ON THE CHESS PLATFORM FICGS, THERE WAS A DEBATE ON MY PUBLIC APPEAL

Recently, on about 04 November 2023, I published my text

“A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations on the Bombing of the Gaza Strip”

I published this appeal in both English and Estonian.

The core of this Public Appeal was the following call:

… I call on all chess organisations to either immediately lift the restrictions imposed on Russia and Belarus or to impose the same restrictions on Israel, whose disproportionate and indiscriminate military action is killing a catastrophic number of civilians in the Gaza Strip every day.

Suppose it is permissible to obstruct Russian sports persons to get Russia to stop its military aggression against Ukraine. In that case, it must also be permissible to obstruct Israeli sports persons to get Israel to stop its war crimes and to punish the perpetrators.

In Estonia, I sent this Public Appeal to several chess organisations and one chess magazine, but none of them even replied that they had received my letter. I also officially sent the letter to the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation via the ICCF server.

Therefore, in the future, I don’t want anything to do with organisations like the Estonian Correspondence Chess Association, the Estonian Chess Federation, or the Estonian Chess Support Group or whatever it was called. I also no longer wish to have any contact with the publication “Eesti maleelu” [= “Estonian Chess Life”].

I also sent this Public Appeal to one of the mailing lists of Estonian correspondence chess players. There, I received a reply from only one Israeli supporter, who tried to frame me as an anti-Semite, and to whom I replied that I refused to talk to him or play chess with him in the future.

I also sent this Public Appeal to several international chess organisations, as well as some national chess organisations. Only one of them responded, stating that it was not within its competence to lift the sanctions.

Conversation on the FICGS Chess Platform

On 05 November 2023, on the chess platform’s FICGS Forum, I also launched a discussion entitled

“A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations”

This conversation can probably only be read by a registered user. Also, I’m unsure if this conversation will remain there, for example, after I leave FICGS.

Apart from me, there were only three people there.

Ilmars Cirulis took part in the conversation episodically. He expressed his condolences for the civilians killed on both sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and said that both Netanyahu and Hamas should be in prison. I replied that I had roughly the same view.

Two people participated in the interview at length: Herbert Kruse, a highly rated chess player there, and Thibault de Vassal, who, by his own admission, is one of the organisers of the FICGS chess platform.

Several months ago, I had told Thibault de Vassal that I no longer wished to speak to him. At the time, the discussion was about the chess sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, which I criticised. Still, I eventually interpreted Thibault de Vassal’s replies as pure demagogy and personal attacks. At that time, I decided I would no longer play chess on the FICGS platform because of the chess organisers and chess grandmasters’ inappropriate style in the Forum discussions.

This time, it went even worse.

In my view, Herbert Kruse and Thibault de Vassal completely ignored the text and the arguments I put forward in the Public Appeal and then completely ignored the arguments I put forward during the discussion. In doing so, both of them constantly changed the subject and the context and interpreted what I had said in a completely arbitrary and illogical manner.

Herbert Kruse made one after another series of irrelevant arguments, and when I replied to them, he was already changing the subject again. His favourite topic was Jews and anti-Semitism, completely ignoring the fact that my Public Appeal had stated clearly, emphatically, that we should not impose chess sanctions based on the chess player’s nationality.

In the end, however, things took a criminal turn.

I quote below the most characteristic parts of this conversation.

Personal attacks

HERBERT KRUSE:

I wished you Had more emphaty for the victims 

JÜRI EINTALU:

Herbert Kruse:

“I wished you Had more emphaty for the victims”

After all, you are directly insulting and slandering me.

Get lost, Mr Herbert Kruse.

xxx

JÜRI EINTALU:

The 07 October attack is quite recent, and I would not say that all the circumstances are clear. For example, I am not sure that Hamas “chose” to kill civilians.

The only thing that is sure is that some number of civilians were killed by Hamas. It is sure, because Israel accuses Hamas of killing the civilians, and one of Hamas leaders has publicly admitted, that during that attack, Hamas killed some civilians “accidentally”.

Killing civilians may make it a war crime. Intentionally killing civilians may make it an act of terrorism.

HERBERT KRUSE:

“I am not sure that Hamas “chose” to kill civilians. “

for that u dont need empathy, u need to be in prison!

JÜRI EINTALU:

Me:

“I am not sure that Hamas ‘chose’ to kill civilians.”

Herbert Kruse:

“for that u dont need empathy, u need to be in prison!”

My answer:

Please arrest this man with the name “Herbert Kruse”. He is obviously a fascist.

xxx

HERBERT KRUSE:

now the russian trolls are here too, its sad

JÜRI EINTALU:

Herbert Kruse:

“now the russian trolls are here too, its sad”

I do not know, perhaps Herbert Kruse kept in mind, for example, the following section from my Public Appeal:

“Suppose it is permissible to obstruct Russian sports persons to get Russia to stop its military aggression against Ukraine. In that case, it must also be permissible to obstruct Israeli sports persons to get Israel to stop its war crimes and to punish the perpetrators.”

Or, perhaps the following one:

“However, the civil war in Ukraine, which started in 2014, had killed around 20,000 civilians by 2022. But, by November 2023, the Russian invasion that began in 2022 had already killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers.”

You are a moral and intellectual bastard, Mr. Herbert Kruse.

And what if someone says here, on the Forum of the chess platform:

“Now the paedophiles, sodomites and corpse-eaters are here too, its sad.”

How would you publicly prove here, on the Forum, that you are not a paedophile, sodomite and corpse-eater?

xxx

THIBAULT DE VASSAL:

Juri, you probably spread fake news:

___________________________

Social media users recently circulated video footage they claimed shows an Israeli helicopter killing Israelis at an Oct. 7 concert in Israel. (…)

In doubt, such news (probably fake news) have no place here… Thanks in advance.

Now we heard your message (and I did respond to your public appeal), feel free to let chess organizations decide what they have to do, no need to discuss it more here.

JÜRI EINTALU:

Thibault de Vassal:

“Juri, you probably spread fake news:…”

“In doubt, such news (probably fake news) have no place here… Thanks in advance.”

I have NOT shared that video here, on the Forum, neither a link to it. And I have NOT mentioned that video here, on the Forum.

You are a sick slanderer, Mr. Thibault de Vassal.

Don’t worry, I will not play a single chess game on the platform FICGS anymore. I decided so already half a year ago.

Summary

Herbert Kruse and Thibault de Vassal, chess masters and organisers, slandered me openly and to my face.

I repeatedly told them that the attack of 07 October was not relevant to my Public Appeal because Hamas cannot be expelled from FIDE or ICCF because it never was there and never could be. I also pointed out that the text of the Public Appeal had already explained why it was not wise to talk about chess sanctions against Hamas. I also stressed that the attack of 7 October cannot be a justification for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel.

Despite my protests, they continued to talk about the attack of 07 October to distract attention from the massive war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

In doing so, they sought an opportunity to attack my person.

Concerning the attack of 07 October, I only reported the following:

• Hamas claimed that it also killed civilians in the course of this attack, but Hamas claimed that it was accidental.
• It is possible that Israel itself killed some civilians.
• I am not yet confident about all the facts of this attack of 07 October as a recent event.
• The details of this attack do not change the question of Israeli war crimes and the need to impose chess sanctions on Israel, as they were imposed on Russia.

In fact, the very next day after Herbert Kruse made the scurrilous accusations to me, the Israeli newspapers themselves reported Israel itself killed some of the civilians on 07 October. The Israeli news mentioned, among other things, an Israeli attack helicopter and also claimed that Hamas, when it launched the attack, did not know that the dance party was still going on.

Nowhere and to no one have I claimed that any video of an Israeli helicopter is authentic, certainly not in a conversation on the FICGS Forum, nor did I share such a video there.

All in all, we can see that sport, including chess, is being politicised and politicised in a biased way: Russia, which started the war, is being punished, but Israel, which is committing genocide, is not.

However, supporters of such policies, such as Herbert Kruse and Thibault de Vassal, avoid engaging in substantive debate and are eager to find ways to incriminate and falsely accuse those who make arguments that do not suit them.

There has been no substantive debate.

AVALIK PÖÖRDUMINE MALEORGANISATSIOONIDE POOLE SEOSES GAZA SEKTORI POMMITAMISEGA

Venemaa sõjaline invasioon Ukrainasse algas 24. veebruaril 2022. a. ja see sõda kestab veel ka täna.

Vaid mõned päevad pärast Ukraina sõja algust algatas Rahvusvaheline Maleföderatsioon (FIDE) protsessi Venemaa ja Valgevene, kes Venemaad selles sõjas abistas, maleliseks blokeerimiseks. 

Mõne kuu pärast võetigi vastu otsus, mille kohaselt Venemaa ja Valgevene malevõistkonnad ei saa FIDE rahvusvahelistel turniiridel osaleda, individuaalsed maletajad aga ei tohi mängida Venemaa või Valgevene lipu all.

Peatselt ühinesid selle kampaaniaga ka maleplatvormid internetis. 

Lõpuks ühines selle blokaadiga ka Rahvusvaheline Kirimale Föderatsioon (ICCF).

Samuti kehtestas FIDE ajutise rahvusvahelistel turniiridel osalemise keelu rahvusvahelisele malesuurmeister Sergei Karjakinile. Seetõttu jäi Karjakin, kes on üks maailma tugevamaid maletajaid, välja male maailmameistri pretendentide turniirilt.

Karjakini süüks peeti seda, et ta avalikult “õigustas” Venemaa sõjalist agressiooni Ukraina vastu. Seda Karjakin tõepoolest ka tegi, viidates Ukraina poolt süstemaatiliselt korda saadetud kuritegudele vene rahvusest inimeste vastu. 

Karjakin oli arvamusel, et Ukrainas toimuva genotsiidi peatamise nimel on Venemaa õigustatud alustama sõda.

Ent Ukrainas aastal 2014 alanud kodusõjas oli aastaks 2022 hukkunud paarkümmend tuhat tsiviili. Aastal 2022 alanud Venemaa sissetungi tagajärjel oli novembriks 2023 aga hukkunud juba sadu tuhandeid Ukraina sõdureid ja samuti sadu tuhandeid Venemaa sõdureid.

Rahvusvaheliste maleorganisatsioonide sanktsioneerival tegevusel seoses Ukraina sõjaga on aga olnud rida puudusi.

Venemaa ja Valgevene maleliseks blokeerimiseks puudusid nendel organisatsioonidel vastavad reeglid. Keelud kehtestati, uusi reegleid käigu pealt ad hoc kehtestades. Neid reegleid rakendati tagasivaatavalt. Ka on nende piirangute puhul tegemist kollektiivse karistusega, mis on kaasajal rahvusvahelise õigusega keelatud. Samuti rikkusid vastavad otsused spordi ja malespordi tunnustatud moraalseid põhimõtteid. Tegemist oli spordi politiseerimisega. 

Üheks peamiseks puuduseks oli aga see, et Venemaa ja Valgevene karistamine oli diskrimineeriv, selektiivne. 

Nii näiteks pole tõkkeid seatud maletajatele teistest sellistest riikidest, mis on alustanud õigustamata sõda, okupeerinud või annekteerinud võõraid alasid, sooritanud sõjakuritegusid vms. 

Näiteks pole rahvusvahelised maleorganisatsioonid mingeid tõkkeid seadnud USA maletajaile hoolimata sellest, et USA alustas õigustamata sõdasid Afganistani ja Iraagi vastu, okupeeris neid maid palju aastaid ning sooritas seal sõjakuritegusid. Sel hetkel, kui karistati Venemaa ja Valgevene maletajaid, oli USA just äsja oma väed Afganistanist lõpuks välja viinud, ent Iraagis on mõned USA sõjaväebaasid sees veel ka täna.

Käesoleva, 2023. aasta 07. novembril ründas palestiinlaste relvastatud rühmitus Hamas, väljudes Gaza sektorist, ootamatult Iisraeli. Selle rünnaku käigus hukkus üle tuhande Iisraeli sõduri ja tsiviilisiku.

Seejärel kuulutas Iisrael Hamasile sõja ja alustas sõjategevust Gaza sektoris, mis on müüri ja okastraadiga eraldatud ala, kus paarisajal ruutkilomeetril elab üle kahe miljoni inimese. Tegemist on planeedi ühe tihedaimalt asustatud piirkonnaga, mis on sisuliselt muudetud vabaõhuvanglaks.

Selle sõjategevuse käigus kehtestas Iisrael Gaza sektorile absoluutse blokaadi, mitte andes sellesse piirkonda vett ja elektrit. Ka toiduaineid ja ravimeid ei saanud sinna saata. Lõpuks lisandus ka internetiühenduse blokeerimine. Inimesi pole sisse ja välja lastud, väljaarvatud üksikud erandid.

Iisrael asus müüriga piiratud alal võimsate lennukipommide ja rakettidega hävitama elumajasid, tabades ja/või kahjustades ka haiglaid ning põgenike varjupaiku. 

Kuu aega hiljem, tänaseks päevaks, on Gaza sektoris hukkunud 9000 tsiviilisikut, kellest üle poole on naised ja lapsed. Üle 10 000 inimese on veel rusude all lõksus.

Rahvusvahelised organisatsioonid kinnitavad, et Iisrael on Gaza sektoris 2023. a. suutnud ühe kuuga tappa rohkem lapsi kui hukkus planeedi kõikides sõjakolletes kokku terve 2022. aasta jooksul. Seejuures on Iisraeli pommide all hukkunud kuu ajaga märgatavalt rohkem lapsi kui Ukraina sõjas kahe aasta jooksul kokku. Vt. n.:

“GAZA: 3,195 CHILDREN KILLED IN THREE WEEKS SURPASSES ANNUAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN KILLED IN CONFLICT ZONES SINCE 2019” 

Save the Children, 29 October 2023 

https://www.savethechildren.net/news/gaza-3195-children-killed-three-weeks-surpasses-annual-number-children-killed-conflict-zones# 

Sarnased näitajad on ka statistikal hukkunud tsiviilide kohta.

ÜRO on esitanud kahtlustuse, et Iisraeli tegevus Gaza sektoris on sõjakuritegu. 

Kolumbia president nimetas seda aga otsesõnu genotsiidiks.

Kui nüüd malemängu juurde tagasi pöörduda, siis rahvusvahelised maleorganisatsioonid nagu FIDE ja ICCF, samuti suured maleplatvormid, pole Iisraeli tegevusega seoses mitte midagi ette võtnud.

Seetõttu teen kõikidele maleorganisatsioonidele üleskutse kas viivitamatult tühistada Venemaale ja Valgevenele seatud piirangud või rakendada samu piiranguid ka Iisraelile, kelle ebaproportsionaalse ja valimatu sõjalise tegevuse tõttu hukkub iga päev katastroofiline arv tsiviilisikuid Gaza sektoris.

Kui on lubatud tõkestada Venemaa sportlasi eesmärgiga, et Venemaa lõpetaks oma sõjalise kallaletungi Ukrainale, siis peab olema lubatud tõkestada ka Iisraeli sportlasi eesmärgiga, et Iisrael lõpetaks oma sõjakuritegude sooritamise ning et süüdlased saaks karistatud.

Kuna pole ilmselt lootustki, et poliitiliselt kallutatud rahvusvahelised maleorganisatsioonid Iisraelile sellised piirangud kehtestaksid, siis teen ettepaneku kõigile individuaalsetele maletajatele - ettepaneku, mida mina ise järgima hakkan:

• Keelduge malet mängimast ükskõik kellega, kes maletab Iisraeli lipu all.
• Keelduge malet mängimast ükskõik kellega, kes on Iisraeli kodanik ja kes ei mõista avalikult, selgelt ja valjuhäälselt hukka Iisraeli sõjakuriteod Gaza sektoris.
• Keelduge malet mängimast ükskõik kellega, kes avalikult toetab või õigustab Iisraeli sõjakuritegusid Gaza sektoris.

Need piirangud kehtiksid seni, kuni Iisrael on Gaza sektori blokaadi ja sealsete elanike pommitamise lõpetanud ning Iisraeli peaminister Netanyahu ja tema käsilased on sõjakuritegude eest kohtus süüdi mõistetud.

Loomulikult saavad sarnaseid piiranguid kehtestada ka kohalikud maleklubid, kohalikud maleturniiride organiseerijad jne.

Ent mitteindividuaalsel, organisatsioonilisel, ametlikul tasandil tuleks hoiduda kolmandast punktist ülal, mis nõuab Iisraeli tegevuse avalikku hukkamõistu. Nimelt on Iisraeli politsei ähvardanud karmi käega karistada kõiki neid, kes kritiseerivad Iisraeli praegust sõjalist tegevust Gaza sektoris. Pole mõistlik ametlikult nõuda sportlaselt, et ta teeks sellise avalduse, mille tagajärjel ta oma kodumaal võimude käest karistada saaks.

Mis puutub rühmitusse Hamas, siis Euroopa Liit juba kuulutas Hamasi terroriorganisatsiooniks, mistõttu puudub vajadus selliseid spordialaseid sanktsioone sellele rühmitusele rakendada. Pealegi niikuinii ei kohtuta kusagil maletajaga, kes mängiks Hamasi lipu all.

Mis puutub juutidesse, siis kollektiivkaristust nendele rakendada ei tohi. Mitte kedagi pole lubatud süüdistada või diskrimineerida tema rahvuse alusel.

3. novembril, Tallinnas

Jüri Eintalu, maletaja ja filosoof

An Open Letter to the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation

Jüri Eintalu

Please exclude me from the membership of the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation.

I no longer pay the membership fee, I no longer participate in competitions organized by the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation, and I no longer represent the Republic of Estonia in correspondence chess.

All my games as a representative of Estonia have ended by now. (I drew all four games in the Baltic/Sweden friendly match.)

Justification

Last year, in 2022, the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) adopted two fundamental decisions.

The first decision established that ICCF member states could also be expelled or temporarily suspended for non-financial reasons.

In doing so, however, no set of rules was adopted for which reasons and how the activities of the member states may be suspended.

Another decision suspended the participation of Russia and Belarus in ICCF activities, citing the war in Ukraine.

However, this decision did not correspond to good legal practices and was also of morally dubious value.

First, this decision was retrospective because the penalized conduct began before adopting the new rulebook.

Second, this decision was discriminatory and selective. For example, US correspondence chess players were not punished for the fact that the US had started wars in Afghanistan, Iraq or Serbia.

Third, this decision applied collective punishment because the sportspersons were punished for the decisions of their homeland government.

Fourth, the method of counting votes was absurd and not transparent when decisions were made. Neutral and non-voting countries were excluded from the calculation without distinction; at the same time, there was no established quorum — the minimum number of countries that must vote (positively or negatively) for the meeting to be capable of making a decision.

It was necessary to reach 2/3 of the votes to pass decisions. However, the decision-making mechanism used was such that the decision could have been adopted even if only 3 countries had voted resultant (for example, the USA and the UK “Yes” and Russia “No”) and all the others had remained neutral.

In other words, a system was used where remaining neutral or not voting acted as a positive vote “Yes”. Because if the countries that remained neutral had been included in the total number of those who voted, the proportion of those who voted in favour would have remained less than 2/3, and such decisions would not have been adopted.

My complaints to the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation

According to the data from ICCF, the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation initially had not nominated a representative for this vote. Still, in the end, the name of one particular person appeared there. However, according to the data from ICCF, this person either remained neutral or did not participate in the vote (the ICCF does not specify this important nuance).

The Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation website did not have any information about this voting, nor was a relevant e-mail sent to the correspondence chess players. Furthermore, the organization’s website also lacked information about the voting results, and the results were not announced in e-mails either.

The opinion of the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation members, on whose behalf the Estonian representative at least formally participated in the vote, has not been asked, nor has there been any discussion or voting in Estonia.

I have never received any response to the official inquiry I sent, before the vote, through the ICCF website, to the official representative of the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation.

That the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation can still send e-mails to correspondence chess players is evident from the fact that recently, in an e-mail sent to many addresses, the Estonian Correspondence Chess Federation invited Estonian correspondence chess players to participate in a friendly match as representatives of the Estonian team.

I do not regard it possible to belong to an organization on behalf of whose members essential (and weird) international decisions are made in such a way that the opinion of the members of the organization is not asked, their questions are not answered, and they are not even informed afterwards about the vote or its results.

With respect

Jüri Eintalu

Tallinn, March 29, 2023

KARJAKIN, CARLSEN AND VOLTAIRE

The international chess federation FIDE banned outstanding grandmaster Karjakin from participating in FIDE tournaments for 6 months because Karjakin publicly justified the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The world champion Carlsen has taken a stance concerning Karjakin's attitude and also FIDE's ban. Among other things, Carlsen said: 

"Obviously, I don't agree with Karjakin in anything, but is it correct to ban people for opinions we don't tolerate?"

Tarjei Svensen, 

Carlsen on Karjakin: “These types of attitudes can't be accepted”, 

Chess24, 5 April 2022

As a philosopher, I strongly support Carlsen's attitude.

Voltaire was one of those philosophers who defended freedom of speech. Often, the following sentence is attributed to Voltaire:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

This quotation is in good accordance with Voltaire's views. Unfortunately, it was not Voltaire who said so. It was someone else. — It was Evelyn Beatrice Hall in the 1906 book The Friends of Voltaire by S. G. Tallentyre which was the pseudonym of historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall. See, for example: 

Quoteinvestigator, "Voltaire". 

Thus, some of Carlsen's attitudes are similar to Voltaire's attitudes. 

CARLSEN KARJAKINI MÄNGUKEELUST

Carlseni arvates pole Karjakinil Ukraina sõja küsimuses õigus, ent sellest hoolimata polnud õige ka FIDE otsus keelata Karjakinil võistlustel osalemine sel põhjusel, et Karjakin väljendas oma vaateid Ukraina sõja kohta. 

Tarjei Svensen 

Carlsen on Karjakin: “These types of attitudes can't be accepted” 

Chess24, 5 April 2022 

Filosoofina ma tugevalt toetan Carlseni hoiakut. 

Carlseni hoiak on sarnane filosoof Voltaire'i hoiakule. Sõnavabadus tuleb jätta ka neile, kelle arvamus meile ei meeldi.

KARJAKIN's APPEAL DISMISSED

"Sergey Karjakin's Appeal Dismissed", FIDE, 06 May 2022 

Thus, Karjakin still cannot play in the candidates' tournament because he publicly approved the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Karjakin, in turn, writes (in Russian on his Telegram channel "Карякин. Zа спорт!") as a response that he is proud that his grandfather was a great soldier, and he complains that there are Nazis in Ukraine.

Karjakin criticises Kasparov.

Kasparov demands that Russian chess players who want to play in international tournaments should publicly disapprove Russian invasion of Ukraine.

https://t.me/karjakinchess/351

https://t.me/karjakinchess/361

VENEMAA KIRIMALEÜHINGU TEGEVUSE PEATAMISE HÄÄLETAMISEST

Rahvusvahelise Kirimale Föderatsiooni (ICCF) virtuaalse Erakorralise Kongressi käigus tahetakse peatada Venemaa ja Valgevene tegevus selle organisatsiooni raames, toetudes Põhikirja muudatusele, mis kavatsetakse vastu võtta sellel samal Kongressil. 

Põhikirja muudatust rakendataks seejuures tagasivaatavalt, muudatus ise aga lubaks riigi kirimaleühingu tegevust peatada või see ühing ICCF-st välja heita ka muudel kui finantspõhjustel. 

Seejuures Venemaa ja Valgevene tegevuse peatamiseks pole ICCF esitanud mingit muud alust peale häälteenamuse. 

Online hääletamine nendes küsimustes algas täna, 27. aprillil ja kestab 09. maini 2022. 

Praegusel hetkel pole ikka veel lõplikult selgunud Kongressi delegaatide nimed. 

Eesti Kirimaleühingu kodulehel puudus selle sündmuse kohta informatsioon, kui viimati vaatasin. 

Saatsin üle nädala aja tagasi Eesti Kirimaleühingule ametliku järelepärimise ICCF serveri kaudu. Tänini pole ma veel mitte mingisugust vastust saanud. 

ICCF TO VOTE ON RUSSIA AND BELARUS SUSPENSION

The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) is about to change its Statute and then apply the Amendments retrospectively to suspend the Belarus Federation and Russian Federation. 

The ICCF has announced an Extraordinary Congress without explicitly explaining the reason. 

Online voting begins on April 27 and ends on May 9, 2022. The required majority to change the Statute is 2/3. 

The proposals made are dubious from a legal and moral point of view. 

Article 17 

Under Article 17 of the current Statute, the activities of a national correspondent association in the ICCF can be suspended or stopped only for non-payment of the membership fee. On this basis, Venezuela, which is in a confusing situation, was recently expelled from the ICCF in turbulent circumstances. 

However, it is intended to amend Article 17 so that one can be expelled or suspended for reasons other than financial ones: 

"The Executive Board is empowered by Congress to propose suspension or dismissal of member federations for non-financial reasons."

Only "self-evident" is mentioned as a "consideration". 

However, the only thing that is self-evident is that the aim is to punish Russia and Belarus for the Ukraine invasion — even if they do not say it. 

But why has the ICCF not understood the obvious thing before, and only now — especially in the context of the Russian/Ukrainian war? In the context of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, the ICCF has not taken such a matter for granted... 

Article 10 

Article 10 says: 

"ICCF is a democratic association and does not discriminate based on race, skin colour, sex, language, religion, political, or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth origin or any other status. ICCF observes strict neutrality with respect to the internal affairs of member federations and affiliated organizations". 

The proposal is to modify Article 10 by removing the following words, "national or." 

First, this amendment is redundant if the aim is to suspend Russia and Belarus. Russia and Belarus are the states, not nations. Punishing the state for the state's actions, like starting a war, is not the same as a punishment based on the nationality of the citizens of that state. 

Second, this amendment is dangerous as it removes a barrier to real discrimination. For example, the amended Statute would allow excluding Israel from the ICCF based on Jewishness and implemented by the majority of votes. 

However, if the amendment to Article 10 fails, it does not prevent suspending Russia and Belarus. 

Suspending Russia and Belarus 

The next nuance is that the amendment to Article 17 of the Statute is to be implemented retrospectively — Russia and Belarus are to be suspended based on a clause in the Statute adopted after Russia started the war against Ukraine. It is a backwards-looking jurisdiction: 

"If approved, this change to the ICCF Statutes would take effect immediately after approval of Congress (with the requisite 2/3 minimum votes of those voting)."

"Suspend the Russian Federation in accordance with ICCF Statute Article 17."

This is also called an ad hoc argument (an argument, evidence, law, etc., used specifically for the present case). 

The status of Russia and Belarus is to be voted at the same virtual congress under a new clause in the Statute. Evidently, the Ukraine war is kept in mind. But they are not going to vote, retrospectively, for example, about the membership of the US, on the basis of the still ongoing US occupation of Iraq. 

However, no justifications are given here. Only the majority is quoted as the "rationale":

"The ICCF Executive Board called for an Extraordinary Congress to consider the request from a majority of delegates to suspend the Russian Federation."

This means that anyone can be expelled from the ICCF if the majority wants to. Every delegate may even have a different reason why to do that. But, of course, their reasons may converge. For example, imagine that the strongest grandmasters are in country A. The other countries compose the majority. So they may get rid of country A. Simply vote it out. 

Conclusion 

It is difficult to avoid the impression that the chess players/administrators are not so bright and not so moral. The proposals made are discriminative and ad hoc. One may even say that despotic. They would probably understand it only when they themselves become the victims of such legal creativity. 

It is far from being a general and entrenched rule that every country that starts a war or occupies another country should be suspended from the international sports organization. Instead, it looks like politicizing the international sports organization and choosing the side — but only in the current international conflict.