Battle lines continue to be drawn in the world of chess, with governing body FIDE’s director general Emil Sutovsky meeting fire with fire as he released a heated statement in the wake of comments made by names such as Magnus Carlsen as certain grandmasters look to distance themselves from the largest organisational body in the sport.
Sutovsky posted on X in response to comments made by Freestyle Chess Players Club co-founders Carlsen and German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner.
In a long post on the social media app, Sutovsky targeted the organisation and the procedure followed by Freestyle chess. “When one sees public rhetoric coming from Freestyle Chess leaders, it becomes clear, that the project is bound to fail. ‘F U’, ‘They are so stupid’, ‘Horse sh.t’ etc.,” wrote the director general.
“FIDE is known for its readiness to be mindful, flexible, and to go extra miles towards partners, and especially players – and that was mistaken for weakness,” further elaborated Sutovsky.
He also went on to indicate how similar split-away measures by former chess legends Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov fell through. “‘I am bigger than FIDE’ concept did not work even for Fischer and Kasparov – who tried it being reigning World Champions, while having a real dominance over their rivals at the time.”
Sutovsky responded to a dig made by Magnus Carlsen in a recent interview where he said “specific organisations… are not bigger than I am,” in relation to his decision to step away from most FIDE events in favour of alternative styles of gameplay.
“Of course, initially the public may back a superstar vs the governing body. And you may lure in a couple of naive investors. But that is unsustainable — and we saw many examples of the kind,” warned the Israeli chess grandmaster.
Sutovsky also went on to claim that FIDE is currently in a position of relative strength, and it would be difficult for Freestyle to go to battle with a successful organisation.
“Today FIDE is probably in the best position ever — and chess community sees it — we deliver unprecedented number of projects around the world, we keep increasing prize funds for top players and support for educational and social programs, and we can plan far ahead thanks to our partnerships East and West.”
He kept the door open for a collaboration, calling the Freestyle venture an ‘ambitious project’, but said that if Buettner wanted a war as he claimed in a recent interview himself, FIDE would be more than prepared to provide one.
“We’d love to work with any private project – in particular with ambitious ones. But if you want a war – try us,” concluded Sutovsky emphatically.
