Ukraine captures gold in chess Olympiad

A Ukraine woman helps capture a first-ever gold medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. Anna Ushenina, 36, claimed the title for Ukraine August 9 with a draw against Poland’s Oliwia Kiolbasa.

On the men’s side, Uzbekistan was the winner in the open competition.

Ushenina is one of the five female competitors from Ukraine at the Olympiad. All of them fled soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February. Ushenina is from Kharkiv, a city that has suffered destruction and casualties. While happy to win a world title, Ushenina says Ukraine needs much more.

“It’s obviously a great feeling, but the medal can’t stop a war,” she said.

Ushenina has yet to return to Ukraine since fleeing with her family six months ago.

FIDE, the International Chess Federation, which organizes the team event, has banned Russia and Belarus from participating in international events as a consequence of the unprovoked Russian attack.

That ban, however, does not apply to the leadership of the federation. In the presidential election held in Chennai on the sidelines of the competition, Arkady Dvorkovich won a second term as president. Dvorkovich is a former deputy prime minister of Russia. He fended off three other candidates, including Andrii Baryshpolets, a Ukrainian grandmaster living in California.

In comments to the New York Times, Baryshpolets said he decided to run because of the February invasion.

“Definitely, the war was an impetus for me to fight for changes in FIDE. It is a very untransparent structure, and it has been highly dependent on Russian money and Russian sponsors,” he’s quoted by the paper.

Dvorkovich says he makes no apology for his heritage and promises to bring improvements to FIDE.

“Yes, I am Russian, and I have served the people of my country, including to the Russian chess community, as Chairman of the Board of the Russian Chess Federation”, he said in a speech ahead of the vote.

“I have been trying to do it professionally and with the highest possible level of integrity. And I took a strong position on the tragic events in Ukraine, as well as supported FIDE Council decisions regarding scaling down Russia’s involvement in FIDE. Moreover, while abandoning Russian partners, we have been able to find new ones around the globe, organize this Chess Olympiad and ensure financial stability for FIDE. It is far from easy for me personally, but I hope that chess can re-unite people again.”