Report by Aryaa Sinha
The Chess GrandMaster Viswanathan Anand, also a 5 times world champion, has just been elected the Deputy President of FIDE.
A Deputy President is an officer ranking next below the President, usually empowered to assume the President’s duties under conditions such as absence, illness, or death.
Arkady Dvorkovich has been re-elected the President of FIDE for the second term.
The elections took place during the FIDE General Assembly in Chennai, held alongside the Chess Olympiad, one of the FIDE’s flagship events.
Anand contested the election on Dvorkovich’s ticket and their combined ticket received 157 votes, while their opponent Andrii Baryshpolets received 16 votes. There was 1 invalid vote and 5 abstentions.
What is FIDE?
Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) or World Chess Federation, is an international organisation that connects the various National Chess Federations around the world and acts as the governing body of International Chess Competition. It is based in Switzerland. It was first founded in Paris, France on July 20, 1924. FIDE was recognized by the international Olympic committee (IOC) in 1999.
Its motto is Gens una sumus, Latin for “We are one Family”.
About Arkady Dvorkovich
Born in Moscow on March 26, 1972, Dvorkovich was first elected as FIDE President in 2018. Before this, he had held several important political positions in the Russian government due to which his candidature for the 2nd term was controversial (following the Russia Ukraine war) .
However, under him, FIDE took the 44th Chess Olympiad from Russia and chose India (Chennai) as the venue .
Dvorkovich’s 2nd term as FIDE President will be his last as one of the tasks he undertook shortly after being elected for the President first time was to renew the FIDE charter, introducing term limits , along with other democratic reforms.
About Viswanathan Anand
Born on 11 December 1969, in Tamil Nadu, Viswanathan is an Indian Chess grandmaster and a five-time World’s Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of 2800, a feat he first achieved in 2006. Due to his rapid speed of playing he earned the title ‘Lighting Kid’. Anand was the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. Award in 1991–92, India’s highest sporting honour. In 2007, he was awarded India’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award.
Image credit: FIDE Twitter account