What do Carlsen, Sutovsky, Mr. Dodgy, and Liren have in common?
The answer nowadays is simple. GM Sergey Karjakin is the current common ground of the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, the Director-General of FIDE Emil Sutovsky, Twitter’s sensation Mr.Dodgy, and the Chinese GM Ding Liren.
Carlsen on Karjakin
In an interview for the Norwegian newspaper VG, Magnus Carlsen stated that he disagrees with Karjakin, but he is not sure whether banning him from official tournaments was the right decision.
“Of course, I do not agree with Karjakin on anything, but whether it is right to exclude people for opinions that we do not tolerate, I’m not sure. Maybe it pays off in a difficult time, but you also set a precedent for what may come later.” Carlsen stated and then added: “Is it good that we are letting him have what he wants? He wants to become a martyr of the West’s ‘sanctions tyranny’. Now he is allowed to tell that story at home — and that works well there. We are helping him in doing so, we are letting him have what he wants. I don’t know if it’s good or not, I’m not sure.”
Carlsen’s statement was trending on Twitter, enhancing the debate on the cancel-culture and provoking Karjakin’s response. “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 eventually commented on his Telegram channel.
Karjakin pranks Sutovsky
The Director-General of FIDE Emil Sutovsky tweeted yesterday that Karjakin gave him a fake prank call on behalf of Ukrainian Minister of Sports V. Gutzeit and right after the call Karjakin quoted him in Russian media!
The information was confirmed with the chess community mentioning that Sutovsky should have verified the identity of the person he was talking to before giving information, but with the majority being in shock, condemning that kind of unacceptable behavior.
https://twitter.com/SusanPolgar/status/1511664822827593730?t=rnqfrD731MDnP9zBIGH-iw&s=19
Mr.Dodgy has caught Karjakin’s attention
If you have Twitter and you play chess, you know Mr. Dodgy. His fun tweets and his roasting intentions – including World Chess – bring joy to the cyberworld! In the case of Sergey Karjakin, Mr.Dodgy has shown his disagreement in serious and funny ways, but always with a clear statement. Apparently, this activity has caught Karjakin’s attention, who didn’t hesitate to tweet because “he will read it”!
Ding Liren is on his way to take Karjakin’s spot in the 2022 Candidates
Karjakin’s 6-month ban left an open spot in the 2022 Candidates. This spot will be filled by the highest-rated, eligible player in FIDE’s ranking list published on May 1.
Ding Liren is definitely one of the frontrunners to take the spot but he has only played 4 games since June 2021, with the regulations stipulating that a minimum of 30 games are needed to be eligible.
Unfortunately, due to covid-related travel restriction, Liren couldn’t participate in the World Cup nor the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022. This means that Liren’s only chance to reach the Candidates is to play 26 classical games in a month while maintaining the highest rating of all eligible players.
