Chennai, Aug 7 (UNI) Russian Arkady Dvorkovich was on Sunday re-elected
as President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for a second term,
while India's five time World Champion was elected Deputy President.
Arkady secured 157 votes, against 16 for his electoral opponent, the Ukrainian
chess Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets.
A third candidate, Bachar Kouatly of France, withdrew his candidacy after
giving his speech, before the voting started in the elections held during the
FIDE General Assembly alongside the Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram.
Five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, who was announced
as part of Dvorkovich's Presidential team, is the new FIDE Deputy President.
In a tweet soon after his election, Anand said "thanks everyone. Congratulations
to President @advorkovich for his vision".
"We hope to make a difference and thank everyone for their trust in our team",
he said.
Born in Moscow on March 26, 1972, Arkady Dvorkovich was first elected as
FIDE President in October 2018, succeeding Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Despite
being questioned by some due to his nationality and to the fact that in the
past he held important positions in the Russian government, Dvorkovich's
landslide election victory shows that he has earned the trust of FIDE's
member federations - and the wider chess community.
Addressing the delegates before voting, Dvorkovich said "Yes, I am Russian,
and I have served the people of my country, including to Russian chess
community as Chairman of the Board of the Russian Chess Federation".
"I have been trying to do it professionally and with the highest possible level
of integrity. And I took a strong position on the tragic events in Ukraine as
well as supported FIDE Council decisions regarding scaling down Russia’s
involvement in FIDE", he said.
"Moreover, while abandoning Russian partners, we have been able to find
new ones around the globe, organise this Chess Olympiad [in India] and
ensure financial stability for FIDE", he added.
"It is far from easy for me personally, but hope that chess can re-unite people
again", Dvorkovich said.
Dvorkovich's second term will also be the last.
Chess Olympiad, one of FIDE's flagship events, is a team competition where
countries are represented by their four best players. This year, despite the
notable absences of Russia and Belarus (banned) and China (citing logistic
difficulties derived from the pandemic), the Olympiad had record participation
with 186 nations representing in the open competition, plus 160 more in the
Women's Olympiad.
UNI GV 1600