On Tuesday, February 28, an important event in the history of Russian chess took place.

It was officially announced that the FSR was admitted to the Asian Federation, which has been discussed over the past year.

The application to change the sports residence permit was submitted back in April 2022 - and now, ten months later, the process is almost completed.

The vast majority of delegates were in favor of Russia joining the ACF, although there is no detailed information on the vote.

It is only known that 29 people were in favor of the transition, six abstained and one opposed.

“This is a great success for our sport.

We are the first sports federation to join the Asian family.

Just one country against is a fantastic result.

Thank you all for your support," TASS quotes FSR President Andrey Filatov.

According to the functionary, legally the transition will take place only on May 1, which gives domestic chess players the opportunity to finally take part in the upcoming European Championships.

From March 2 to March 14, in the Serbian city of Vrnjachka Banya, a championship among men will be held, and from March 17 to March 30, in Montenegrin Petrovac, the strongest will be identified by women.

As noted on the official website of the CFR, only those athletes who make the transition to the FIDE flag in advance, in accordance with the requirements of the European Chess Union (ECU), will be able to compete in the Balkans.

It is noteworthy that Russia has long been thinking about a possible change of federation.

And the reason for this was not only the sanctions imposed after the start of the special operation in Ukraine.

As Alexander Tkachev, executive director of the Russian Federation of Chemistry, told the Championship, the transition to Asia will allow athletes to grow in conditions of higher competition and not experience problems with logistics, and in the future Russia will organize international competitions on its territory, with which there were serious difficulties.

So, since 1990, only one ECU tournament has been held in Russia - St. Petersburg hosted the women's personal championship of the continent in 2009.

At the same time, only in the 21st century, the competitions were held five times in Bulgaria, and Turkey acted as the hostess seven times.

Against this background, FIDE was much more supportive and only in the last 18 years has hosted the World Cup on the territory of the Russian Federation six times, choosing Khanty-Mansiysk five times and Sochi once.

“Although, as you understand, we applied for tournaments every year.

Yes, we held FIDE events, but Europe did not give us such a right, ”said Tkachev.

As for higher competition, there is also reason to agree in this regard.

If we turn to the FIDE world ranking, then in the men's top 30 there are nine representatives of European countries, while there are ten representatives of Asian countries.

And together with domestic grandmasters, their number increases to 15. And this is not counting the fact that the ACF is now represented by contenders for the "crown" - the Russian Yang Nepomniachtchi and the Chinese Ding Liren.

Women have a similar situation.

There are ten athletes from the ACF in the top thirty, with the only difference being that two of them occupy leading positions, and three more are in the top eight.

Moreover, only Russians were able to wedge between them - Alexandra Goryachkina and Katerina Lahno are located on the third and fourth lines, respectively, and Alexandra Kosteniuk is seventh.

Thus, the change of the federation can benefit the development of Russian chess.

Athletes will compete in at least no less (and, according to experts, even more) competitive environment, and the country will have the right to organize championships on its territory not only under the auspices of FIDE, but also of the ACF.

It is also important that this transition will not affect the number of quotas allocated to grandmasters for participation in the championship cycle.

“There is a certain quota distribution system, which is reviewed every two years.

Due to the fact that Russian players have moved to Asia, the system will be revised accordingly.

This was one of the main questions from the Asian Federation... Quotas will be transferred from Europe to Asia,” Mikhail Kobalia, chairman of the FIDE coaching commission, explained to the “Championship”.

Among other things, according to experts, in Asia it will be much easier for Russians to achieve the opportunity, if not again, to compete under their own flag, then at least not be obliged to change it in their profile.

But this was exactly the prerequisite for applying for tournaments under the auspices of the ECU.

“We are working to gradually lift this ban in some categories.

But for now, it still works.

We can take part in individual competitions, under the Russian flag or under the FIDE flag - this is a separate, technical issue.

And in team teams we are generally banned... This is not directly related to the transition to Asia, because this situation is regulated primarily by FIDE, ”added Kobalia.

If abroad the news about the change of FSR registration caused mainly negative comments, then in the FIDE leadership this event was assessed positively.

According to the head of the organization, Mikhail Dvorkovich, the Asian colleagues positively assess Russia's contribution to the development of chess, and the decision to join the ACF was mutual.

“This is an opportunity to play tournaments more freely, to participate in continental championships in such a difficult time that we are going through now ... We have one chess family.

We expect that in the end the whole family will be in a good situation, ”Dvorkovich told TASS.

The turning point in the development of domestic chess was not ignored in the Kremlin either.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it "good news" and noted that this event "will open the door for Russians to participate in world competitions."

At the same time, he stressed that other sports federations of the country should not blindly follow the example of the FSR.

“As for the whole sport, here you need to act very carefully.

There are different situations in different sports, and specialists should decide this in each specific case, ”RIA Novosti quotes Peskov as saying.

Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sports of Russia, considered the decision to join the FSR to the ACF “significant and positive”.

According to him, it will bring the greatest benefit to athletes.

“The priority task is for Russian chess players to be able to participate in international competitions and show their skills in games with strong and worthy opponents.

The Asian school of chess is actively developing and moving forward, representatives of India and China demonstrate great success.

And Russian masters have something to offer, both in the competitive aspect and in the further development and popularization of chess,” says Matytsin.

Sergey Karyakin was also satisfied with the changes.

The winner of the 2016 Candidates Tournament saw this as a logical response to the ECU's sanctions.

“We are not expected in Europe, this is obvious.

And, for example, the statements of the German Chess Federation and Magnus Carlsen show that it is almost impossible for us at the moment to participate in European competitions.

Let's shift the focus to Asia.

We do not lose anything - Indian, Chinese and other Asian chess schools are developing and are advanced today.

By the way, it will be more difficult for us to compete with them, we must understand this.

But in any case, this is good, ”Karjakin emphasized.