Ukrainian grandmaster Vasyl Ivanchuk has received a “wild card” from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to participate in the FIDE World Cup, which starts July 29 in Baku, but has not been allowed to leave the country, the FIDE tweeted on Saturday.
“Vasily Ivanchuk lives in Lviv, Ukraine. According to current legislation, he needs permission from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to leave the country for sporting purposes, as he is under 60 years old (he is now 54). Such authorization was not granted. An official request from the organizers of the World Championship, the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, was also rejected,” the Federation said.
In this regard, some of the world’s leading grandmasters signed an open letter to the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Vadim Guttsayt. “We ask the chess community to support this proposal by sharing the letter and hope that more grandmasters will express their support for Grandmaster Ivanchuk,” FIDE said in a statement.
Chess Federation, grandmaster, Іванчук
