MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Russian Chess Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin told TASS on Monday that he would not be competing at the 2022 World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Kazakhstan next month if he was not allowed to play under the national flag of Russia.
Karjakin earlier told TASS that he would play at the tournament only in the event that it is not organized in a country that is unfriendly to Russia. The 2022 World Rapid and Blitz Championship is scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan’s Almaty between December 25 and 30.
"If speaking about the game of chess only, I would have certainly participated," the Russian grandmaster said. "Kazakhstan is a lucky site for me personally."
"This is where I became champion in the blitz, this is where Russia won the world championship in the teams’ competition," he continued.
"However, as far as I understand [FIDE President Arkady] Dvorkovich has no plans of bringing back the anthem and the national flag to Russian teams and is unwilling to lift the sanctions, although he could have managed it just like in the sport of boxing. I hoped for such an outcome," Karjakin argued.
"In any way, this is a matter of principle to me and I will not be playing without the national flag of Russia," he added.
On March 16, The World Chess Federation (FIDE) prohibited national teams from Russia and Belarus from playing in FIDE licensed tournaments, but allowed single players from these countries to take part under a neutral status.
Karjakin’s six-month suspension
On September 22, FIDE announced that Karjakin’s six-month suspension from the federation and all sports tournaments had expired.
On February 27, Karjakin published an open letter in which he supported Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. The next day, FIDE condemned the Russian grandmaster for publicly declaring his political stance, and took ‘disciplinary action’ against him.
On March 21, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) stated that its Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) decided to suspend Russian Chess Grandmaster Karjakin from all competitions for a period of six months.
Karjakin, 32, is currently 10th in the FIDE Rankings List. In 2016, the Russian chess player won the Candidates Tournament and then lost the World Chess Championship’s title encounter to Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.
Karjakin is the winner of the Chess World Cup 2015. He is also the world champion in Rapid Chess (2012) and Blitz (2016).