Russian Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin announced today on his official Telegram account that he will join the race in the upcoming elections for President of the Russian Chess Federation. Karjakin, who was earlier this year banned for 6 months from FIDE competitions, publicly criticized the leadership of the Russian Chess Federation as well as FIDE. (all news on Sergey Karjakin can be found here)

According to the new rules of the Russian Chess Federation, a presidential candidate must be nominated by an accredited regional federation. Sergey Karjakin’s candidacy was nominated by the Chess Federation of the Chechen Republic. Speaking for kp.ru, Karjakin said that he has good relations with the Chess Federation of the Chechen Republic “I flew to Chechnya not so long ago. We talked with Ramzan Kadyrov (President of the Chechen Republic) and had a very good time, played chess with children and among ourselves. I don’t see anything shameful in this. On the contrary, I am very grateful for the support and for the nomination”. Karjakin’s opponent in the race for the President of the Russian Chess Federation will be Andrey Filatov.

See Karjakin’s announcement below the picture

“Dear friends! I have important news!

In recent months, I have been actively and to the point criticizing the leadership of the Russian Chess Federation. I sincerely believed that constructive criticism would help the Federation to pay attention to the problematic aspects of its activities.

Alas, after 8 months I do not see any positive changes in the activities of the FSR (Russian Chess Federation). Executive Director Mark Glukhovsky, who initiated the signing of an open letter against the SVO (special military operation), lives quietly in Israel and still remains in his position, despite complete failures in management (at least absence from the workplace) and corruption scandals. The vast majority of chess players and regional federations do not receive any support from the FSR (Russian Chess Federation). Help for young, promising chess players is negligible. The main principle of the Federation is “Genius must be hungry.” Many talented athletes move to other countries, and no one even comes to dialogue with them. As a person who is not indifferent, I cannot stand aside and be silent!

Andrey Filatov, the incumbent FSR (Russian Chess Federation) President, recently announced that he will again run for a third term (he first led the FSR [Russian Chess Federation] in 2014). Federation emissaries have already spread the message to the regions that the elections will be uncontested, and have begun to collect signatures in favor of the “only” candidate.

A team of five vice-presidents is going to the elections with Filatov, all of them are respected and honored people who have done a lot for the development of chess, but the absence of the famous A.E. Karpov, who is the current vice-president of the FSR (Russian Chess Federation). Maybe the whole point is that he had the imprudence to agree with me on some issues of criticism of the activities of the FSR (Russian Chess Federation)?! However, the executive director plays a key role in the day-to-day activities of the Federation, and I regard the extension of Glukhovsky’s powers in this post as a spit in the face of the entire chess community.

Considering the above mentioned circumstances, after much deliberation, I decided to run for the post of President of the FSR (Russian Chess Federation)!

Yes, I might not be able to. Competitors are strong, and over the 8 years of government, a lot of “own people” have been placed.
But I feel it is my duty and a matter of honor to try to change the current situation!
I would really like our sport to develop, despite the current stagnation and stagnation.

My goal is to organize work with young talents, hold many new tournaments, and help in every way to ensure that our players and coaches do not go abroad in search of a better life. And it is equally important to organize real support for the regions from the federal center. Today, they are remembered once every 4 years before the next congress …

I guarantee that I will do my best to improve the activities of the Russian Chess Federation in all areas, I believe that if I am elected, I can give it a new impetus for development!

I express my gratitude to the Chess Federation of the Chechen Republic for nominating my candidacy! (According to the new rules of the FSR (Russian Chess Federation), a presidential candidate must go to the polls from an accredited regional federation).

If we do not win now, we will have to wait for a long 4 years, and there is no such time.
The current President of the Federation Filatov A.V. appointed himself as the head coach of the national teams. But it did not help us to win the Olympic gold.

Comprehensive development of chess in Russia is my task, mission and goal! I call on all caring people who are interested in the development of chess and want positive changes to support me. It would be important for me to see that we are together, and I am sure that this is the only way we can win!“