Sergey Karyakin opposed participation in the World Chess Cup without the flag and anthem of Russia

Grandmaster Sergey Karyakin announced that he had received an invitation from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to take part in the World Chess Cup. He stressed that he is categorically against participating in the tournament without the opportunity to play under the Russian flag. Karjakin asked the subscribers of his Telegram channel vote whether to compete at the World Cup without the flag of the Russian Federation.

“This is my favorite tournament, it is held according to the knockout system, I have performed very successfully there more than once. But the fact is that in the upcoming tournament specifically, I won’t be able to represent my country, I won’t be able to play under my own flag, and in case of a successful performance, I won’t be able to hear the Russian anthem. Accordingly, I am categorically against this, my position is not changing, I have expressed it many times,” said the grandmaster.

Karjakin noted that he would like to hear the opinion of the subscribers of his Telegram channel, so he launched a vote on whether they support the performance at the tournament without the flag and anthem of the Russian Federation. As of 19:00 Moscow time, out of 11.2 thousand voters, 9% are in favor of participating in the tournament, 91% are against.

On May 29, FIDE published the list (.pdf) players invited to the World Chess Cup. Karjakin also entered it. Players must confirm their participation in the tournament by June 2.

On May 31, the Chess Federation returned the grandmaster to rating FIDE. He was excluded from it on February 28 because he had not played for over a year. In early May, Karjakin took third place at the Russian team championship in Sochi.

FIDE banned the flags and anthems of Russia and Belarus on February 28, 2022, responding to the call of the International Olympic Committee related to the start of a military operation in Ukraine.

Erdni Kagaltynov