– Of course, this is very good news and a very important victory. These are competitive elections and the incumbent Fide leader has confirmed his effectiveness and that his work is considered excellent, says Dmitry Peskov to the Russian media agency Tass. As press spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, Peskov sits close to power in the Kremlin. – It is brilliant and this is an important organisation. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and we hope that Dvorkovich will cope with that job, says Peskov. PUTIN SPOKESMAN: Dmitry Peskov. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP The Russian chess president, Soviet-Ukrainian-born Andrey Filatov, also rejoiced over the victory of the countryman on the association’s own pages: – Congratulations to Arkady Dvorkovich and his team on such a convincing victory! Such a significant majority – 157 votes against 16 for the rival – shows that Russia is not isolated. I thank the whole team, especially Mark Glukhovskij and Mikhail Kobalia, for the successful efforts before the election and support for our candidate. Dvorkovich’s opponent was the Ukrainian grandmaster Andriy Baryshpolets. He wanted to remove Dvorkovich from the leadership position in Fide because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, but only 16 nations voted for Baryshpolets. – He was created by the Kremlin Atle Grønn is known both as a Norwegian chess player, chess expert and professor of Russian at the University of Oslo. Now he comes out strongly against the re-election of Russian Dvorkovitch, who also brings with him the former president of the Norwegian Chess Federation, Jøran Aulin-Jansson, as one of two vice-presidents in Fide. Until 2018, Dvorkovich was deputy prime minister in Russia during the government of Putin-friendly Dmitry Medvedev. He has previously been critical of the war in Ukraine. “War kills hope and ambition, and stops or destroys relationships and cohesion”, he has stated, among other things. CHESS EXPERT: Atle Grønn has extensive experience with both Russian and chess. Photo: Jørund Wessel Carlsen / news Still, Grønn is critical. – He was created by the Kremlin, he got his career through these people and he is shaped by them, Grønn comments. On Facebook, he writes, among other things, that “shame sinks over the world of chess” after the Russian was elected for a new term. – It is a moral failure that we sacrifice Ukraine for our own comfort, he elaborates to news. news has tried to get in touch with Fide, but has not received an answer to the inquiry. I think he will look towards Asia. Russia is banned from Fide as a result of the Ukraine war, and it is forbidden to hold tournaments in Russia and Belarus. The chess expert therefore believes that the Russian Fide president will turn his gaze to Asia in order to avoid the Ukraine problem. – In Asia, Russian chess, the Kremlin and the Dvorkovich team can have it the way they want to a greater extent, he believes. One example is the Chess Olympics, which were originally supposed to be played in Moscow. It was instead played in India – and was concluded on Tuesday. – In Asia, Ukraine is a problem far away. They have their own problems. Dvorkovich and his team will have an interest in chess becoming a showcase for the normalization of war. That chess will allow Russians to participate internationally. But that means that more and more championships and important tournaments must be moved to Asia, Grønn points out. He primarily criticizes the European countries for not having voted for a change of chess president. – The chess pampas from Asia and Africa probably mostly hitchhike in Ukraine, they probably have other problems in their immediate areas. Therefore, there was never any hope that we would get a change, but to the extent that voting is embarrassing for someone, it is the European countries that did not vote for a change. FORMER CHESS PRESIDENT: Jøran Aulin-Jansson (right) together with Magnus Carlsen’s former manager, Espen Agdestein, in Sochi in 2014. Carlsen was playing against Vishy Anand in the match for the WC title at the time. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB Stilte with a Norwegian on the team Magnus Carlsen’s coach, Peter Heine Nilsen, and also Barysjpolets’ vice-presidential candidate, has previously criticized Norwegian Aulin-Jansson for running together with Dvorkovitsj. And Grønn believes that it may have caused confusion internationally about Norway’s view that a Norwegian stood as a vice-presidential candidate for Dvorkovic. – Most people reckon that Norway probably stands behind Dvorković since he had a Norwegian on the team, says Grønn. – It has created a confusing situation that they have a Norwegian vice-presidential candidate, while we have a chess federation that has landed on what I would call the side of decency. President of the Norwegian Chess Federation, Joachim Birger Nilsen, confirms that Norway voted for Ukrainian Andrij Barysjpolets. – We also announced this in a separate matter on election day, he says. He nevertheless admits that the union could have been out earlier and more clearly to inform about the position of the union. – But it was out of the question for us to vote for Dvorković, even though we think he has done a good job in many areas in recent years. With a Russian passport and his connection to the Kremlin, it was impossible, he points out. – Jøran’s (Aulin-Jansson) vice-presidential candidacy is of a private nature, and has nothing to do with the Norwegian Chess Federation, he underlines. Aulin-Jansson has previously commented on the decision to run as one of two vice-presidential candidates for news. He then said the following: – I spent some time thinking about it. It is not entirely without controversy to put together a Russian in these times. After checking with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other people who knew about Russia, I decided to stand, he said then.
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