Russia Ordered To Stop Organising Chess Events In Occupied Ukraine Or Face 3-Year Suspension

On the eve of its flagship Candidates Tournament starting in Cyprus, the world governing body of chess FIDE has some deep soul-searching to do. That much is clear.

On Friday The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) made a spectacular intervention in a dispute that has threatened to rip FIDE apart since Russia began its invasion of Crimea in 2014.

For 12 years now the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) has, according to CAS, been illegally organising chess events under the Russian flag in territories Russian troops have occupied, first in Crimea and then after 2022 areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

The Ukrainian Chess Federation and its supporters, which include GM Peter Heine Nielsen, have been vociferous in their protests and launched an official complaint in 2023 alleging Ukrainian sovereignty had been breached.

FIDE ruled ostensibly in their favour, agreeing that its statues had been broken, but gave its Russian member a two-year suspension that was reduced on appeal to a meagre €45,000 fine. The punishment was regarded as nothing short of a whitewash by campaigners.

On Friday CAS got to the very heart of that row. In a stinging ultimatum delivered to the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR), the court replaced FIDE's gentle slap on the wrist with a demand that Russia immediately cease organising events and asserting control in occupied Ukraine.

Failure to do so within 90 days will result in face a suspension of up to three years.

It's an extraordinary development that will be seen among many chess commentators as welcome oversight for the Russian-dominated FIDE. In Moscow, the prospect of Russia without an internationally recognised chess federation will be unthinkable.

The decision, dated 11 March but published on Friday, leaves FIDE, whose president Arkady Dvorkovich is a former Russian politician close to the Kremlin, in—to use chess parlance—a serious case of zugswang.

FIDE quickly acknowledged the decision, with a holding statement: "FIDE will carefully study the details and conduct consultations with Swiss legal counsel and the FIDE Constitutional Commission in order to determine the appropriate steps for implementation in accordance with the FIDE Charter."

The federation added: "FIDE remains fully committed to respecting the decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and acting in full compliance with the FIDE Charter and regulations."

But after Friday's development, FIDE has to do act.