https://sputnikglobe.com/20220906/chess-grandmaster-disqualified-for-backing-russias-ukraine-op-lambasts-western-cancel-culture-1100454203.html

Chess Grandmaster Disqualified for Backing Russia's Ukraine Op Lambasts Western Cancel Culture

Chess Grandmaster Disqualified for Backing Russia's Ukraine Op Lambasts Western Cancel Culture

Sputnik International

Grandmasters from Russia, including all regions of the Far East, and the Asia-Pacific region will compete for the EEF Cup. The tournament prize fund is... 06.09.2022, Sputnik International

2022-09-06T16:53+0000

2022-09-06T16:53+0000

2022-10-19T19:37+0000

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Sputnik spoke to Russian chess grandmaster Sergei Karjakin on the sidelines of the EEF Cup International Chess Tournament at the 2022 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Karjakin described the Eastern Economic Forum as a big event not just for Vladivostok, but for the whole Far East."It is very important for chess that there is a chess tournament here and I was happy to support it. I am not playing exactly in the main tournament, but I am giving a lot of stimulus to the kids, to the businessmen, to the local chess players. We're working with the government on a very nice idea to open a chess club here. I hope we will manage to do it and we hope we'll get support from the government. Therefore, I have a lot of things to do here and I'm happy to be here."According to Karjakin, who was banned from playing at FIDE-rated events and Grand Chess Tour events as well over his public approval of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, cancel culture is widely used in chess in the West, with players getting harassed for voicing unpopular opinions. Sputnik: There is a lot of distraction, probably, for the younger generation with gadgets, with computer games. How is chess fitting into all of this? Is there growing interest or is it staying the same, or is there less interest in chess among young people?Sergei Karjakin: Well, we have to admit that now there are a lot of things for the kids they can do. And if we compare, for example, with the Soviet Union, where chess was one of the main sports, it was very clear: the kids had hockey, chess, football, and that was all. Now we have a lot of things, and of course, we have gadgets. We have a lot of computer games, we have iPhones, but chess also has to be there. We have to have some chess apps. Anyway, I hope that chess will be a big part of kids' lives. Sputnik: Since you mentioned Soviet times, chess was probably part of politics back then, with Soviet chess players and American chess players being at the center of attention and with politicians trying to play their games around them. Now we see something which is probably similar to you being disqualified over your opinion about Russia's current policies. Is it still part of politics? Is it a political thing?Sergei Karjakin: Well, I have to say that in the Soviet Union, of course, there was a lot of politics. I mean, we shouldn't pretend that it wasn't like that. But anyway, everything was decided on the chess board. And if I remember some great chess matches, for example, Karpov-Korchnoi or Karpov-Kasparov, it was a lot of politics, but anyway they played with the strongest player winning. So now I'm unhappy not only because of my disqualification, but also because big politics came to chess. And now it's not enough to win on the chess board. Now, unfortunately, if you want to be in the top international tournaments, you have to have an opinion, which is the Western opinion on things. But if you have a Russian opinion, then you can be disqualified, unfortunately. I am not happy, of course. This is not only not normal for chess, but for any sport.Sputnik: Is it part of the cancel culture that we are seeing in the West right now?Sergei Karjakin: It is, yes. Exactly. I mean, I had some hopes that it wasn't, that it would not be like that because chess is not an Olympic sport. But somehow recently all this politics came to chess also.Sputnik: You mentioned calls recently in one of your interviews, calls to expel the Russian Federation of Chess from the International Chess Federation (FIDE). What do you think about this? Is this also part of the political process?Sergei Karjakin: Yes, FIDE is canceling not only me, but also our teams. And it's actually a very unfortunate story, because the Chess Olympiad was supposed to be first in Khanty-Mansiysk, but they moved to Moscow, which is quite okay. Everything was ready. And we were also preparing. And then all the things happened. And the Olympiad went from Moscow to India, and then our teams were disqualified, not only Russian, but Belarusian players too. They were also canceled. They were disqualified. So it's very stupid. And it is a totally political thing.

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