MOSCOW, Jan 23, Oleg Bogatov.The refusal of Russian Daniil Dubov to play a game in a mask at a major chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) can lead to different consequences, but the organizers, in a situation with a possible case of infection with coronavirus, adhere to the position of the relevant authorities of their country, said Vice President of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergey Smagin. Dubov on Saturday refused the organizers' request to hold the game in a mask and did not come to the meeting with the Dutchman Anish Giri, the Russian was awarded a forfeit defeat. On the official website of the tournament, it was reported that due to the infection of COVID-19 in his immediate environment, the organizers (after consulting with the chief arbiter) asked Dubov to play in a mask. Dubov pointed out that he basically refuses to play in a mask. «Ian Nepomniachtchi, a Russian, spoke very well on this subject:» Everyone plays chess, but they only talk about Dubov. There are rules, if you don't want to play by these rules, you shouldn't have signed up for the tournament. I don't know all the nuances, but it's all very incomprehensible. Based on the information that is publicly available, the organizers are definitely right. It's just that there are laws The organizers obey the laws of the country in which the competition takes place.» «If, for example, something happened at our championship that also contradicted the general rules, the organizers would have to do the same,» the expert believes. «There are rules and if you have principles, then you must first carefully find out whether your principles contradict the rules of the country you are in. This story is already less interesting than the excellent games of the tournament, among which x no passing fights. I do not see any infringement of the rights of participants. Dubov chose this course of action, and I don’t know what it will lead to.” World champion Norwegian Magnus Carlsen leads the competition with 5 points out of 7. Azerbaijani Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is half a point behind, Indian Santosh Vidit and the Netherlands have 4 points each. Anish Giri, Hungarian Richard Rapport and Russian Andrei Esipenko Dubov (2.5) shares 12th-13th places.
