Norwegian Magnus Carlsen was recognized as the best chess player in history. During the presentation of the prize, he urged not to remove sanctions from the chess federations of Russia and Belarus.
Carlsen made the announcement at the FIDE 100 Award ceremony. He thanked for the award and remembered Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and opponent of the leader of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The Norwegian says that Kasparov "more deserves this award." So, in his honor, Carlsen called not to lift sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian chess federations.
"At least I will say to Harryʼs credit, because I am sure he would have taken the opportunity to advise not to lift the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian chess federations. Thatʼs what Iʼm saying," Carlsen said.
Currently, Russian and Belarusian chess players can compete in tournaments only under the neutral flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
However, on September 21-22, an assembly will be held in Budapest, at which the proposal of the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation to return Russia and Belarus to competitions under their flags should be considered. Also, the Russian Federation and Belarus wanted to return the right to hold international tournaments under the auspices of FIDE on their territory.
Ukraine opposes this and calls on FIDE not to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete.