CHENNAI: FIDE's current president, Arkady Dvorkovich, was given the green light to seek a third term in 2026. Dvorkovich, a former Russian politician (he had served as a deputy prime minister), had ironically run on the promise of bringing term limits to a maximum of two blocks of four years each.
In the body's general assembly late on Sunday night, the motion to remove Article 18.12 from the FIDE Charter (the clause that restricts presidents to two terms) was cleared by an overwhelming majority of 108-27. Chess.com said that the motion was proposed by Andorra before it was seconded by as many as 20 federations.
Article 18.12 had stated: "A person cannot serve as FIDE president for more than two terms of four years. Terms may be consecutive or non-consecutive."
It's fair to say that the players weren't too pleased with it. "This is embarrassing," Levon Aronian, one of the eight GMs featuring at the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 event, had responded on X (formerly Twitter) when the general assembly was going on. "If passed, (it) will destroy FIDE in the eyes of professional chess players."
"It doesn't matter how good a leader you are. It's just my personal opinion. You serve more than two terms, some bad traits are bound to come. I have no interest in governance. But I do know that some of my peers are interested. I just hope that they will put up some resistance. Because this is not the way to go," Aronian told this daily.
Ukraine's Pavel Eljanov, another GM in Chennai, also wasn't too pleased with the power grab. "Kudos to Levon," he wrote. "Despite obvious Russian ties, this FIDE team (which is well diverse) has done a lot of good things but all of this will be completely written off, at least in my eyes."
Other players too did not mince their words. Two-time Ukraine champion, Andriy Volokitin, called it: "Putin's rules, Putin's protege, Putin's FIDE.
Sickening." Peter Heine Nielsen, who was part of the team that ran against Dvorkovich at the elections in 2022, said: "Presidential term limits removed by @fidechess, Dvorkovich can run again for a 3rd term. A bad day for chess, a good day for Russia."
While Dvorkovich's camp hasn't said anything about the controversial move (his deputy, Viswanathan Anand, was also present at the online meeting on Sunday) or whether he even intends to run for a third time (he was elected to the post for the first time in 2018 before retaining power during the Olympiad last year), the way the decks have been cleared means only one thing.
Interestingly, Anand had only good things to say about his 16 months at FIDE. "I think we have done a very good job," he had said when asked about his ongoing tenure. "Some very positive things... I can't say there's been anything unpleasant."
This development, though, is sure to leave a bitter aftertaste.
Gukesh, Harikrishna top standings
After three draws, D Gukesh picked up his first win of the tournament, beating Aleksandr Predke with white pieces.
The win means Gukesh, on 2.5 points, goes to the top of the leaderboard with P Harikrishna. The teen had a very sound opening and doubled down during a dominating middle-game to which Predke had no answers.
With the win, Gukesh has also enhanced his chances of advancing to the Candidates but it will all come down to the World Rapid and Blitz beginning in Uzbekistan in a week's time. Arjun Erigaisi had the chance to make it three Indians at the top but Pavel Eljanov held on to claim a draw with white pieces. It appeared that the Indian had the upper-hand in a rook-knight endgame but Eljanov, who had run into significant time trouble, escaped.
Standings (after four rounds): 1. P Harikrishna, D Gukesh (2.5 points), 3. Levon Aronian, Parham Maghsoodloo, Sanan Sjugirov, Erigaisi, Eljanov (2 points), Predke (1 point).
Tuesday's pairings: Sjugirov vs Gukesh, Harikrishna vs Maghsoodloo, Erigaisi vs Aronian, Predke vs Eljanov
Picture caption: Levon Aronian (R) in action against India's P Harikrishna in the ongoing Chennai Grand Masters 2023 event on Monday
