Russian chess player suspended for supporting Ukraine invasion

Russian chess player Sergei Kariakin has been banned from playing for six months after publicly supporting his country's invasion of Ukraine, the world governing body said Monday.

The federation's ethics committee found that Karjaken, who competed in 2016 with Norway's world champion Magnus Carlsen for the title, had stigmatized the game with his comments on social media.

The 32-year-old declared his outspoken support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The federation said its comments "in regards to the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine have produced significant reactions on social media and elsewhere," most of which reject Karyakin's views.

In its ruling, the union pointed out that Karyakin had published a message supporting Russia's intervention, saying that he hoped this would achieve "the disarmament and uprooting of Nazism from Ukraine," echoing the position taken by Moscow.

He added that the player also tweeted pictures of what he said were Ukrainian soldiers holding a picture of Adolf Hitler, and commented: "This is Ukraine."

Karyaken is currently ranked 18th in the world rankings.

With this ban, he will not be able to participate as one of eight players in the Madrid Championship for the candidates in June to compete for the right to challenge Carlsen for the title.

For his part, Karaikin denounced what he said was a "shameful" ruling through his account on "Telegram", stressing: "I do not regret anything" because he is first and foremost a citizen and then a player.

The Russian Chess Federation had already announced that it would appeal the ruling, denouncing what it said was "discrimination".

Last Wednesday, the International Chess Federation suspended the participation of the Russian and Belarusian teams from chess tournaments, while allowing individual players from the two countries to continue competing.

A ruling on Monday acquitted another Russian player, Sergei Shepov, of similar charges, saying his comments were less provocative than Karyakin's, and that he was not widely known and therefore had a much smaller audience.

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