My Concern and Disappointment Expressed: Araik Harutyunyan to FIDE

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

In a letter addressed to Arkadi Dvorkovich, President of FIDE, Minister Araik Harutyunyan 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 entire chess family. Specifically, FIDE rejected Armenia's appeal based on the argument that 'ensuring the quality and stability of internet connection is the player's responsibility.' The practice of applying this point during the Olympiad has already been established in previous incidents. In the created situation, any other decision contradicts the rules of the tournament and creates a precedent that can lead to further controversial situations.”

“Despite the fact that the Armenian Chess Federation provided a valid explanation and raised several questions, FIDE has decided not to consider them. Unfortunately, the situation and issues have further developed, and ultimately, FIDE did not follow its precedent in the case of India, recognizing the games as unplayed or improperly played, while in the case of Armenia, the player was deemed defeated due to 'time.' As a result, FIDE made an unprecedented decision to declare both Russia and India as winners of the tournament.

“We consider this to be an unjust and inconsistent approach that does not ensure equal treatment of member countries, which is foundational for FIDE as an international organization. I am confident that, in its long path of establishment and mission, FIDE is trying to enhance trust in tournaments. Trust is built by ensuring equal competitive conditions for all competing teams, so that they all feel that they are treated equally. However, recent events indicate that this is not the case in a situation where the Armenian national chess team feels it has been subjected to discriminatory treatment.

“I want to assure that FIDE will provide an explanation to the participants of the tournament and, more broadly, to the chess community about this incident and will take all necessary steps (including possibly resuming the event from the Armenia-India team match phase). We hope that similar trust-building initiatives will prevent such incidents in the future and unite the chess world.”

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