The outcome of the elections in the World Chess Federation FIDE was never in question.

Russian politician and economist Arkady Dvorkovich was confirmed as president by 157 national chess federations on Sunday in Chennai, India.

"The Russian candidate is supported by a record number of delegates, which means that Russia is not isolated in the world," the Russian Chess Federation said.

Only 16 votes went to the only opponent, the Ukrainian grandmaster and management consultant Andrey Baryshpolets.

Five associations abstained and one ballot paper was declared invalid.

French chess entrepreneur Bachar Kouatly, previously FIDE Deputy President, and Inalbek Sheripov, a Chechen filmmaker residing in Belgium, withdrew their candidatures ahead of the vote.

challenger disappointed

"It was to be expected, but it is sad that the chess world is re-electing a president with such close ties to the Kremlin as Dvorkovich," Denmark's Peter Heine Nielsen told the FAZ. He was running alongside Baryshpolets as his deputy.

Ministers and state secretaries responsible for sport from 35 nations, including Germany, had recently called for the removal of Russians and Belarusians with close ties to their leaders from influential positions in sport.

According to Nielsen, not even half of the chess federations in these countries voted against Dvorkovich.

He expressly excluded the German Chess Federation from his criticism and thanked it for its clear support.

Dvorkovich was a member of the Russian government from 2000 to 2018, most recently as deputy prime minister for six years.

During his campaign, the 50-year-old official claimed he had no ties to the Russian government.

Only once, as FIDE President, did he call the Kremlin to pry away three million euros for hosting the 2021 World Cup in Sochi.

Although he brought in Russian companies close to the state as sponsors, he increasingly won international sponsors for FIDE and ended all contracts with Russian sponsors from the end of February.

Against the war

In an interview with the American magazine Mother Jones in March, he distanced himself from the war against Ukraine.

Shortly thereafter, he resigned as chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation, which runs a technology park and university on the outskirts of Moscow.

On August 3, the United States imposed sanctions on the foundation.

He left the supervisory board of the Russian Agricultural Bank, which was also sanctioned, last year.

Ukraine is demanding that Dvorkovich be included in the sanctions list.

He himself estimates the probability of this happening at “maybe one percent”.

However, if he is sanctioned, he has promised to hand over the presidency to his deputy.

This is no longer Kouatly, but since Sunday Vishy Anand.

The former world champion played an intermediary role in the short-term relocation of the Chess Olympiad from Moscow to the Indian seaside resort of Mamallapuram.

The 52-year-old Indian says he has been preparing for a role in chess management for some time.

Dvorkovich's team has done a convincing job over the past four years.

He wants to contribute to this, especially in India and in the promotion of young talent.