Athletistic / Chess. Russian grandmaster Denis Khismatullin commented on the scandal that happened to him during the 2023 World Rapid Chess Championship in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Another Russian chess player, Sergei Karyakin, published a letter on behalf of the chess player on his official Telegram channel.
“In the first days of 2024, I woke up unexpectedly and famously. First in the English-speaking, then Russian media, news appeared that the Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda refused to shake my hand during of the match of the first round of the Rapid World Championship in Samarkand. In the West. This act of the Pole caused a wave of admiration and indignation at the behavior of Magnus Carlsen, who shook my hand during the round next. Facts began to appear on social networks that I, together with Sergei Karjakin, had repeatedly visited the zone of the Northern Military District on humanitarian missions. After that, the site chess.com reported to me has prohibited accepting participation in prize tournaments, as well as any other social activities on their site.
If you ask me my opinion on Duda’s action, then of course I do not agree with him, but I respect his right to act in this way, expressing my disagreement with my position and with my activities outside of the chessboard.
I would like to appeal to the media, asking them not to disperse or politicize this situation, not to insult the Pole and even less to insult the Polish nation as a whole. If I have the opportunity to play with Duda again, I will shake his hand again before the match, but not because I’m stupid and naive, not out of hype, but because that’s what my father and my first coach taught me how to do it.
I am not going to write a statement to the FIDE Ethics Commission demanding that Duda be disqualified. Believe me, I was not upset, I was not offended and I certainly did not suffer moral harm after his act,” Khismatoullin wrote.
The World Rapid Chess Championship was held in Samarkand from December 26 to 30, 2023. Before the match, Khismatullin extended his hand to Jan-Krzysztof Duda, which he refused. A video of this moment circulated on social media in early 2024.
Source: Sport
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