NICK BARNETT CHESS

ARKADY Dvorkovich became the new FIDE president in October 2018. He had the chess credentials but more importantly, he had political nous which allowed him to outmaneuver his opponents.

On the chess front, he had been well-schooled; his father Vladimir Dvorkovich, was an international chess arbiter and organizer and so naturally Arkady born in 1972, engaged in chess and played actively in his student years.

He got a Master in Economics degree from the New Economic School and in 1997 he graduated from the

Duke University (North Carolina, USA) with a Master of Arts.

The next phase in his life gave him his political education. In the late 1990s he headed the Economic Expert Group, one of the leading economic think tanks in Russia. In 2000 – 2004 he served as a Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and in 2004 he became the Head of Russian Presidential Experts Directorate.

In 2008 Dvorkovich was appointed as an Aide to the President of Russia, and representative in G8 and G20 fora. Following 2012 presidential elections he was appointed to the position of Deputy Prime-Minister and was responsible for a broad area of public policies including energy, agriculture, natural resources, transport, telecommunications, civil industries, science and innovation as well as sports.

At the same time his connection to chess strengthened. He served as the first Vice-President of the Russian

Chess Federation from 2007 and as a Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation in 2010-2014, putting together a new team in the Russian Chess Federation which sparked chess development all across Russia.

But probably the most interesting appointment was that of deputy prime minister until May 2018. This is not as important as it sounds. It is a temporary position that is usually held by many people at once, with the most senior of them being the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (there can also be more than one first deputy). The role is to coordinate the activities of federal government bodies and carry out other tasks in response to particular issues or events.

So no surprise that in 2018 he became the Chairman of the local organizing committee for the FIFA World Cup and then president of FIDE last year.

He has a genial and benevolent style of management. Before he won, he got his opponent, Nigel Short on side by offering him the Vice-presidency of FIDE.

He also appointed Continental Assistants: Europe: Vladimir Kramnik (RUS), former World Chess Champion; Asia: Viswanathan Anand (IND), former World Chess Champion; the Americas: Fidel Gonzalez (VEN), President of the Venezuela Chess Federation; Africa: Tshepiso Lopang (BOT), Vice-President of the African Chess Confederation.

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