Russian women's team will be able to take part at the World Chess Olympiad in Norway. The organizing committee said it made such decision after an open letter from Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, "out of respect" to all parties.
The scandal related to the issue of participation of the Russian women's team in the competition, which will be held in Tromso in the first half of August, broke last week. Then "Tromso 2014” (COT2014) organizing committee announced that the winner of the last two contests, held every two years, will not be able to defend his title.
This decision was made on the grounds that the Russian side did not confirm list of names of the national team before June 1, while application form was sent before April 1. It was the statement of the organizing committee and a clear attack at the International Chess Federation (FIDE), headed by Russian Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: "The organizing Committee does not recognize the right of FIDE to make changes, contradicting the competition rules, shortly before the start of the tournament."
In the regulations, there is also a point under which the FIDE President has the right to make the final decision on all matters relating to the competitions in general. This is exactly what the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) asked Mr. Ilyumzhinov to do. "RCF draws attention to the fact that there are no penalties for failure to comply with paragraph 3.7.1 (about the time of filing in the detailed application) mentioned in the rules, the appeal of the Russian side states. Moreover, the paragraph 3.7.2 states that check-player or delegation member is allowed to register later: as late as 20 hours before the start. In this case a player or a delegation member is charged additional 100 euros." The absurdity of the reason why Russian women's team was denied registration is emphasized by the fact that the Norwegians themselves confirmed only on 5th June not just the terms of the competition, but also the fact of their willingness to hold it. They have done so only after obtaining the governmental financial assistance for the tournament organization.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov gave his answer on Friday and did not leave the organizing committee any chance. FIDE head started with the critique of the works on preparation for the tournament and finished with the official notice of his decision to admit the Russian team. The organizing committee answered Mr. Ilyumzhinov timely and not only in written, but also point by point. However, the most important paragraph was the third one. In the first two, Norwegians explained how they had taken care of the fact there will be no ambiguity in the rules of application and claimed that they were certain of the accuracy of their interpretation. However, the third paragraph response sounded like this: "However, COT2014 takes a positive decision on the request of the FIDE President, based on respect for chess players, national sports federations and sporting principle. Consequently, the organizing committee recognizes that federations, teams that have not been registered to participate in the competition until June 1, can do it now."
Chess Olympiad will be held in Tromso from 1 to 14 August, and the FIDE presidential elections to be held on August 11. Mr. Ilyumzhinov is in charge since 1995.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina