The FIDE Congress will be held in Chennai, India between 31 July 2022 and 09 August 2022 as part of the Chess Olympiad 2022 (see all Olympiad news here). Part of it is the FIDE General Assembly, where on the agenda are the FIDE elections. A total of five presidential candidates tried to complete the requirements for a valid presidential ticket:
- Arkadij Dvorkovich, current president of FIDE, with Viswanathan Anand on board (see the ticket here)
- Inal Sheripov, supported by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and with Lewis Ncube as deputy (see the ticket here)
- Andrii Baryshpolets, with deputy Peter Heine Nielsen (see presentation + interview)
- Enyonam Sewa Noël Fumey, with deputy FM Stuart Fancy
- Bachar Kouatly, leading a silent campaign
As the deadline for submission of tickets has passed, we can confirm at least three valid applications remain in the FIDE election race: the current President Arkadij Dvorkovich, the candidate of the ex-President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Inal Sheripov, and the young Ukranian Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets. Baryshpolets was the last candidate to secure the needed documents after a last day drama (scroll down for the full story). According to the FIDE rules Enyonam Sewa Noël Fumey is out of the race, as he did not collect support from every continent, while there is still no information on the Bachar Kouatly bid.
More on the FIDE Presidential campaign: Dvorkovich announces his team with Anand on board / Dvorkovich #SayChess hashtag controversy / Sergey Karjakin with “extensive” commentary on Baryshpolets and Nielsen / All FIDE election news
Continents blocking FIDE presidential candidates
One of the requirements to have a valid presidential candidate ticket is to have support from all continents. Enyonam Sewa Noël Fumey was the first candidate to drop from the race because of this requirement. After learning that no European federation will support him, Fumey posted “Chess4All- All4Chess + FIDE4all-All4FIDE”. He blamed Europe in an open letter.
A similar problem was encountered by Baryshpolets/Nielsen, as they could not find support from America. World Champion Magnus Carlsen made a last minute a direct call for support for Andrii Baryshpolets and his deputy Peter Heine Nielsen. See the tweet by Magnus Carlsen here. Carlsen said, “Chess federations of the Americas! Can one of you please pledge your support to the Baryshpolets/Nielsen ticket so @PHChess can focus on prep instead?” While Carlsen’s call created attention, it was help from an unexpected place that arranged the needed support for Baryshpolets. More on the Baryshpolets campaign: Interview with Andrii Baryshpolets / Andrii Baryshpolets announces his candidacy / Andrii Baryshpolets on Twitter / All articles on Andrii Baryshpolets here
Andrii Baryshpolets statement
I am extremely grateful for all your support. With your tremendous help we managed to submit our with Peter Heine Nielsen FIDE Presidential ticket. Many thanks to
1) New Zealand Chess Federation
2) Lithuanian Chess Federation
3) English Chess Federation
4) South Sudan Chess Federation
5) Royal Dutch Chess Federation (KNSB)
6) Curacao Chess Federation “FEDAKO”
7) Norway / Norges Sjakkforbund
We greatly appreciate trust and support of the Member Federations that endorsed our ticket. We will do absolutely our best to justify trust and bring back belief in big changes for good. Impossible is nothing
FIDE rules for eligibility
The Elections will take place for the following positions and in accordance with the following timelines in which applications can be submitted:
• The positions of President and Deputy President (on a joint ticket)– no later than 07 June 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive
• The position of Vice President – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive
• The position of Zonal President – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive
• The position of a member of Ethics and Disciplinary commission – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive
• The position of a member of Constitutional commission – no later than 07 July 2022, 6.00 PM, CET time inclusive
FIDE also informs that the Candidate Application Forms must be endorsed by letters of support from Member Federations (recommended form attached hereto) under the following rules:
• Each candidacy for the Presidential ticket must be endorsed by nominations from at least five (5) Member Federations, among them at least one (1) from each of the four (4) FIDE Continents, but by no more than eight (8) Member Federations in total;
• Each candidacy for the position of elected Vice President must be endorsed by nominations from at least three (3) Member Federations;
• Each candidacy for the positions of members of commissions must be endorsed by nominations from at least three (3) Member Federations.
Please consider that each Member Federation is entitled to endorse only one (1) Presidential ticket, as well as one (1) candidacy for one of the positions listed above.
