Chess.com blocked Russian grandmaster Khismatulin because of his attitude to the war in Ukraine
He stated that he had visited the area of the "SWO" on a humanitarian mission more than once
Russian grandmaster Denis Khismatullin said that the world's largest chess website Chess.com has banned him from participating in its tournaments because of his position on the war in Ukraine, the BBC reports.
This week, Khismatullin took part in the World Rapid Chess Championship in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Before the match with Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda, he extended his hand to his opponent, but the latter refused to shake it.
The footage of this incident was widely shared on social media and became the subject of active discussion, including in the media.
On Thursday, Khismatullin published his commentary on the incident.
He asked his friend and colleague, a well-known chess player and supporter of the war in Ukraine, Sergei Karyakin, to publish his statement.
Khismatullin noted that the refusal of the Polish chess player to shake hands with him in the West "caused a flurry of admiration and indignation at the behavior of Magnus Carlsen, who shook hands with me in the next round."
"A heated discussion began on social media, where the facts that I, together with Sergey Karyakin, had repeatedly visited the area of the Eastern Ukraine on humanitarian missions began to be revealed," Khismatullin said. "After that, the most popular chess website Chess.com sent an email informing me that from now on I was banned from participating in prize tournaments and any social activity on their website.
The Chess.com portal has been blocked in Russia since April 2022. Prior to that, Karjakin called on Roskomnadzor to close access to it because of the site's statement condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
