English Chess Forum

Ian Thompson wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 4:59 pm

If it was down to me I'd say that to represent a country at anything you'd have to have that country's nationality. Living there wouldn't be enough.

That would give an advantage to people with multiple nationalities.

My view is that if a player moves like this, then as well as the high monetary restrictions on the initial move (at least for titled players), you have to avoid a ping-pong effect where the player moves back the other way. i.e. Make it harder to move back. If, in this case, the situation in Armenia changes, will Aronian decide to move back again? You would expect a period of commitment to his 'new' country, and a delay if he wanted to move again.

More generally, what happens if an Iranian or Israeli (etc.) moves federation, or if some aspect of some other conflict (such as the recent one between Armenia and Azerbaijan) come up - what if that impacts someone's chess federation registration or how chess is played between teams? FIDE need to be aware of various possible issues here (and I am sure they are aware of them).

Also, you don't want to affect 'normal' people who just move country/job and want to play for their new country. So any new restrictions might have to only apply to titled players above a certain level, or who have already represented a country at national level (but how do you define that?).

[I should add here that I am very sympathatic to Aronian as an individual because of the personal adversity he has been through.]

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:14 pm

Ian Thompson wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 4:59 pm

If it was down to me I'd say that to represent a country at anything you'd have to have that country's nationality. Living there wouldn't be enough.

That would give an advantage to people with multiple nationalities.

It would, but I'm not suggesting that such people could freely switch between who they represent. They'd have to make a choice and then stick with it.

Good luck to Levon Aronian. And to hell with the government officials who have disrespected him and his profession. He is right, chess is one of the few areas in which Armenian excellence brings that country to a world stage.

Paul McKeown wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:39 pm

And to hell with the government officials who have disrespected him and his profession.

It is possible that we don't know the full story.

would we make a fuss if he wanted to play for England?

Nick Grey wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:48 pm

would we make a fuss if he wanted to play for England?

That might depend upon where the 50k came from.

Peter Doggers has covered the story at https://www.chess.com/news/view/levon-a ... s-st-louis.

He describes the FIDE Transfer Regulations and hints as a decision possibly looming for Nick Faulks.

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:55 pm

He describes the FIDE Transfer Regulations and hints as a decision possibly looming for Nick Faulks.

So he does. An interesting idea which I had not considered.

His words are shallow in my view; it’s all about the dollars

https://en.chessbase.com/post/levon-aro ... for-the-us
ChessBase Link

I presume he could still be grieving following the tragic death of his wife.
https://chessbase.in/news/Arianne-Caoil ... -age-of-33
ChessBase Link to his wife's obituary

Alan Walton wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 27, 2021 3:36 am

His words are shallow in my view; it’s all about the dollars

Do you actually know Lev Aronian?

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 27, 2021 12:48 pm

Alan Walton wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 27, 2021 3:36 am

His words are shallow in my view; it’s all about the dollars

Do you actually know Lev Aronian?

I meet Lev Aronian in Gibraltar.
He came across as a genuine & very pleasant gentleman.
At the end of the Closing Ceremony.

With Bernadette Stokes ?

Brendan O'Gorman wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 27, 2021 6:44 pm

With Bernadette Stokes ?

No.
The lady in the photograph is my wife.