Explained: Why did FIDE ban GM Karjakin over comments on Ukraine war

What were Karjakin’s original comments?

Karjakin has been using his social media accounts to voice pro-Putin and pro-war sentiments on the military conflict in Ukraine. In one of his tweets, he had boxing gloves on with the caption, “Celebrating the first day of spring. A Russian spring.” The caption and most of his tweets post the beginning of Russia’s military campaign have been condemned by the chess community.

In other tweets, Karjakin has termed a section of Ukrainians as Nazis, and blamed the West, in particular the United States of America, for igniting the war in Ukraine, and said that it was Russian money that was keeping FIDE and chess alive and if Russian interests were not protected, the world body would be reduced to organising children’s competitions and a new federation would take its place.

How has FIDE responded?

The matter was taken up by FIDE’s ethics and disciplinary commission. Its members are Yolander Persaud (Guyana), Ravindra Dongre (India), and Johan Sigeman (Sweden) as Chairperson – all of whom unanimously voted that Karjakin was guilty of breaching Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE code of ethics. The punishment set was a six-month ban, starting March 21, 2022.

What is Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE code of ethics?

Article 2.2.10 of the FIDE code of ethics deals with cases where a matter is said to have brought disrepute to FIDE, its federations or the game of chess.

“(…) Disciplinary action in accordance with this Code of Ethics will be taken in cases of occurrences which cause the game of chess, FIDE or its federations to appear in an unjustifiable unfavourable light and in this way damage its reputation.”

After deliberation, FIDE’s ethics and disciplinary commission came to the conclusion that Karjakin’s significance in the world of chess and his comments combined to cause damage to the game, its federations and, primarily, chess’ highest governing body.

“The EDC Chamber finds, against the background given above, on the standard of comfortable satisfaction, that the statements of Sergey Karjakin, which, by his own choice and presentation, can be connected to the game of chess, damage the reputation of the game of chess and/or FIDE. The likelihood that these statements will damage the reputation of Sergey Karjakin personally is also considerable,” said FIDE’s statement.

What was Karjakin’s reaction to the decision?

“An expected, but no less shameful, decision by FIDE. All selection criteria normally applied in sports have been trampled, the basic principle that sport is not mixed with politics has been trampled,” said Karjakin on Telegram (By this point, Russia had banned Twitter).

He added, “I went through the toughest selection through the World Cup to the Candidates Tournament. Winning it would take me to the world championship match. Alas, FIDE disgraced not me, but themselves. And now we can all be convinced that the international sports officials, who have been banning Russian Olympians in recent years with or without cause, have reached chess, which has always been far from this lawlessness.”

What about Grandmaster Sergei Shipov?

Along with Karjakin, Russian chess commentator and GM Sergei Shipov was also under the scanner for his comments. But he was let off by the FIDE EDM on the basis of his comments being ‘lesser known’ and his platform not being as large as Karjakin’s. The committee also said that Shipov’s comments were less provocative than Karjakin’s and therefore didn’t warrant a ban.

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Have other Russian GMs taken Karjakin’s stand?

On Thursday, over 30 leading Russian GMs signed an open letter to Vladimir Putin asking him to ‘stop the war’. Some of the prominent names on the letter included Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daniil Dubov and Peter Svidler