Minister of Education and Science Sends Letter to FIDE Regarding Decisions on Chess Team

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia has addressed the International Chess Federation (FIDE) expressing concerns regarding the recent decisions made by FIDE related to the Armenian national chess team and the chess community as a whole.

In a letter from Minister Arayik Harutyunyan to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, it is stated: "I express my concern and disappointment regarding the recent decisions made by the International Chess Federation ('FIDE') concerning the Armenian national chess team and the chess community as a whole. Specifically, in the case of Armenia, FIDE rejected Armenia's appeal with the argument that 'ensuring the quality and stability of internet connection is the responsibility of the player. The practice of applying this provision during the Olympiad has already been established in previous incidents. Any other decision in the created situation contradicts the regulations of the tournament, creating a precedent that could lead to further controversial situations.'"

Despite the fact that the Armenian Chess Federation provided a reasonable explanation and raised several issues, FIDE decided not to consider them. Unfortunately, the situation and issues developed further, and ultimately, FIDE did not follow its precedent and considered the games unsplayed or poorly played in the case of India, while deeming the player from Armenia to have lost due to 'time.'

As a result, FIDE made an unprecedented decision to recognize both Russia and India as winners of the tournament. We consider this an unfair and inconsistent approach that does not ensure equal treatment of member countries, which is fundamental for FIDE as an international entity.

I am confident that in its journey of establishment and mission, FIDE seeks to enhance trust in tournaments. This trust is built by ensuring equal conditions for competition for all competing teams, so they all feel they receive equal treatment. However, recent events indicate that this is not the case in a situation where the Armenian national chess team feels discriminated against.

I wish to assure that FIDE will provide an explanation regarding this incident to the participants of the tournament and, in general, to the chess community and will take all necessary steps (including even restarting the event from the Armenia-India team match phase). We hope that similar initiatives for building trust will prevent such incidents in the future and unite the chess world.

Minister Harutyunyan concluded that the Armenian side is ready to engage in a dialogue aimed at resolving the misunderstanding.