Russian GM leads Candidates Chess Tournament in ‘Cold War’ against USA

The United States and Russia face each other again on the board to dispute the supremacy in Chess: Fabiano Caruana vs. Ian Nepomniachtchi. 

The game between the two grandmasters was the most decisive confrontation of the Candidates Tournament in Madrid. The fight ended in a draw with the Russian as the leader, but at least not everything was decided. Five rounds remain, and Nepo is one point ahead of the American. The prize is the right to challenge the world champion, the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, who watches the games with a certain superiority from his throne.

Politics has not been so important in chess since the Cold War and in this Candidates Tournament is crucial. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) vetoed the participation of Sergey Karjakin for his enthusiastic support to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine but allowed his compatriot Ian Nepomniachtchi to participate, an outstanding player after his draw with Black in 40 moves against Caruana.

Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to a draw in their game, a crucial clash of the tournament. With this result, Nepomniachtchi keeps the 1-point lead going into the rest day tomorrow. #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/pzxOMDnyKG

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) June 27, 2022

However, many are claiming that it was a mistake. Nepo is a candidate hated by all, an anti-hero whose dominance is beginning to pose a problem. Many are once again questioning why he was allowed to participate in the most important competition of the year. Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen, a member of Carlsen's team, is one of those who most insist that the Russian should have been punished, a position headed by former world champion Garry Kasparov. 

Kasparov is Putin's main opponent in the world of sport and one of his arguments is that it will be impossible to prevent the Russian oligarchs who sponsor Nepomniachtchi from taking advantage of his presence in the world championship match to make political propaganda. 

Yuri Garrett, president of the Association of Professional Chessplayers (ACP) said that Nepo should not be allowed to play just by changing his flag to that of FIDE. In his opinion, he should only be allowed to participate in the competition if he changes his Federation and leaves Russia.

Dana Reizniece-Ozola, director of the tournament, said that Nepo was recently forced to remove a logo from its clothing since it promoted sanctioned companies. Similarly, when the Ukrainian war broke out, FIDE severed ties with some of the Russian and Belarusian sponsors, which at first dealt a delicate economic blow to the organization. But now, the oligarchs sponsoring the Grandmaster may return to the scene if Nepomniachtchi keeps the first place and wins the Candidates Tournament.