FIDE: The Yekaterinburg Freak Show continues…

The Players Want to Go Home!

Has the Dvorkovich FIDE leadership somehow blackmailed the 8 players of the Candidates Tournament in Russia into continuing to participate against their own will?  Perhaps.

While the entire world is in lock down over the coronavirus crisis, Dvorkovich is bragging about how FIDE has been able to take centre stage in the sporting world.

But what is the cost?  First, making chess a sort of ‘FREAK SHOW’ will likely have very negative sponsorship consequences when everything goes back to normal. Second, before anything else, the players have most likely already been exposed to the virus while in Russia. How many of them will become infected?

And finally, given how the peak is still far off, do any of the participants have real chances of returning home after the event concudes? Especially since few health experts really trust the coronavirus numbers coming out of Russia.

Borders are being shut down tight. Foreigners are not allowed in. And even Fabiano Caruana is wondering out loud if he will ever be allowed entry into the States before the coronavirus runs its murderous course: