Chess: India makes Olympiad bid while Sergey Karjakin shunned after invasion

International chess has moved swiftly to adjust to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Major events have switched venues or been postponed, Russian sponsors have been removed, while a former world title challenger has been shunned for his pro-invasion stance, with further penalties possible.

India is the strongly favoured candidate to host the 150-nation Olympiad, the game’s flagship team event, after Moscow was stripped of the competition last week by Fide, the global chess body. The Indian chess scene is vibrant with talented young grandmasters in their teens or early 20s, inspired by the example of Vishy Anand, the world champion from 2007 to 2013. An official bid, with a guarantee of the previously announced $10m budget, was submitted to Fide this week.

Whether Russia will be barred or allowed to compete under a neutral flag remains unclear. On Thursday, more than 30 leading Russian players signed an open letter to Vladimir Putin saying “Stop the War!” The letter’s most prominent signatories included Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler, and Andrey Esipenko.

Fide has taken a financial hit by its decision to terminate its backing from Russian state sponsors including the gas supplier Gazprom, the fertiliser giant PhosAgro, and the mining firm Nornickel.

However, Nigel Short, who is effectively Fide’s acting president in current conditions, said that the organisation’s budget had expanded fivefold to over €13m since its new administration led by Arkady Dvorkovich took over in 2018, and that its current programmes would not be affected by the absence of Russian backing.

Fide has also postponed the world team championship. scheduled for April in Jerusalem. Israel will still be the host for the