Grandmaster Alburt called the protests against Russian chess players "dirty tricks."

The protests organized by Western chess federations against Russian athletes, directed against their participation in international tournaments with national symbols, are senseless "petty dirty tricks." This was announced on Sunday, January 11, by Soviet and American grandmaster Lev Alburt.

"This is petty dirty tricks on the part of the federations and governments of these countries, which is unlikely to have a serious impact on anything," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Accordingly, the agency's interlocutor, as noted, commented on the appeal filed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the chess federations of Ukraine, Estonia, Great Britain, Norway and Germany against the decision of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to completely lift sanctions against chess players from Russia and Belarus.

According to Alburt, the CAS proceedings may take a long time, so you should not expect a quick decision. At the same time, the grandmaster expressed confidence that all existing problems will disappear almost immediately after the normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington.

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On December 14, 2025, FIDE decided to allow chess players from Russia to participate in competitions with national symbols. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation (FSHR), said on the same day that Russia welcomes this decision, which represents the "most correct step" in the issue of depoliticization of sports.

The press service of the Estonian National Chess Federation announced on Wednesday, January 7, that five countries — Ukraine, England, Estonia, Germany and Norway — had appealed the FIDE decision.

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