FIDE SHOULD BAN KASPAROV

Instead of Karjakin, FIDE should have banned Kasparov

On 24 March 2022, Garry Kasparov has published an article "Breaking Point" in his political journal "Kasparov.ru".
https://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=623CD605B0359

If FIDE was able to interpret the FIDE's Code of Ethics in such a way as to ban Karjakin for 6 months, then, they should give a lifetime ban to Kasparov.

Suppose that a man who does not understand chess, or even does not know the rules of chess, makes propaganda that some opening variation is winning for White. He does not provide any analyses of the position and even reports the position incorrectly. He argues that White has an attack and is always silent about the fact that Black has the extra rook. He is talking only about one corner of the chessboard.

The picture is exactly the same when the chess player Kasparov is talking about politics. Kasparov does not provide any analyses. He merely makes propaganda. He mentions only those facts that are suitable for his propaganda. His facts are indeed dubious.

On what ground thinks Kasparov that Russia is blackmailing the world with its nuclear weapons? Let him quote Putin exactly together with exact references to the original source. We would like to check whether Kasparov has taken something out of context, whether he presents his interpretation of Putin's talk as the real text. Let him also explain in what sense and why he thinks that Russia is blackmailing more than the US, referring to one's nuclear weapons.

Kasparov:

"Today, Putin is using nuclear blackmail... Only next time it will take place on the territory of Poland or Estonia."

On what grounds asserts Kasparov, that Putin would blackmail with the nuclear weapon such countries that do not have nuclear weapons on their territory? And in what sense can Putin blackmail on that territory?

Kasparov:

"Arguments sound absolutely meaningless - 'we cannot allow a third world war' when it is already underway."

Covertly, Kasparov makes war propaganda here. If the West would follow Kasparov's suggestions, the Ukraine war would extend to the whole of Europe, perhaps to the US as well. While in the Ukraine war, during one month, perhaps less than 100 000 people have been killed, following Kasparov's hysteria would lead to tens of millions of people killed.

Kasparov's mistake is exactly the same as Karjakin's mistake. Karjakin also refers to the killed Donbas people, to Ukrainian Nazis, and Karjakin also warns that if Ukraine's extreme nationalists will not be stopped, the whole of Europe would be in danger.

Karjakin's justification of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is dubious, however. During 8 years since 2014, in Donbas, 15 000 people were killed. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 15 000 people were killed during the first two weeks of the war.

Both Karjakin and Kasparov do not understand that people are not chess pawns. In real-life, any exchanges of pawns are unwelcome, since every such exchange means two killed people.

FIDE, however, has banned Karjakin for making war propaganda. But it is Kasparov who should be banned first and forever.

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Approximate translation of Kasparov's article:

I cannot say with certainty that Putin will not use nuclear weapons. But we must answer the question: can concessions to Putin reduce this risk? Any concession to the dictator increases his impudence. Today, Putin is using nuclear blackmail as his last card in this game. And if this blackmail works, and it still works, then it means that he will use this card all the time. Only next time it will take place on the territory of Poland or Estonia. And then the West will face a dilemma: either dissolve itself and end the historical path of Western civilization, yielding to a gopnik with nuclear weapons, or enter into a military clash that will take place in much worse conditions than now.

Arguments sound absolutely meaningless - "we cannot allow a third world war" when it is already underway. But we continue to hear them from all sides. However, we must not forget that these statements come from people who have given wrong advice over the years about how to build relations with Putin. These are people who in business would have been fired long ago. They compromised themselves with absolutely incorrect assessments of the geopolitical situation, but now they continue to give advice on how to proceed.

I recently tweeted about the RAND Corporation. This is one of the leading research centers in the US, which deals with military issues and advises the US government. In January of this year, they released a large detailed article that explained why Ukraine should not be supplied with weapons. The article said that the Ukrainian army would fall apart in a few days, this army had no chance to resist Putin, and the supply of weapons to it was money down the drain. I ask the question: are these people still advisers to the American administration? Do they still advise the White House? Did they apologize in any way for their mistake?

We have come to a point where everything must change. The whole world, the systems of relationships will change, but in order to save this world, we need to understand that in a war with Putin there can be no draw, unlike chess. Either he wins or we win. The victory of Ukraine will mean the collapse of the Putin regime. And this is the fundamental idea that must be brought to the consciousness of Western society in the hope that it will be able to influence its cowardly and corrupt politicians.

THE INTERNATIONAL CHESS FEDERATION FIDE IS DEAD

FIDE started its activities after the Second World War and organized the most corrupt world chess championship of all time, "The Hague-Moscow 1948", in which the Soviet chess player Botvinnik became the world champion. 

Botvinnik was abnormally resultative against Keres, the representative of Estonia, occupied by the Soviet Union. 

By now, however, FIDE has gone beyond what is reasonable.

On March 2, 2022, the FIDE Council issued a statement on the war in Ukraine:

The Official Statement of FIDE Council

• FIDE states that Russian and Belarusian flags may not be used in FIDE competitions.
• FIDE terminates all sponsorship agreements with the state of Russia or Belarus or with state-controlled companies.
• FIDE will discuss the issue of "supporting unjustified military action" statements by grandmaster Sergei Karjakin in the FIDE Ethics Committee. — This committee has just decided that Karjakin will not be able to play in the FIDE competitions for 6 months, so he will not be able to play in the World Championship tournament where he was eligible to play.
• FIDE does not organize any chess competitions or events in Russia and Belarus. (This place in the FIDE statement is particularly absurd because it refers to the safety of chess players, but instead, the war is going on in Ukraine, and there are serious security problems in Ukraine at the moment.)

The problem is the justifications provided by FIDE.

We can first read about human rights in the text of the FIDE statement.

— On what basis does the chess federation FIDE decide that Russia and Belarus have violated human rights in the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Starting a war is not a violation of human rights. However, concerning human rights violations during the war, on what basis does the chess organization decide that the Russians and not the Ukrainians are violating human rights in this war? On what basis do chess organizers decide that war crimes in this war are committed by one party and not the other?

Next, on what basis does the chess organization FIDE assume that human rights were not violated in Ukraine before the war? Who gave the chess judges the mandate to decide that the Ukrainians did not commit war crimes and genocide in Donbas — as Russia claims they did?

The FIDE statement then states that FIDE is against wars and condemns the use of military force to resolve political conflicts:

"FIDE stands united against wars as well as condemns any use of military means to resolve political conflicts."

— If FIDE does condemn the use of military force to resolve political conflicts, FIDE should also have condemned Ukraine's violations of the Minsk peace in Donbas. According to reports from the OSCE Mission to Ukraine, the situation on the dividing line with the Donbas separatists worsened in early 2022, with minesweepers fired as many as a thousand times a day, with most hits in the separatist areas.

If FIDE is indeed against the wars, why has FIDE not made similar statements against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example? The war in Iraq has been going on for 19 years. The United States has still not completely stopped occupying Iraq. Millions of people have been killed in that war, while the war in Ukraine has only lasted a month, and the death toll is apparently below 100,000.

Regarding Karjakini's question, FIDE also uses the argument of unjustified military action:

"FIDE Council condemns any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action..."

— On what basis do the chess judges decide which war is justified and which is not?

I, too, believe that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine is not morally or legally justified.

For example, suppose Russia's accusation that Ukraine carried out genocide in Donbas is justified. However, it seems complicated to justify the decision to attack Kyiv, which is far from Donbas, to defend the civilian population of Donbas. At first glance, it would seem more natural for Russia to deploy its troops only to the separatist regions of Donbas for this purpose.

The paragraph above is just a fraction of the possible debate on whether or not Russia's war in Ukraine is justified. This fragment alone shows that the issue is complex. Different parties here have different understandings of the facts and cause-and-effect relationships. New facts may emerge that we do not yet know. It is also necessary to be familiar with the Geneva Convention and other articles of international law to take part in the debate. Finally, Russia has more excuses, such as the need to defend itself against NATO invasion. Whatever the right verdict, it is evident that chess judges cannot competently make this decision!

However, what is certain now is that Russia has at least mitigating circumstances — while the United States did not even have any mitigating circumstances when it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.

So we know now that there were no chemical weapons in Iraq, and the talk of these weapons of mass destruction was a fiction to justify a war. We also realize that Iraq posed no military threat to the American motherland, America, because America is on the other side of the globe, and Iraq did not have intercontinental missiles or nuclear bombs.

FIDE's condemnation of "supporting an unjustified war" may well prove to be a ban on proving that the war is in fact justified; in such a variant, it would simply prove to be a dogma that war is unjustified, a dogma that must not be doubted.

However, if FIDE were indeed against unjustified wars and support for such wars, FIDE should have condemned the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately, after a long search on the FIDE website, I would say that FIDE has never even discussed these topics.

When the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq broke out, most people in Europe and the United States supported these wars, either openly or tacitly. It was only thanks to the work of Julian Assange and Wikileaks that Western audiences learned that the West had committed war crimes in these wars. However, FIDE has not responded in any way to the fact that some chess players have publicly agreed to these wars.

In conclusion, I find the FIDE statement and decisions extremely hypocritical. Although FIDE makes anti-war declarations, it only defends Ukraine and attacks only Russia. The wars launched by the United States have not been criticized or responded to by FIDE.

Therefore, I simply do not believe that the real purpose of FIDE is to prevent wars, condemn them, protect human rights, prevent war propaganda, prevent war crimes, and so on.

In fact, the FIDE decision is an example of the politicization of sport and, moreover, of the biased politicization of sport. FIDE has chosen a side in the war and turned itself into a weapon in the hands of one side against the other.

As a result, I no longer participate in FIDE tournaments, and I no longer recognize an organization like FIDE.

I am also considering interrupting my correspondence chess tournaments in the ICCF, which is officially under FIDE. However, the ICCF has not yet taken such abrupt decisions as FIDE.

RAHVUSVAHELINE MALEFÖDERATIOON FIDE ON SURNUD

FIDE alustas oma tegevust pärast teist maailmasõda ja korraldas kõigi aegade korrumpeerunuima male maailmameistrivõistluse "Haag-Moskva 1948", millel maailmameistriks tuli nõukogude maletaja Botvinnik, kes mängis üle mõistuse edukalt just okupeeritud Eesti esindaja Kerese vastu.

Nüüdseks on FIDE aga üle igasuguse mõistlikkuse piiri läinud.

02. märtsil 2022 on FIDE Nõukogu teinud avalduse Ukraina sõja teemal:

The Official Statement of FIDE Council

• FIDE teatab, et FIDE võistlustel ei tohi kasutada Venemaa ega Valgevene lippe.
• FIDE katkestab kõik sponsorluslepingud Venemaa või Valgevene riigiga või riigi poolt kontrollitud ettevõtetega.
• FIDE võtab arutusele suurmeister Sergei Karjakini "õigustamatut sõda kaitsvate" avalduste küsimuse FIDE eetikakomisjonis. — Selles komisjonis otsustati äsja, et Karjakin ei saa 6 kuud mängida FIDE võistlustel, mistõttu ta ei saa mängida ka maailmameistri tiitlipretendentide turniiril, kus tal oli õigus mängida.
• FIDE ei korralda Venemaal ja Valgevenes ühtki malevõistlust ega -üritust. (See koht FIDE avalduses on eriti absurdne, sest siin viidatakse maletajate turvalisusele, ent sõda käib hoopis Ukrainas ja hoopis Ukrainas on praegu turvalisusega tõsiseid probleeme.)

Probleemiks on FIDE poolt esitatud põhjendused.

FIDE avalduse tekstist võime kõigepealt lugeda INIMÕIGUSTEST ("human rights").

— Millisel alusel otsustab maleföderatsioon FIDE, et Venemaa invasiooni puhul Ukrainasse on inimõigusi rikkunud just Venemaa ja Valgevene?

Sõja alustamine pole inimõiguste rikkumine. Kui silmas peetakse aga inimõiguste rikkumisi sõja ajal, siis millisel alusel otsustab maleorganisatsioon, et selles sõjas rikuvad inimõigusi venelased ja mitte ukrainlased? Mis alusel otsustavad maleorganisaatorid, et sõjakuritegusid selles sõjas sooritab üks pool ja mitte teine pool?

Edasi, millisel alusel eeldab maleorganisatsioon FIDE, et inimõiguseid ei rikutud Ukrainas juba enne sõda? Kes andis malekohtunikele mandaadi otsustada, et ukrainlased pole Donbassis sooritanud sõjakuritegusid ja genotsiidi, nagu Venemaa seda väidab?

Seejärel teatatakse FIDE avalduses, et FIDE on SÕDADE VASTU ja mõistab hukka sõjalise jõu kasutamise poliitiliste konfliktide lahendamiseks:

"FIDE stands united against wars as well as condemns any use of military means to resolve political conflicts."

— Kui maleorganisatsioon FIDE tõepoolest mõistab hukka sõjalise jõu kasutamise poliitiliste konfliktide lahendamiseks, siis pidanuks FIDE hukka mõistma ka Ukraina poolsed Minski rahu rikkumised Donbassis. OSCE Ukraina missiooni raportite põhjal ägenes 2022 alul olukord Donbassi separatistide eraldusjoonel, miinipildujaist tulistati isegi tuhat korda päevas, kusjuures enamus tabamusi olid separatistide aladel.

Kui FIDE tõepoolest on sõdade vastu, siis miks ei ole FIDE teinud analoogilisi avaldusi näiteks Afganistani ja Iraagi sõdade vastu? Iraagi sõda on kestnud juba 19 aastat ja USA ei ole veel ikka Iraagi okupeerimist täielikult lõpetanud, selles sõjas on hukkunud miljoneid inimesi; sellal kui Ukraina sõda on kestnud alles kuu aega ja hukkunute arv on nähtavasti praegu alla 100 000.

Seoses Karjakini küsimusega kasutab FIDE ka argumenti ÕIGUSTAMATA SÕJAST ("unjustified military action"):

"FIDE Council condemns any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action..."

— Millisel alusel otsustavad malekohtunikud, milline sõda on õigustatud ja milline mitte?

Ka minul on selline arvamus, et Venemaa täiemahuline sõda Ukraina vastu pole moraalselt või juriidiliselt õigustatud.

Näiteks oletagem, et Venemaa süüdistus, et Ukraina teostas Donbassis genotsiidi, on põhjendatud. Ent tundub olevat raske põhjendada otsust, et Donbassi tsiviilelanike kaitseks tuli rünnata Kiievit, mis on Donbassist kaugel; esmapilgul tunduks loomulikum, kui Venemaa oleks viinud oma väed sisse ainult Donbassi separatistlikesse piirkondadesse sellel eesmärgil.

Lõik ülal on ainult kild võimalikest arutlustest sellel teemal, kas Venemaa sõda Ukrainas on õigustatud või mitte. Juba see üks kild näitab, et küsimus on keeruline. Erinevatel pooltel on siin erinevad arusaamad faktidest ja põhjus-tagajärg seostest. Ilmneda võivad uued asjaolud, mida me veel ei tea. Samuti on arutluses osalemiseks vaja tunda Genfi konventsiooni ja teisi rahvusvahelise õiguse paragrahve. Lõpuks on Venemaal ettekäändeid rohkemgi, näiteks vajadus ennast NATO pealetungimise eest kaitsta. Milline õige kohtuotsus ka poleks, on ilmne, et seda otsust ei saa kompetentselt teha malekohtunikud!

Kindel on praeguseks aga see, et Venemaal on vähemalt oma süüd pehmendavaid asjaolusid — sellal kui USA-l polnud Iraaki ja Afganistani sissetungimisel mitte mingisuguseid isegi süüd pehmendavaid asjaolusid.

Nii teame me praegu, et Iraagis ei olnud keemiarelvi ja jutt nendest masshävitusrelvadest oli väljamõeldis, et õigustada sõja alustamist. Samuti saame me aru, et Iraak ei kujutanud endast USA emamaale Ameerikale mitte mingisugust sõjalist ohtu, sest Ameerika on teisel pool maakera ja Iraagil puudusid kontinentidevahelised raketid, samuti tuumapommid.

FIDE hukkamõist "õigustamata sõja toetamisele" võib väga hästi osutuda ka keeluks esitada fakte, mis tõestavad, et see sõda on tegelikult õigustatud; sellise variandi puhul osutuks see lihtsalt dogmaks, et sõda on õigustamata, dogmaks, milles ei tohi kahelda.

Kui FIDE aga tõepoolest oleks õigustamata sõdade vastu ja selliste sõdade toetamise vastu, siis oleks FIDE pidanud hukka mõistma ka Afganistani sõja ja Iraagi sõja. Ma ei leia FIDE koduleheküljelt ka pika otsimise peale aga märkigi sellest, et FIDE oleks neid teemasid kunagi isegi arutanud.

Kui Afganistani ja Iraagi sõjad algasid, siis enamus inimesi Euroopas ja USA-s toetasid neid sõdasid kas avalikult või vaikimisi. Alles tänu Julian Assange'i ja Wikileaksi tegevusele sai läänemaine publik teada, et lääs sooritas nendes sõdades sõjakuritegusid. FIDE ei ole aga mitte mingilgi moel reageerinud sellele, et mõned maletajad on nende sõdadega avalikult nõus olnud.

Kokkuvõttes pean ma FIDE avaldust ja otsuseid äärmiselt silmakirjalikeks. FIDE esitab küll sõjavastaseid deklaratsioone, ent tegelikkuses kaitseb ta ainult Ukrainat ja ründab ainult Venemaad. USA poolt alustatud sõdasid ei ole FIDE kritiseerinud ega nendele reageerinud.

Seetõttu ma lihtsalt ei usu seda, et FIDE tegelikuks eesmärgiks on sõdade ärahoidmine, nende hukkamõistmine, inimõiguste kaitsmine, sõjapropaganda ärahoidmine, sõjakuritegude ärahoidmine, vms.

Tegelikkuses on FIDE otsus näide spordi politiseerimisest ning pealegi veel spordi kallutatud politiseerimisest. FIDE on valinud sõjas poole ja muutnud ennast relvaks ühe poole käes teise poole vastu.

Seetõttu ma FIDE turniiridel enam ei osale ja sellist organisatsiooni nagu FIDE enam ei tunnista.

Ma kaalun samuti, kas katkestada ka oma kirimaleturniirid ICCF-s, mis ametlikult allub FIDE-le. ICCF aga pole nii järske otsuseid kui FIDE veel teinud.

SERGEI KARJAKIN SAI FIDE-lt POOLEAASTASE VÕISTLUSKEELU

Rahvusvahelise maleföderatsiooni FIDE eetikakomisjon otsustas anda Venemaa maletajale Sergei Karjakinile pooleaastase võistluskeelu. 

FIDE Ethics imposes a six-month ban on Karjakin

21 March 2022  

Karjakin olevat kahjustanud malemängu reputatsiooni. — Seda ma tahaksin küll teada, mis asi on malemängu reputatsioon ja kuidas seda kahjustada saab?

Karjakin olevat malemängu mainet kahjustanud oma avalike sõnavõttudega Ukraina sõja teemal ja seda maletajate ringkondades. 

Karjakinist on teada, et ta toetab Putinit ja küllap ta siis on ka Venemaa invasiooni suhtes õigustaval seisukohal. 

Kahjuks ei esita FIDE oma teates mitte mingisuguseid linke, teisi tõendeid ega ka Karjakini tsitaate illustreerimaks, mida ja kuidas Karjakin on pahasti teinud. Ka ei esita FIDE avalikku analüüsi Karjakini sellistele avaldustele. 

FIDE argument, et enamus maletajaid on Karjakini avaldused vastu võtnud negatiivselt ei ole samuti veenev, sest enamus võib moraaliküsimustes eksida. Pealegi on küsimuseks see, milliste avalduste hulgast see enamus on arvutatud? Vaevalt, et FIDE eetikakomisjon on uurinud kõiki arvamusi Karjakini kohta, mis on ilmunud näiteks vene keeles või hiina keeles. Arvestada tuleb ka seda, et positiivsed arvamusavaldused Karjakini seisukohtade aadressil võivad olla läänes blokeeritud — blokeeritud nii maleplatvormide foorumites kui ka seetõttu, et läänes on blokeeritud Venemaa allikad. 

Eriti murelikuks teeb aga küsimus, kas FIDE on oma põhimõtteid järjekindlalt rakendanud või on tegemist nende valikulise, selektiivse rakendamisega. 

Nimelt pole mulle teada, et FIDE oleks kunagi andnud võistluskeelu neile maletajaile, kes on USA sõda Afganistanis või Iraagis mingil moel õigustanud. 

Kui minu muljed tõele vastavad, kas pole siis nii, et FIDE on oma valikulise, kallutatud spordi politiseerimisega malemängu mainet kahjustanud ja FIDE-le tuleks anda pooleaastane tegutsemiskeeld? 

Ma ei ole veel lugenud FIDE avaldust Ukraina sõja teemal. Kas FIDE on aga teinud avaldused ka Afganistani, Iraagi, Süüria, Liibüa ja Jeemeni sõdade teemal? 

Lugenud olen maleplatvormi LiChess avaldust Ukraina sõja teemal. Sellest kirjutasin siin ka ühe postituse. Nimelt on LiChess suisa eksplitsiitselt teatanud, et Ukraina sõda on "pretsedenditu" — mis on absoluutne vale. Näiteks on Ukraina sõjas, mis on nüüdseks juba ligi kuu aega kestnud, hukkunud praeguseks võib-olla maksimaalselt 50 000 sõdurit ja võib-olla 100 000 tsiviili; Iraagi sõjas ja okupatsioonis, mis on nüüdseks kestnud juba 19 aastat, on aga hukkunud miljoneid inimesi, mõnede hinnangul 10 miljonit. 

Seega on LiChess oma kallutatud avaldusega kahjustanud malemängu mainet ja selle platvormi tegevus tuleks pooleks aastaks peatada. 

Mina minimeerisin oma tegevuse LiChessis igaveseks. Ma vaatan sealt ainult partiisid ja avanguid nüüd ja avaldan võib-olla mõnikord mõne male politiseerimist kritiseeriva blogipostituse. 

Ma rõhutan siin, et minu käesolev postitus ja eelnevad sarnased postitused ja sõnavõtud ei ÕIGUSTA Ukraina sõda. Otse vastupidi: ma olen raudselt sõdade vastu. Küll aga kritiseerin ma halastamatult neid, kes teesklevad, et nad võitlevad sõja vastu või sõja õigustamise vastu, tegelikult aga kaitsevad AINULT Ukrainat või teevad ja räägivad ükskõik mida, kui aga saaks kritiseerida Venemaad (kui sõdib USA, siis nad vaikivad). 

ON THE "LICHESS STATEMENT ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE"

On 09 March 2022, the popular chess platform Lichess has issued an announcement 

"Lichess Statement on the War in Ukraine"

https://lichess.org/blog/Yie1MhIAACAAk6OQ/lichess-statement-on-the-war-in-ukraine 

https://archive.ph/jcINL 

The statement is about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, starting from 24 February 2022. The moto of the statement is: 

Truth is the first casualty of war.

A week later, the commentarium of that post is closed already. 

Concerning that statement and the restrictions on Russian chessplayers, the following philosophical questions are arising: 

1) Is it right to politicize sports (and chess, among other sports)? 

2) If sports is politicized, is it right to abandon the principle of universality?

As we see, Lichess is commenting on "geopolitical situations". And the restrictions are applied to Russia and Russian chessplayers. So, Lichess regards it as acceptable to politicize sports. If it is done in goodwill, it might be fine. However, I believe that it should not be done in a discriminatory manner. 

If the aggressive wars are to be condemned, all aggressive wars should be condemned. 

Unfortunately, we see that Lichess has the opinion that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first and perhaps the last aggressive war: 

"This is unprecedented for all of us."

It seems that the war has indeed killed the truth! So far, in the Ukrainian war, several thousands of people have been killed, and Russia has occupied a part of Ukraine. However, during the US occupation of Iraq, millions of people were killed. The US occupation of Afghanistan lasted for tens of years. Again, millions of people were killed. 

Lichess declares: 

"Lichess has always advocated vocally for freedom, openness and mutual collaboration. We will always promote and defend these values against those who promote subjugation, opacity, and hostility." 

Then, let us see when and where Lichess condemned the Afghanistan war, the Iraq war, the current war in Yemen supported by some Western governments? Unfortunately, it is not easy to find such statements on the internet, and Lichess does not provide any links to such earlier statements either. And Lichess does not apologize that it has failed to do so. 

Lichess also talks about war crimes: 

"All users are reminded that Lichess has the right to proactively remove access to certain services or features of our website from users who, at our sole discretion, violate our Terms of Service (ToS). This includes the glorification of terrorism, sharing extremist, bigoted, or racist views, and promotion of genocide / war crimes." 

The context is clearly such that everyone tends to think that Russia, who started the war against Ukraine, is the side committing war crimes. But, unfortunately, it is not a logically valid inference. There is no reason why the side starting the war is also the only side committing the war crimes. On the contrary, the evidence suggests that both sides have probably committed war crimes in the current Ukrainian war. Moreover, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some Ukrainians probably committed war crimes in the Donbas area. The shelling there also began before the Russian invasion. Up to 1000 times per day were shot, and most of the hits were on the separatists' area, according to the OSCE reports. 

When did Lichess make a statement about Donbas? And on what grounds does the chess platform Lichess decide who is committing war crimes and glorifying racist views, etc.? Lichess avoids explicitly saying that these are some Ukrainian nationalists celebrating terrorism, extremist, bigoted, or racist views and promoting genocide/war crimes. 

In conclusion, I stress that I am against military aggressions and wars, particularly against unjustified wars and against war crimes. But unfortunately, I do not feel Lichess' statement to be sincere and rational. It makes an impression that it is not made in support of Ukraine but against Russia. Furthermore, it makes an impression that people in Afghanistan and Iraq can be legitimately killed, according to Lichess, while Russia is the worst actor anyway. 

You have never sanctioned the US or the US sportspeople despite all those numerous military aggressions and wars the US has initiated. 

While I am neither a Russian nor a Russian citizen, and I do not live in Russia, I feel that Lichess' statement is hypocritical and does not contribute to the peace on Earth. 

Therefore, I am trying to use Lichess as rarely as possible from now on. 

 

My Lichess profile