British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President
The March issue of British Chess Magazine includes an interview with the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, by its Editor Milan Dinic. Courtesy of British Chess Magazine, we offer you an advance and some excerpts from this interview. BCM: What do you think will be the long-lasting effect of coronavirus on chess, if any? Arkady Dvorkovich: Hopefully, we’re not going to have any long-lasting effect of the coronavirus on chess. We are hopeful that strict lockdown measures won’t be around for much longer, as the vaccination will improve the situation globally. Also, people will be more prepared for a repeat of the pandemic. However, it would be naïve to say that we’re not going to see the long-lasting effects in terms of the share of online chess. There will also probably be a more cautious attitude towards mass tournaments, in terms of precautionary health measures. The biggest thing is online chess. It provides better access to millions of people, it provides access to training, watching and playing chess, which is crucially important for growing the chess audience. Also, it’s fun to connect to people all over the world without the need to spend money on traveling. For the lovers of mass chess events, coronavirus will have a big consequence. But online is in no way a substitute for over-the-board chess, that’s the point I’d like to stress. One of the important things now is how to structure the chess calendar for professional players and how to make sure that OTB and online chess go well together. BCM: As a consequence of covid-19, do you see chess changing in a way so most events will be played online? A.D: As soon as the restrictions are lifted we will see a big return to OTB tournaments, especially when it comes to major events. But for other levels of events – student festivals, corporate tournaments and similar, they will be mostly online. OTB will come back but it doesn’t mean that online will go away. I estimate the ratio between the two to be 70-30 in favour of OTB. That’s why it’s important to think of the harmony of OTB and online events at the top level. BCM: From the organisational perspective, what are the key differences between online and over-the-board events and which are more difficult to organise? A.D: You have different challenges for both. For the OTB events, you have logistical issues – the venue, travel, accommodation, safety and similar. For online, the key challenges in the field of anti-cheating and the stability of the internet connection. BCM: Chess has for years been struggling to get sponsorship. Has the growth in chess interest during the pandemic helped bring more sponsors in? A.D: I would say it’s a combination of two trends now. First, we are trying to work professionally in the area of marketing. We have invested in getting more people to do marketing, to get companies connected. On the other hand, we are working much more in analysing the data we have – on the number of active players, on children participating in ‘Chess in schools’ programmes and similar – so we’re able to present a clearer picture to sponsors. There is also a very positive atmosphere in the chess world. We have good commercial stories from the Play Magnus Group. Also, online platforms – from chess.com to Twitch and others, have helped raise the interest in as well as the profile of the game. Streaming is now another booming thing – Twitch had record numbers in February. So, on one hand, we have much more effective and organised work on the side of FIDE, and strong market trends in favour of chess. Also, the Queen’s Gambit has had an impact, at least a temporary one. We’re trying to use this factor for promotion. The series was a really important moment for chess. It was not the first movie/series about chess, but it was done in a much more commercially attractive way and both chess-wise. And Netflix did a great job, both for themselves and for us. I’d also like to note the booming chess trends in India. This announcement of the World Chess League by Mahindra is a thing to follow. We have interest from China to do more. There are initiatives from the US – with Rex Sinquefield taking the lead. Uzbekistan has now introduced a huge chess development programme. Israel has increased its Chess in schools programme. Nice things are happening for chess. Just yesterday I was present at the closing ceremony of the African chess championship – there were 2300 players. That’s big. So, again, online chess helps and will help. But the key is to have more partners and sponsors. Recently I was in Serbia and I hope we will be able to do more events there. BCM: If I got you correctly, you see online chess as the driving force which will get more people attractive and more sponsors for over-the-board events as well, rather than it being the other way around. A.D: Yes, that is correct. BCM: Last year, the Yekaterinburg Candidates tournament had to be cut short due to the pandemic. Now you plan to continue it in April. How will you ensure the safety of the participants? Will there be spectators? A.D: There is never a 100% guarantee, that’s for sure. But, I think both we and the whole world now learnt how to deal with such events. It is one of the most important global events but it includes a couple of dozen people involved. Testing should be enough to prevent any negative scenario. We will require players to be tested before coming to Russia and upon arrival and one more time in the middle of this leg of the event. In terms of whether the spectators will be allowed, we are going to announce that just before the tournament. We will make the decision based on the situation in Russia at the moment, and in Yekaterinburg in particular. We will make the decisions
KIAP becomes FIDE’s new official legal partner
The International Chess Federation has signed a partnership agreement with KIAP, a law firm with headquarters in Moscow. This company, which currently employs about 40 lawyers and counsels, will provide consultancy and legal assistance to FIDE in a wide range of matters. KIAP has been shortlisted twice in the “Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence” as the Best Law Firm of the Year in Russia. It has also been named a leading firm of “Pravo-300’s Rating in 2017”, and “Law Firm of the year in Russia” according to Best Lawyers Awards 2020. The relationship between KIAP and chess is not new: in 2018, the firm established the Annual Legal Chess Tournament, a charity event that brings together representatives of one professional community — lawyers, as well as their colleagues, children and friends. The first edition of the tournament was held on July 21, 2018, at Novotel Moscow City, in connection with International Chess Day. The event was organized in cooperation with the Pedagogical Chess Union, and its next edition will take place in the summer of 2021. “We appreciate the important social components of FIDE activities, particularly in the fields of education and chess for people with disabilities, and we would like to take an active part in them”, said Andrey Korelsky, Managing Partner and founder of KIAP. KIAP is a modern law firm with a socially-oriented mission. As the company explains on its website, “we want to make our Russian legal world a better place: we strive to make our contribution to the development of philanthropy in the Russian legal market, as well as to support its unification to work together for the benefit of the country’s legal system. KIAP lawyers are successfully engaged in teaching activities at the law departments of the country’s leading universities. We also support major educational programs and competitions.” About KIAP: https://www.kiap.com/about KIAP statement on Social Responsibility:https://www.kiap.com/about/social-responsibility.php
Giri nails down place in knockout stage
Anish Giri’s hot streak got even hotter today as he nailed down a place in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational’s KO stage with five rounds still to play. The Dutch No.1 scored 4/5 points for the second day in a row and at one point was on a run of six consecutive wins in the $220,000 event’s prelim stage. Giri, who now sits clear in the lead on 8/10, said: “Today it was incredible how many points I managed to collect.” Eight stars face elimination from the $1.5 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event tomorrow as the 16-player field is cut in half. But like Giri, World Champion Magnus Carlsen won’t be one of them. The Norwegian rarely looked troubled as he scored three wins to end the day clipping Giri’s heels on 7.5/10. Carlsen said: “Two of the games I won today, were kind of gifts by my opponents. The score today was great, and it puts me in a great position. But I have to do better in the knockout stages.” Tour leader Wesley So lost two games yesterday but he bounced back to haul himself up the leaderboard and into third alongside fellow American Hikaru Nakamura with 6.5/10. For a second day running, So was seen using an electric shaver while playing which he later said was “stress relief”. “To score +3 today is really incredible, really amazing,” he said. Nakamura, meanwhile, remains unbeaten so far and appears to be returning to the form that took him to the final of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour final last year. Nakamura’s new fellow countryman Levon Aronian, who announced earlier this month he will switch to the US, finished off the day with a win to stand in seventh. It was also a good day for the youngster Alireza Firouzja and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin who both got themselves back into contention. Today’s play was also notable for an extraordinary Round 9 when 7/8 of the games ended in decisive results. It followed 25/40 games being won or lost yesterday. And tomorrow will surely see more drama as the players battle to stay in the competition. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770