CHENNAI: In the universe of elite chess, citizenship documents are incidental. A person need not give up their passport but can play for a different country for various reasons. In most other sports, this may not necessarily be the case. In chess, though, it's a simple enough process.
For example, if one federation wants a player and if that player wants to make the move, all the player needs to make it official is a No Objection Certificate from their current federation (there is a small compensation involved).
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine commenced in February 2022, a lot of the Russian-born players have started playing for different countries (the alternative is to play under the FIDE flag). Last month, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) maintained the status quo till the beginning of 2025. "
Extension of FIDE Flag Representation for Russian and Belarusian Players: Russian and Belarusian players currently performing under the FIDE flag will be granted an extension to continue playing under the FIDE flag until January 1, 2025," the body said in a statement.
"The right of chess players from Russia and Belarus to participate under the FIDE flag was part of the federation's approval of the Resolution on Transfer Regulations."
In 2023 alone, 99 Russians (to put it in some sort of perspective, four players have switched to the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) this year) have moved on to a different federation (more, still, have preferred to play under the neutral flag). By a quirk of the draw, two of those 99 came head-to-head on the first day of the Chennai Grand Masters event.
Alexandr Predke (who switched from Russia to Serbia in March) and Sanan Sjugirov (Russia to Hungary in August). In March 2023, FIDE, in a big decision, decided to waive transfer fees as the CFR joined the Asian Chess Federation (ACF). They had taken the decision to leave the European Chess Union (ECU).
In a statement in February, FIDE said: "To adopt a series of additional measures to protect those players who decide to leave the Russian Chess Federation at this point and join any European chess federation. Players previously belonging to the CFR will be allowed to represent their new federation with immediate effect, from the next day of submitting their application, without any restrictions. All transfer fees, to FIDE or CFR, are waived."
When Predke and Sjugirov shook hands before the start of the game on Friday, it was the renewal of a bond that had begun during their formative years. For both of them learned the board game in the same place in Russia — the No. 4 chess school in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast, in the south-western part of the country.
"We have practised a lot in the same school," Sjugirov said. "We have known each other since childhood. We have played a lot of games." That kind of reflected in the game as it finished in a draw.
Sjugirov, who's 30, one-year Predke's senior, also said he decided to play for Hungary because it 'was good for my career'. "For me, Hungary is a country with a chess tradition. I also like to live in Budapest, it's a good city," he said. For Predke, Serbia is 'now a second home'. "I like Serbia (laughs)," he said. "Also, I would like to play chess. I just think it was one of the options, I wanted to play in Europe. I'm glad I picked Serbia."
Quick draw
Even though he had white, Levon Aronian was content to escape with a quick draw against D Gukesh. The 30-move encounter didn't even last two hours as both players were happy to shake hands even before the endgame. "I'm still kind of jet-lagged," Aronian told the media later. "I had kind of forgotten what I was intending to do in this particular line. My opening was very bad."
The other two matches on the day saw as many upsets. After top seed Parham Maghsoodloo was toppled by Ukraine's Pavel Eljanov, P Harikrishna beat Arjun Erigaisi in the endgame to emerge the winner.
Saturday's pairings: Gukesh vs Erigaisi, Predke vs Harikrishna, Eljanov vs Sjugirov, Aronian vs Maghsoodloo
