Select date
‘This is a period of insanity’: Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov on chess racism debate
Soviet and Russian chess legend Anatoly Karpov has commented on the recent debate over racism in the game, which has caused outrage on social media, calling it ‘a period of total insanity’ which has nothing to do with chess.
“A period of total insanity has begun,” the former world champion said. “What does it have in common with the centuries-old game?”
Last week, John Adams, an economist who represented the Australian Chess Federation in 2015, revealed he had been contacted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio station in Sydney to comment on the matter of racial controversy in chess, because white always moves first.
“I just received a phone call from an ABC Sydney based producer seeking a comment about the game of chess! The ABC have taken the view that chess is RACIST given that white always go first!” he wrote on Twitter after dismissing the request, sparking an online debate.
