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The Future of Chess: How India and America Dominated the Top

"The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 probably had only a minor effect"

  • I doubt that.
  1. Many strong Soviet players were not Russian: Keres (Estonia), Tal (Latvia), Petrosian (Armenia), Kasparov (Azerbaijan)
  2. Many strong players emigrated Spassky (France), Psakhis (Israel), Gulko (Israel), Dorfman (France), Kramnik (Switzerland), Kasparov (United States)
  3. The structure of government funding ceased
  4. Sanctions against Russia limit international participation of players
"The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 probably had only a minor effect" * I doubt that. 1) Many strong Soviet players were not Russian: Keres (Estonia), Tal (Latvia), Petrosian (Armenia), Kasparov (Azerbaijan) 2) Many strong players emigrated Spassky (France), Psakhis (Israel), Gulko (Israel), Dorfman (France), Kramnik (Switzerland), Kasparov (United States) 3) The structure of government funding ceased 4) Sanctions against Russia limit international participation of players

This is all true but those reasons are not directly related to the split of Soviet Union. They are rather other consequences of the same changes. In other words, even if Soviet Union somehow stayed together after 1991, the economical and political changes themselves would be enough to break the system and cause the decline of the state managed system. The outcome would be essentially the same.

This is all true but those reasons are not directly related to the split of Soviet Union. They are rather other consequences of the same changes. In other words, even if Soviet Union somehow stayed together after 1991, the economical and political changes themselves would be enough to break the system and cause the decline of the state managed system. The outcome would be essentially the same.

In nationalities of top 20 chess players you should remove the players from the 14 Soviet republics other than Russia.
That would give another picture.
You cannot just lump the USSR and Russia together.

In nationalities of top 20 chess players you should remove the players from the 14 Soviet republics other than Russia. That would give another picture. You cannot just lump the USSR and Russia together.

More important question IMHO is how many are there now. I can see two, one from Uzbekistan and one from Azerbaijan. And the same for second 20. In other words, countries which support chess on their own after gaining sovereignity and rather take it as part of their national self-awareness. Would that be the case if they were still part of Soviet Union after 1991 or would elite level chess in those two rather decline in a similar fashion as it did in Russia?

More important question IMHO is how many are there now. I can see two, one from Uzbekistan and one from Azerbaijan. And the same for second 20. In other words, countries which support chess on their own after gaining sovereignity and rather take it as part of their national self-awareness. Would that be the case if they were still part of Soviet Union after 1991 or would elite level chess in those two rather decline in a similar fashion as it did in Russia?

Abdussatorov and Mamedyarov would count as ex USSR and Aronian too.
The point is that all strong players in the USSR were called to Moscow, where they stimulated each other.
The USSR championship was a tremendous tournament in size and strength.
The grandmasters were also supported with perks and they did not have to work for a living: playing chess was enough.
There was excellent training from top players like Botvinnik, Sveshnikov...

Abdussatorov and Mamedyarov would count as ex USSR and Aronian too. The point is that all strong players in the USSR were called to Moscow, where they stimulated each other. The USSR championship was a tremendous tournament in size and strength. The grandmasters were also supported with perks and they did not have to work for a living: playing chess was enough. There was excellent training from top players like Botvinnik, Sveshnikov...