Magnus Carlsen was speaking at a FIDE gala in Budapest on Thursday evening, in which he paid tribute to Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov while accepting an award for greatest player of all time.

Russia and Belarus were booted out of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 2022 over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Chess great Magnus Carlsen has urged his game’s top sporting body not to readmit Russia and Belarus ahead of a key vote this weekend on whether to

Chess great Magnus Carlsen has urged his game's top sporting body not to readmit Russia and Belarus ahead of a key vote this weekend on whether to restore their membership.

Kasparov wrote that he fully agreed with Carlsen's stance, adding a Ukrainian flag to his post. "Indeed I would, and do! In more ways than one, I could hardly wish for a better successor than Magnus.

Sergey Smagin, Vice-President of the Chess Federation of Russia, has criticized Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen for his call to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from competitions under the auspices of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Carlsen's comments come ahead of the FIDE general assembly on September 22, where all the voting members will decide on revoking the ban on Russia and Belarus after Kyrgyzstan proposed a vote to overturn the ban on Russian teams at FIDE events.

Chess champion Magnus Carlsen opposes reinstating Russia and Belarus in FIDE, supported by Garry Kasparov and Ukraine's sports minister.