Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich re-elected as head of the International Chess Federation against a Ukrainian

Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkadi Dvorkovitch was re-elected on Sunday August 7 as President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), announced the head of the FIDE electoral commission, Roberto Rivello. He was opposed to a Ukrainian rival who claimed his position was untenable because of the war in Ukraine.

Largely re-elected (157 votes out of 179), Arkady Dvorkovich was charged just before the vote by the gUkrainian rand master Andrii Baryshpolets d‘have “huge ties to the Russian government”. “You, Arkadi, are responsible for what is happening in Ukraine now. You are responsible for the rise of the Russian government and the war machine of Russia”, he denounced.

Arkadi Dvorkovitch defended himself by explaining that he had adopted “a strong position on the tragic events in Ukraine”, in March. He claimed that his “thoughts [allaient] to Ukrainian civilians”. He then qualified his position by stating that there was “no place for Nazism or the domination of some countries over others”, of the remarks perceived as support for the Kremlin. The re-election ofArkadi Dvorkovitch was also hailed by the Kremlin, which spoke of “very good news” and of “very significant victory”.