> The FIDE President is also a former Kremlin insider - the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and the organiser of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Arkady Dvokovich.
I'm honestly surprised that Dvorkovich is keeping his job, considering that in Russia he has (or at least used to have) a reputation of one of Dmitry Medvedev's closest allies. Dmitry Medvedev being the current Deputy President of Russia's Security Council, the one allegedly directly responsible for the planning of all this madness.
Google translate: It is reported that negotiations are underway in Gomel. God grant that their result was a truce. I fear the price of the madness of the last days will be unimaginable and exorbitant. Can we afford our future now?
I feel like this is a very good decision. Coincidentally, I just installed the chess.com iPadOS app and bought a $30/year subscription a few days ago; a really nice service! I will also give chess24.com a try.
Off topic, but I really mis-predicted recent history badly. I thought there was zero chance of Russia invading Ukraine. I feel humbled by my lack of understanding of the world. I have enjoyed visiting Ukraine and Russia (just Siberia) and I wish for peace for everyone living there.
lichess is also a great website for learning chess, and it's opensource and free. (they have an optional membership for donations which gives you a green checkmark next to your name). Their mobile apps are great as well.
I just got my first down voted comment by mentioning Alex Jones name (who predicted Ukraine major war in October). It is a fact, it is also a fact that every other rational analyst was wrong. But their analysis was sound - invasion of Ukraine is madness and a historic mistake for Russia. It's not about predicting things - it's about making sure that a single crazy person cannot end everyone's life going forward.
Don't see any reason for apologies for the rational analysis. Back to technology - this thing is turning into Twitter nonsense.
Well, that is not surprising; Not just chess, this will extend to any sport. This is a new iron curtain.
Air travel is now very much restricted; If you can't get into or out of Russia, you can't really hold events there.
Wow, those are strong words for Nigel Short. It would be nice and say a lot if Karpov would make a statement opposing the war, but he’s very much an insider.
If people don't like being reminded of the infamous rant by Tigran L. Petrosian, I understand, but for those who don't know the context, I'll provide the background here:
It really is eye opening. For years many have made the excuse when it comes to others that its just not worth it because of the potential consequences. I honestly bought it myself. Yet here we are throwing all sorts of punches with a nuclear power. Goes to show you how that was all an excuse.
Gaddafi, Saddam, and Assad all had sanctions against them and groups armed against them. Sudan was forced to give up South Sudan. The response to any situation is never going to be identical, it needs to be dictated by what is going on in those specific circumstances, but certainly there's enough evidence of similar actions taken outside of white countries to suggest this is a gross oversimplification.
I'm near the crisis (many Ukrainian refugees are here now). I haven't seen any indications that skin color is the differentiator. Ukrainians are not all crystal white and they're being helped regardless. It's much more about speaking a similar language and sharing a similar culture.
That's within Ukraine itself and I think the issue here is that Ukrainians are afraid there won't be enough space for their own people. Usually in these situations, foreign nationals are assisted in getting home by their own governments - but nobody might be going to help evacuate Ukrainians.
During COVID lockdowns, I was also denied entry onto a evacuation bus based on my nationality - and I'm as white as you can be. This is nothing unusual - and it's not racist, only nationalist/statist.
I thought so initially as well, but it is mentioned that the polls are also not so welcoming. Check the stories about other nationalities and the behavior of the board guards as well.
Well I can't deny there are some issues. But I really wouldn't call it generally racist. It's individual excesses - very wrong and must be stopped, but it's not as widespread/as racist as these articles might suggest.
Maybe he didn't word it in the best way but the point here is that many feel betrayed. Betrayed because people with simillar backgrounds to them have not recieved anywhere near the same treatment. People from Gaza come to mind.
It's the first time in a long time we see the West come together, even during COVID we had drama about hoarding vaccines, and who gets what first.
To be fair, Europe has been taking refugees for quite some time, but we indeed haven't saw this sanctioning anywhere else... but let's face it: this is happening in Europe, a nuclear power is invading an independent european country.
Apparently there are big consequences for such actions. Maybe that's where the line is drawn, since it has to be drawn somewhere.
I'd like to point out that, before calling 600M people racists, there are different explanations. "Social Identity Theory" [1] being one of them. We Europeans could simply see Ukraine belonging to the same group (ie another European country) and hence emotional responses about an injustice are enhanced. This leads to more support for a member of said group compared to the same thing happening to someone belonging to a larger group (ie humanity as a whole). This doesn't have to be about racism and it's a fallacy almost all humans have.
I odn't think it is racial. I'm a Palestine supporter too, i housed Kazakh refugees recently, my mother housed Georgians, and had my very catholic, conservative family do the same in the 2000s. They aren't caucasians, and are ethnically close to Syrian (turkomongols i guess?). But they are Christians, and Coptics do have a really good reputation in France (or at least in my part of France). It has everything to do with how you dress, your accent, and how the media portrayed you in the last 10 years.
I'm honestly surprised that Dvorkovich is keeping his job, considering that in Russia he has (or at least used to have) a reputation of one of Dmitry Medvedev's closest allies. Dmitry Medvedev being the current Deputy President of Russia's Security Council, the one allegedly directly responsible for the planning of all this madness.