One of the earliest and most visible messages from any Russian protesting the country’s invasion of Ukraine came from a man who is intimately familiar with ancient principles of attack, defense, and territorial gains. He learned them on his way to becoming one of the top chess players on the planet.
“History has seen many Black Thursdays,” grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, the highest-rated Russian in the game, tweeted on Feb. 24. “But today is blacker than the others.”
Nepomniachtchi struck a sensitive chord not just because of his nationality. It was also because of his profession. No game or sport in the world is more intertwined with Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) than chess, which has produced more than half of all world champions since World War II and whose leaders have direct ties to the Kremlin. As of mid-2021, Russia had more than twice as many current grandmasters as any other country, according to Chess.com.
So as the world watched Russian troops march into Ukraine, the chess community confronted both its roots and its own position in international politics. A game that is often used as a metaphor for war suddenly had to reckon with its governing body’s close connections to President Vladimir Putin. Major players, past and present, lined up on both sides of the conflict.
