Chess teams from Russia, Belarus suspended; not to play in Chennai Olympiad

By Venkatachari Jagannathan

Chennai, March 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) The International Chess Federation or FIDE on Wednesday suspended Russian and Belarus national teams from participating in official FIDE tournaments until further notice.

With this, the FIDE put an end to the uncertainty of participation of the strong Russian chess team in the upcoming 44th Chess Olympiad to be held in Chennai in July-August 2022.

India as the host country can field two teams, and if the number of entries are in odd numbers, the host nation can field one more team.

In a statement the FIDE said: "Taking into account the current recommendations of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), the FIDE Council suspends the national teams of Russia and Belarus from participation in official FIDE tournaments until further notice."

"In the individual tournaments of the FIDE World Championship cycle, players from these countries will be able to participate under the FIDE flag," FIDE added.

Earlier, a senior FIDE official had told IANS preferring anonymity: "The Russian team probably may not come."

With the West against Russia and FIDE cancelling its sponsorship agreements with Russian and Belarusian companies, participation of the Russian team might have resulted in several countries boycotting the event if the geopolitical situation does not improve by July.

The chess federation of Ukraine, as per reports, has called for a ban of all Russian players and Russians from the FIDE elections.

In 1976, the Soviet Union and some other countries did not participate in the Olympiad due to political reasons.

The Russian team won the bronze in the last Chess Olympiad held at Batumi, Georgia. Russia has won the Olympiad gold eight times, besides winning the silver and bronze thrice each.

Meanwhile, Bharat Singh Chauhan, the Tournament Director for the Chess Olympiad who's also the Secretary of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), said around 3,000 hotel rooms have already been booked along the East Coast Road for the players and others coming for the mega chess event.

The Olympiad venue will be the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton, located in the Mahabalipuram area, one of the main tourist destinations in southern India.

According to Chauhan, India as the host country can field two teams and if the number of entries are in odd numbers, the host nation can field one more team.

All the Indian teams -- Open, Women and additional team(s) -- will be selected based on ELO ratings, Chauhan added.

Irai Anbu, the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, the host state, said the government will render necessary assistance to AICF when queried about the state's financial involvement in the event.

According to AICF President Sanjay Kapoor, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the AICF and the Tamil Nadu government in connection with the Chess Olympiad.

The FIDE on Tuesday approved the bid offered by the AICF to host the mega biennial event that would see about 190 nations competing for top honours. The AICF had suggested Chennai as the venue.

"Around 2,500 persons -- chess players, coaches, team managers and chess officials from different countries, journalists and others -- will arrive in the city where the Chess Olympiad is held," British Grandmaster and FIDE Vice-President Nigel Short had said earlier.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

Source: IANS