June 12, 2024

Checkmate for the Russian Chess Federation


Checkmate for the Russian Chess Federation
Local parks may have heavier chess traffic for the next two years.  The Russian Life files

In a move boxing out one of the world's chess-iest of nations, the International Chess Federation has stripped the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) of membership for the next two years.

The RCF was banned before, in 2022, following the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The International Chess Federation (known by its French acronym FIDE) found the RCF guilty of damage to the FIDE's reputation and noncompliance with FIDE principles.  

Russia has long dominated international chess competitions, with Soviet and then Russian players holding World Champion titles from 1948 to 2008 (with the exception of American Bobby Fischer from 1972 to 1975).

The current RCF grandmaster is 39-year-old Ufa resident Denis Khismatullin, who, to the FIDE's point, is a vocal supporter of the war on Ukraine

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Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

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Survival Russian
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Little Golden Calf
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