Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had severe consequences for Russian chess life. International tournaments with high-profile participation are no longer held in Russia. Due to FIDE’s sanctions against the Belarusian and Russian chess federations, the teams of both associations were no longer allowed to take part in official competitions. In order at least to circumvent the sanctions of the European Chess Union, the Russian Chess Federation switched to the Asian Chess Federation.
Individual players, however, were not to be punished for the politics of their country. They were allowed to take part in competitions, but not as representatives of their federation, only under the neutral FIDE flag.
Max Euwe became the fifth World Chess Champion after beating Alexander Alekhine in the 1935 World Championship match. A maths teacher by profession, Euwe remained an amateur throughout his life, but was still the best chess player in the Netherlands, and one of the world’s best players. Euwe holds the record for the most Dutch national championships, with twelve. After winning the World Championship, Euwe was also the world’s best player for a while. He lost the title again in 1937 in the rematch against Alexander Alekhine.
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Many Russian chess players soon spoke out against their country’s policies after the start of the attack on the neighbouring state. In an open letter published as early as March 2022 on the Russian online sports portal Championat, a total of 44 leading Russian chess players called for an end to the war. The open letter has since disappeared from the portal’s website. Many Russian players subsequently left their home country in protest against the war and transferred to other federations.
As recently as January 2022, Russia occupied its customary first place in the national rating list of the World Chess Federation (average of the ten best players: 2729 Elo). By November 2025, the federation has slipped to fourth place behind the USA, India and China (average: 2651). In the women’s rankings, Russia has fallen further, from first place (average: 2470) to sixth (average: 2363).
One of the first players to speak out against the war was Vladimir Fedoseev, born in Saint Petersburg. He was among the participants in the FIDE Grand Prix tournaments held in Berlin and Belgrade in February and April, where he was caught by surprise by the outbreak of the war. At the tournament in Belgrade, he asked the organisers to remove the Russian flag from his board and spoke critically about Russia and Russian society in interviews. He said that he might return to Russia after the war, but that he never wanted to represent the country again.
Initially, Fedoseev continued to play under the FIDE flag. In June 2023, he transferred to the Slovenian Chess Federation.
Now, somewhat belatedly, the Russian Chess Federation has reacted to the statements of its former leading player and stripped him of his national honorary titles, as reported by the Russian news portal TASS. Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev signed a corresponding decree, which was published on the ministry’s website. Vladimir Fedoseev loses the honorary titles “Master of Sport of Russia” and “Grandmaster of Sport of Russia”. His international titles are not affected, as these were awarded by the International Chess Federation.
The executive director of the Russian Chess Federation, Alexander Tkachev, commented on the matter to TASS by stating that Vladimir Fedoseev no longer deserved these titles:
You cannot vilify your teachers and your homeland, to which you owe the grandmaster title and all your successes. If you make public statements like Vladimir’s that completely discredit your own country, why would you need the highest sporting titles? After such statements, one is simply not worthy of them.
Anatoly Karpov was also quoted by TASS and considered the measures appropriate.
At the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Fedoseev, playing for the Slovenian national team, achieved an impressive victory over world number one Magnus Carlsen.
Photo: Michal Walusza
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