Sergei Karjakin (32) admits that his chess career may be over as a result of his strong support for Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
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Thus, he confirms Magnus Carlsen’s statement to VG on Monday. There, the world champion answered “I doubt it” when asked if he thinks Karjakin can return to the top level.
The Norwegian also stated that he is unsure whether the expulsion of the Russian is the right thing – because Karjakin achieves what he wants – to become “a martyr” for what is portrayed as for the West’s “sanctions tyranny”.
On social media on Tuesday, Karjakin called Carlsen’s statements “support”, even though the Norwegian said that the Russian’s statements about the war were in no way acceptable.
– Could not keep quiet
The Russian chess star posed for a major interview with the Russian news channel later on Tuesday Rossija-24.
– Yes, I’m ruining my career with this. But on the other hand, chess is not my whole life. Anatoly Karpov said that chess is his whole life. But that’s not the case for me.
– I’m a patriot of the country. I am a citizen of Russia. When there is a difficult situation, I will first and foremost support my country. I could not keep quiet, says Karjakin in the interview.
– Nobody forced me, nobody asked me, there were crazy people who wrote that I got money for this – no, of course I do not get it. Everything was my initiative.
Has appealed
Sergei Karjakin claims that he has received thousands of statements of support recently, especially on social media. A look in the comment fields indicates that others are of a completely different opinion.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided a couple of weeks ago that Karjakin will be banned from all tournaments for six months.
The reaction came after the Russian chess player on a number of occasions expressed his support for President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. He has gone further than most in supporting the war. He even wrote a letter to President Putin in which he called Ukraine’s actions in the breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donbas a “genocide”, and that he hoped the people there could be “liberated”.
On Tuesday, he promised to go to the Donbass as soon as this area in eastern Ukraine is “liberated”. Karjakin has appealed the ruling to the CAS (Sports Arbitration Court).
VG’s interview with Magnus Carlsen attracted a lot of attention in Russia on Tuesday. Although the world champion strongly disagrees with Karjakin in everything he thinks about the war, Carlsen is also unsure whether exclusion of the Russian is the right thing to do.
– Closer to the West
– It is understandable that Magnus is closer to the West. But I know that Carlsen is first and foremost an athlete who respects sporting principles. He likes to win on the board, Karjakin writes Telegram.
Carlsen has the position of an adequate athlete, says the well-known politician Dmitry Svyshchov, while former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov says:
– I did not expect Magnus to make such a statement.
Magnus Carlsen and Sergej Karjakin are of the same age and have met in almost 100 games in their careers.
As a result of the exclusion, Karjakin misses this summer’s “candidate tournament”, where eight men are fighting for the right to meet Carlsen in a World Cup match in 2023.
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