Should Russian Chess Players be cut-off as individual participants.
The Russia-Ukraine War is the hottest topic, both figuratively and literally. It is a well-known fact that Wars lead to destruction and devastation on a large scale. Numerous lives are lost, the economy of both the opposing sides plummet. But still, wars are unavoidable in the face of human disagreement, the ego of strong leaders, and human psychology that their way is the right one.
The problem, however, is those powerful people who incite the wars are not the ones who suffer the most; in many cases, they are not affected at all. The crushing blows come to the commoners, the people who never asked for any of it. Such is the case of Russia as well. You can see people getting arrested for anti-war protests, but they will be the ones who face the brunt of the War severely.
This War has led to several crippling sanctions being imposed on Russia, leading to tanking of the Russian Rouble, which is now worth less than a cent. The sports organizations have cut-off ties with the Russian athletes. FIFA has banned Russian participation, IOC has followed suit in some sports.
The talking point here is the impending ban on Russian Chess Players. As it is well known worldwide, Chess is deeply ingrained in the Russian Culture.
Russia boasts a plethora of Grandmasters and a pantheon of World Chess Champions. Chess has always enjoyed extensive state support and funds in Russia. It has been a matter of pride for Russia, their Chess Prowess.
But, the catch is that Chess is an individual sport, which is why it is a lot harder than a team sport. The lack of self-motivation and personal conditions often leads to a talented individual dropping their chess ambitions because it is also relatively harder to earn a decent living unless you belong to the top 30–40 in the world.
On the personal front, many prominent Russian Chess players have expressed their dissent on the ongoing War and have been vocal about how they don’t support it. They wrote an open letter to Putin to Stop the War. Many others have expressed their concerns on Twitter and have been quite clear in their stance on War. There is also a provision by the FIDE(Internation Chess Federation) that if a person doesn’t want to represent their country, they can play under the FIDE flag in the tournaments. So, It doesn’t make much sense to deprive those talented players of their means of livelihood and put their careers in jeopardy if there is a way FIDE can easily proceed on.
There have been players much accomplished, like Sergey Karjakin (former challenger to the world chess champion) and retired Anatoly Karpov (the former world chess champion). They have very clearly supported the War and have, in response, befittingly been banned from many prestigious tournaments in the future. Karjakin also made crude jokes about the War, which gives a clear picture of the difference between Chess Intelligence and ordinary intelligence.
Many Ukrainian Players also share the view that players who have been against War should not be punished. However, the Russian team should be banned from representation in Chess Olympiads and World Teams.
I agree with that as Chess Players individually should not be stopped from the opportunity without their fault. However, people have different opinions on the matter, which is quite fair as people with different perspectives should have different views.
Do tell me what do you think about the matter in the comments!
