THE Durham County Chess Association has called on the English Chess Federation to demand that Russian teams be barred from taking part in all international and European chess events.
Durham City Chess Club Club chairman Ken Neat said: "The Chess Olympiad is held every two years, attracting at least 1.000 players from around the world. It is a prestigious event.
"It was due to be held in Moscow this summer, but the Internatoinal Chess Federation decided to take it away from there."
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In a statement agreed with the president of the Durham County Chess Association Bryan Bainbridge, he said: "All possible measures should be taken against the Putin regime to express revulsion against its brutal invasion of Ukraine, which threatens the peace of the entire world, and here sport can play its part.
"Football is the most popular world sport, and UEFA and (belatedly) FIFA have decided to exclude Russian teams from all competitions until further notice.
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"Chess is extremely popular in Russia, and FIDE, the International Chess Federation, has decided to strip Moscow of the World Olympiad which it was due to host in the summer.
"But we consider that this is not going far enough – like their football counterparts, Russian teams should be barred from taking part in all International and European competitions. We call on the English Chess Federation to demand this as a matter of urgency."
The Chess Olympiad, in which teams from about 190 countries compete for two weeks, was supposed to take place in Moscow from July 26 July to August 8.
India has since offered to host the event.
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