THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHESS GRANDMASTER KRAMNIK

It started in 2023, if not earlier. I have noticed the following features of that campaign: 

1. They do not quote Kramnik and recommend not reading his texts or watching his videos. 
2. They assert that Kramnik said A, while Kramnik, instead, said "Not A, but B." 
3. If Kramnik said C in the case of E, they assert that he also said C in the case of F. 
4. They intentionally confuse all relevant modalities and meanings of the terms. 
5. If Kramnik really did something wrong, it would almost never show up in such a discourse. It would not reveal itself. 
6. If Kramnik's ideas have some positive meaning in a particular context, they would be absolutely denied and ignored. 
7. The campaign clearly exemplifies the unpleasant truth that chess players are not as intelligent and moral as they are often perceived to be. Even several grandmasters and professors who play chess show up with complete nonsense.

The whole campaign is reduced to the banal McCarthyism and Russophobia - a form of racism. Arrogance, ignorance and stupid ethnocentrism. I am completely tired of the so-called "chess community".

KASPAROV: EUROPE'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON CONFRONTATION

Garry Kasparov and Gabrielius Landsbergis have published an essay

"Europe’s Future Depends on Confrontation, Not Compromise"

Politico, 08/03/2025

I am far from being sure that all the descriptions provided in that article correspond to reality.
For example:

• The article argues that the European Union is based on a free market, free trade. However, to my knowledge, one of the reasons why the European Union was established was to ruin the Soviet Union economically. The European Union has applied economic sanctions, economic boycotts, etc.
• The article contains grave factual mistakes/omissions concerning the "Minsk Agreements". It is public knowledge that Ukraine never intended to follow these agreements.
• The article ignores the fact that the European Commission is an unelected organ. 
• Etc. 

When a chessplayer starts to write about politics, I would like to see some ability for analysis.

In Kasparov's case, unfortunately, I have always seen only a propaganda of a one-sided and largely unfounded narrative.

PAUL KERES IS TOO EXPENSIVE

Famous Estonian chess grandmaster Paul Keres has been hardcovered. Four volumes. Four thousand pages. Eight kilograms.

Adams, Jimmy

"Paul Keres"

2024

https://mailchi.mp/newinchess.com/paul-keres-4-volume-set?e=c3c0e02253

As an Estonian chessplayer and an admirer of Paul Keres and his talent, I should be happy. But I am not.

The work is too expensive for me. The retail price is 250 euros, and even the pre-order price of 200 euros is too expensive.

I am also worried about the politicization of chess.

I have seen too many nasty tricks in the attempts to convince the publicity that now, finally, it has been scientifically proven and without reasonable doubt that the Soviet regime blocked Paul Keres from becoming the world champion. Up to outright forgeries.

And now, I have seen too much of how sports, including chess, have been heavily politicized, in the most biased manner, concerning the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war. I have also seen how, in Estonia, during that war, in a hurry, one more movie was made about Paul Keres and the Soviet regime.

Therefore, excuse me, but I will not pay 200 euros to check the quality and objectivity of the four volumes.

I am prepared to pay some money only if I know beforehand that it is not yet another work containing political propaganda and demagoguery.

LICHESS KATKESTAB KOOSTÖÖ USA MALEFÖDERATSIOONI JA SAINT LUISI MALEKLUBIGA

Online maleplatvorm LiChess on oma otsuse kohta äsja avaldanud pika seletuskirja:

Breaking the Silence

Väidetavalt on kaks tuntud maletajat aastaid seksuaalselt ahistanud naismaletajaid, ent kaebustele pole reageeritud.

Esmalt arvasin, et tegemist on online ahistamisega. 

Selgub aga, et tegemist on füüsilise ahistamisega maleturniiride ajal.

Seejuures pole nimetatud maleorganisatsioonid reageerinud näiteks sel ettekäändel, et intsidendid pole juhtunud selles hotellis, kus võistlejad turniiri ajal ööbisid.

Minule jääb selgusetuks aga see, miks need ahistatud naised politseisse ei pöördunud.

Minu arvates malekohtunikud ja maleklubide juhid ei ole politseinikud või prokurörid, et selliseid segaseid olukordi lahendada.

Kui nad ise lahendada ei saanud, siis oleksid need organisatsioonid aga pidanud tegema politseile vastava teate.

Mina omakorda ei olnud rahul LiChessiga, sest ka nemad asusid pärast Ukraina sõja algust malemängu politiseerima ja nende Foorumis toimib poliitiline tsensuur.

Ma ei saa aru, miks nad siis USA maletajaid ära ei keelanud, kui USA okupeeris Afganistani ja Iraagi.

Olen sellest ajast peale LiChessi minimaalselt kasutanud ja Chess-commi ei kasuta enam üldse (viimases ilmuvad nende endi reeglite vastased poliitilised artiklid). 

LiChessis on minu kontol kohe minu nime all ka minu teadaanne, et ma ei ole rahul LiChessi poliiitikaga.

Teine asi on aga nende väidetavate seksuaalsete ahistamistega. 

Mida siis on tegelikult tõestatud ja mida on võimalik tõestada?

Paul Keres and the Methodology of History

My activities concerning the biography of the Estonian chess player Paul Keres have been the following.

In the years 2014–2015, I wrote in Estonian Wikipedia a comprehensive survey of Keres’s war years and the Hague-Moscow 1948 tournament:

“1948. aasta male maailmameistrivõistlused”¹
Vikipeedia

Then, based on my studies, I wrote a more concise paper that I offered as a scientific paper to the Estonian journal Akadeemia.

I published an even shorter and a popular science article in the newspaper devoted to Estonian chess life:

Eintalu, J. (2019)
“Paul Keres propagandavankri ees”²
Eesti maleelu, March 10 (1/19), p 10.

Years after writing my scientific paper, I discovered that the Estonian journal Akadeemia had neither published nor informed me that they would not publish it.

Initially, I made the wrong accusation that Jaan Kangilaski had not forwarded my paper to the editorial.

Finally, however, it turned out that the editorial had decided not to publish my paper, but they “forgot” to inform me about it. The editorial announced that they “could not” publish it but did not explain in what sense and why they could not.

Among other things, my paper claimed that in the collection of essays Paul Keres: Mälestusi, materjale, kirju (2015)³, the most crucial essay of critical American author Taylor Kingston was dropped out, while from his other paper, the essential sections had been dropped out without informing the reader.⁴

Thus, in the context of discussing the history, that collection was a forgery.

Then, I published my essay, which was not published in Akadeemia, on the internet, including the platform Academia:

Eintalu, J. (2021)
“Mida me ei tea Paul Keresest 1938–1948”⁵
Academia

I have not dealt with this topic anymore.