-1-9x12.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 131px) 100vw, 131px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emil Sutovsky young<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><u><\/u>FIDE made a unilateral decision to ban Russian and Belarus chess players, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-persecution-of-the-russian-chess-players\/\">in violation of their own regulation<\/a><\/span>. The Charter of the organization requires that decisions on suspensions or exclusions be taken by the General Assembly and not by the Council. Director General, Emil Sutovsky, explained the organization\u2019s lack of accountability:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhat FIDE did was actually a responsible move. We could have started questioning a number of federations, what they think, if the Russian team should be excluded from the Olympiad or not\u2026 But we didn\u2019t go down this path; we felt this is the right way to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>FIDE just did \u201cthe right thing\u201d and courageously took matter into their own hand. The opinion of the national federations didn\u2019t matter because, as Jacob Aagaard pointed out, <em>\u201cthese 150 members we have, some of them are islands with just a few chess players. Chess is to a huge extent a European sport.\u201d<\/em> But the Federation of Cape Verde or the Virgin Islands also pays their fees and are FIDE members as well\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Sutovsky explained, <em>\u201cUkranian players demand every Russian player not be eligible to play any open competition, any international competition, any rating competition. Now, I will not be criticizing one iota of the proposal by Ukranian players. I may disagree, I may think that they are wrong, but they are in their right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>They are in the right by what measure? Not by the FIDE own standard, by which the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-tyranny-of-fide-double-standard\/\">Iranian Federation was given an ultimatum<\/a><\/span> for trying to oppose the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/antipropagandist.com\/the-israeli-occupation-of-palestinian-territory-is-illegal-by-international-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israeli illegal occupation of Palestinian territory<\/a><\/span>, repeatedly denounced by the United Nations. In a previous interview, FIDE Vice-president, Nigel Short, called this kind of behavior \u201cin-your-face racism\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Now, you may be thinking that the war in Ukraine is not comparable, and therefore extreme measures are necessary. In fact, the massacre of the Palestinian people by hands of Israel is quite a lot worse, both by legal and by humanitarian standards. Neither are those two wars the only ones going on today. But somehow only Ukraine matters to international sports institutions.<u><br \/>\n<\/u><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tsorbatzoglou\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou, Secretary General of the European Chess Union (ECU)<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><br \/>\nAppeal to the UN resolution against Russian actions<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16886\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16886\" style=\"width: 191px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"thepasted-4\" class=\"wp-image-16886\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"191\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2.png 195w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the discussion, there was a small concern over FIDE, an International Organization, being turned into a political force for the West. \u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou insisted that this issue was not a geopolitical divide, since most nations have expressed their opposition to the war. <em>\u201cThere was a resolution in the UN about this invasion, and 170-180 countries voted on this resolution, from West and East. Around 20-30 abstain and only 3-4 supported Russia.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2022\/03\/1113152\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The actual figures were 5 votes against, with 35 abstentions, 141 in favor<\/a>. Overwhelming agreement, you may be thinking. Not as overwhelming as the <a href=\"http:\/\/Source: https:\/\/unwatch.org\/2021-2022-unga-resolutions-on-israel-vs-rest-of-the-world\/\">UN resolutions against the Israeli occupation of Palestine<\/a> that FIDE did not act on. The 76th session of the UN General Assembly (2021-2022) favorably voted on all 14 resolutions regarding Israel. 11 of the 14 resolutions had more than the 141 favorable votes that the Ukrainian issue achieved. Here are some of the results of the vote:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 99.6858%; height: 121px;\" width=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 27px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 27px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><strong><u>Issue<\/u><\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 27px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\"><strong>Against<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 27px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\"><strong>Abstein<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 27px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\"><strong>In favor<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>The occupied Syrian Golam<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">2<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">23<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">149<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">7<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">20<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">146<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Assistance to Palestine refugees<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">1<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">10<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">164<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">5<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">6<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">162<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 14px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 14px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Palestine refugees\u2019 properties and their revenues<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 14px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">5<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 14px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">8<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 14px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">159<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">6<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">24<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">157<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">7<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">15<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">156<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">5<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">10<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">168<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 10px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"371\"><em>Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">9<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"56\">14<\/td>\n<td style=\"height: 10px; text-align: center;\" width=\"61\">148<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unwatch.org\/2021-2022-unga-resolutions-on-israel-vs-rest-of-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: https:\/\/unwatch.org\/2021-2022-unga-resolutions-on-israel-vs-rest-of-the-world\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"nielsen\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Peter Heine Nielsen, Grandmaster and renowned coach<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\u201cWe believe in sanctions for a reason: this war has to stop\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16888\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16888\" style=\"width: 137px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16888\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted.png\" alt=\"Nielsen\" width=\"137\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted.png 137w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-9x12.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 137px) 100vw, 137px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter Heine Nielsen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><u><\/u>Peter Heine Nielsen, arguably the most successful chess second of all time, seemed to think that the chess federation has the ability to weaken the war effort: <em>\u201cWe believe in sanctions for a reason: this war has to stop\u201d<\/em>, he said.<\/p>\n<p>So how are all these measures going to help end the war exactly? Nielsen repeatedly expressed his concern over propaganda, suggesting the banning of players sponsored by nationalist Russian companies. Nielsen, as well as the other panelists, didn\u2019t seem to understand that FIDE has to act according to its regulation, and that FIDE administration does not have any legal authority to break this regulation.<\/p>\n<p>It is laudable and respectable to try to stop wars. But first of all, you should make sure you are stopping the war and not fulfilling someone else\u2019s political agenda. Secondly if stopping a war was a good reason for a boycott, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-tyranny-of-fide-double-standard\/\">why was the Iranian Federation given an ultimatum for trying to stop the war in Palestine<\/a><\/span>? This is an issue that didn\u2019t bother the chess intelligentsia at all.<\/p>\n<p>The astonishing thing for me is that the panelists seemed very angry at FIDE and, in particular, at FIDE Director General Emil Sutovsky, who was present in the discussion. The chess intelligentsia wasn\u2019t outraged at the fact that FIDE is blatantly violating its charter and constitutional principles. They weren\u2019t appalled by the politically charged double-standard of FIDE. They thought FIDE should have gone much further with their illicit sanctions! In the words of Nielsen:<em> \u201cI think we have to give our part and, for instance, not have sort of milder versions than the IOC recommends\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"aagaard\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Jacob Aagard, Grandmaster and prolific chess author<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\u201cShould chess be used as a propaganda tool? Our opinion is no\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16890\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16890\" style=\"width: 123px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"thepasted-8\" class=\"wp-image-16890\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3.png\" alt=\"Aagaard\" width=\"123\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3.png 111w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3-8x12.png 8w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 123px) 100vw, 123px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16890\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacob Aagaard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jacob Aagard, gave a straightforward answer to this question: <em>\u201cShould chess be used as a propaganda tool in Russia, to show Russian greatness? Our opinion is no.\u201d \u201cWe do not think that this is an appropriate situation for Russia to do internal propaganda on the back of chess.\u201d <\/em>So this is an anti-propaganda tactic. It makes a lot of sense not to give a platform to propagandists\u2026 except that is not exactly what they meant.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"garrett\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Yuri Garrett, Board Director of the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP):<\/strong><br \/>\nPropagandists, yes, but only if they support our cause<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"248\" height=\"108\" id=\"thepasted-12\" class=\"wp-image-16893 size-full alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4.png 248w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4-18x8.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px\" \/>Every panelist seemed to agree that no Russian propaganda should be allowed. <em>\u201cI do share of course Jacob&#8217;s (Jacob Aagaard\u2019s) point of view when he says we can&#8217;t allow Russian sports heroes.\u201d<\/em>, said Garret. But don\u2019t get mistaken, this is not a quest to fight against the propaganda, this is a propaganda war:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThere are so many Russians who oppose the war there are so many Russians who hate what is happening, who despise their country for what it\u2019s doing, and they have voices. By silencing them the dissidents will not be able to speak up. I mean just imagine if we had banned Grischuk, he would never have had the chance to come up to the west and say, well I am against.\u201d Garret remarked.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"gormally\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Daniel Gormally, Grandmaster, chess author and columnist<\/strong>:<br \/>\nWe are very hypocritical, but it\u2019s for the sake of human rights<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16895\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16895\" style=\"width: 117px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"thepasted-13\" class=\"wp-image-16895 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5.png\" alt=\"Gormally\" width=\"117\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5.png 117w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5-10x12.png 10w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 117px) 100vw, 117px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16895\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Gormally<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There was widespread consensus that Russians can play so long as they are on our side, the Western side. It is important to clarify this because, again, no action was taken against any war crime or illegal aggression from Western allies. As Gormally himself pointed out <em>\u201cwe are very hypocritical in the West: we bomb countries, we invade countries\u2026\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p>According to him, this hypocrisy springs from our desire to spread human rights around the world. So when a western military power commits an act of international aggression, kills a million people, wrecks the country, and produces a humanitarian crisis for many years to come\u2026 it is for the sake of human rights. Let\u2019s leave aside the fact that every time this happens, the human rights score of these countries plummets; this is not the point. What matters is that we tried: we did our best to free these people from the miseries of their rightless world. Remember this the next time you ponder about dangerous propaganda.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sutovsky2\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Emil Sutovsky, Director General of the International Chess Federation<\/strong>:<br \/>\nWe should reward those who are \u201c<em>expressing so bravely their stance\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I really left the best for last, ending as we started, with FIDE Director General, Emil Sutovksy. Here is how Sutovsky explained his rationale for sparing some of the Russians:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16897\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16897\" style=\"width: 121px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16897\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-6.png 144w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-6-11x12.png 11w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 121px) 100vw, 121px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emil Sutovsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"ETgmNhX\"><em>\u201cI think the collective punishment doesn\u2019t work. I think that the right of players to exist, to participate, especially when they were <strong>expressing so bravely their stance.<\/strong>\u201d \u201cDaniel Dubov has expressed against Crimea, which is a crime in Russia. He expressed himself in 2018 immediately after winning the title. And actually, just incidentally, the fact that he became (rapid) world champion gave him the <strong>platform to speak.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There was this strange feeling, floating in the air during the discussion, that Russians are under some kind of mortal danger from speaking. Obviously we\u2019re dealing with an autocracy, and autocracies punish people for speaking, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that, as they mentioned during the discussion, many Russians had already spoken up publicly against the war. They even wrote a collective letter to Putin, expressing their disagreement with him. None of them was punished in any way. But what about the others, the ones that Sutovsky wouldn\u2019t call \u201cbrave\u201d? Karjakin got punished for speaking \u201cnot bravely\u201d, and will miss the Candidates Tournament. I do not agree in the least with anything he said, but if we\u2019re going to speak of courage, I think Karjakin wins the day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"conclusion\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Conclusion:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The most amazing thing about this discussion is how much unperturbed the panelists were by the transparent fact that all these measures are directed towards pressuring players to make <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/why-is-fide-acting-as-a-propaganda-hub\/\">unwilling propaganda<\/a><\/span>, propaganda on the back of chess.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/chess-intelligentsia-2\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Go to part 2<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ACP Panel Discussion - Ukraine and Chess World\" width=\"843\" height=\"474\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l3CoOrD7biw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Orwellian Masters: The Chess Intelligentsia, Part 2<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16969\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Chess Intelligentsia 2\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1-272x182.jpg 272w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chess-Intelligentsia-1.jpg 612w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/chess-intelligentsia-1\/\"><u>first part of the discussion<\/u><\/a>, the issue of propaganda in chess was dealt with. In this second part, the panelists focused on the banning of individual players. The interesting thing about this discussion is that it shows us how chess executives make their decisions.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Contents:<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou: Sports federations can only sanction sports identities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Daniel Gormally: Karjakin should not be allowed to play because he is unpleasant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Peter Heine Nielsen: People with Russian sponsors should not be allowed to play.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Yury Garrett: You worked hard to classify but you cannot play? \u201cShit happens\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tsorbatzoglou\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou, Secretary General of the European Chess Union (ECU)<\/strong><strong>:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Sports federations can only sanction sports identities<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16886\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16886\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16886 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2.png\" alt=\"Tsorbatzoglou\" width=\"195\" height=\"130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2.png 195w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-2-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"SeOSNPK\">\u03a4heodoros Tsorbatzoglou, Secretary General of the European Chess Union, started off the second part of the conversation with some legal housekeeping\u2026<u><br \/>\n<\/u><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cSports federations cannot punish passports of nationalities. The sports federations can sanction the sports identity.\u201d<\/em> <em>\u201cOnly political organization can ban passports.\u201d \u201cPlayers can play as long as they change their sports identity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2026. Housekeeping that everybody immediately ignored, as you will see shortly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Jacob Aagaard, Grandmaster and prolific chess author<\/strong>:<br \/>\nShould Russian players be allowed in the Candidates Tournament?<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16890\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16890\" style=\"width: 111px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16890 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3.png\" alt=\"Aagaard\" width=\"111\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3.png 111w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-3-8x12.png 8w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 111px) 100vw, 111px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16890\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacob Aagaard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"FkIUsNJ\">Grandmaster and renowned author Jacob Aagard seemed very angry that unimportant issues were put to discussion. <em>\u201cI\u2019m a busy person\u201d<\/em>, he said. In his opinion, the only matter worth consideration was whether Russian players should be allowed in the Candidates tournament. The rest of them proceeded to give their opinions:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Daniel Gormally, Grandmaster, chess author and columnist<\/strong>:<br \/>\nKarjakin should not be allowed to play because he is unpleasant<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16895\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16895\" style=\"width: 117px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16895 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5.png\" alt=\"Gormally\" width=\"117\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5.png 117w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-5-10x12.png 10w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 117px) 100vw, 117px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16895\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Gormally<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Grandmaster and author Daniel Gormally commented that Karjakin should not be allowed to play even after he already qualified. His reason: Karjakin is outrageous, inflammatory and entitled; not a nice guy:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe question would be, is Karjakin playing the candidates or not. In my opinion, he should not play in the candidates. I think what he said is outrageous, it\u2019s inflammatory\u2026 He comes across as an incredibly entitled human being; not a very pleasant person at all. And therefore I think he should be thrown out of the candidates, and that should the candidates.\u201d<\/em> Gormally said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Peter Heine Nielsen, Grandmaster and renowned coach<\/strong>:<br \/>\nPeople with Russian sponsors should not be allowed to play<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16888\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16888\" style=\"width: 137px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16888 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted.png\" alt=\"Nielsen\" width=\"137\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted.png 137w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-9x12.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 137px) 100vw, 137px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter Heine Nielsen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"zlicuwv\">Everybody agreed profusely that Karjakin should not be allowed to play. But what about Ian Nepomniachtchi? Although he hasn\u2019t publicly supported his country, he is also a Russian. Surprisingly, Peter Heine Neilsen thought Nepo shouldn\u2019t be allowed to play either: he has the wrong sponsor.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cHe (Nepomniachtchi) is sponsored by Simanovsky, who has Sima Land. He might disagree with the videos that Sima Land makes, where thousands of people are praising Putin both before and after the war, but he adds credibility to it. He\u2019s representing Sima Land when he plays for the world championship and such, and so does Goryachkina. He is sponsored by obvious Putin propagandists who are supporting the war, and we shouldn\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Yuri Garrett, Board Director of the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP)<\/strong>:<br \/>\nYou worked hard to classify but you cannot play? \u201cShit happens\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16893 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"248\" height=\"108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4.png 248w, https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Pasted-4-18x8.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"bUcfKsB\">A bit too much, you may be thinking. Not enough for our next guest: Yuri Garrett, Board Director of the Association of Chess Professionals. When asked whether he thought Russians should be able to play under Russian flag, he replied vehemently:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cNo, no! Absolutely not! never ever! Nothing associated with Russia or Belorussia. As long as the war goes on, and then we will see, is completely out of the question.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So where does this stop? Is having a Russian girlfriend a good-enough reason for a ban? What if someone is a fan of the Spartak football team? It\u2019s worth noting that, as Tsorbatzoglou had pointed out before, no player can be targeted based on his nationality. However, we are already accustomed to <a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/the-persecution-of-the-russian-chess-players\/\"><u>FIDE violating their own charter<\/u><\/a>, so why bother with such minutiae?<\/p>\n<p>But if you thought you\u2019d seen it all, wait and watch this final remark:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, I understand that this poor, he studied all his life, he wants to become world champion. But Americans like to say it like this: shit happens! I would say that quite some shit happened here. And I really think that it would be bad for the world to let a Russian become a World Champion for chess. I don\u2019t know why if you ask me, but it really doesn\u2019t sound good to me. If he\u2019s Russian and he takes a stand against what it\u2019s happening, then of course we\u2019ll let him play.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Shit happens, indeed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/chess-intelligentsia-1\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Back to part 1<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cPropaganda on the back of chess\u201d: The Chess Intelligentsia, part 1 Contents: Introduction Emil Sutovsky: FIDE didn\u2019t \u201cgo down this path\u201d of following their own&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":907,"featured_media":16968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ppp_document_settings_meta":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-politics","category-english-language"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/907"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16877"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17478,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16877\/revisions\/17478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chessandmind.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}