Long ties with Russia helps Ukraine's chess
The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Chess fans from around the world are probably familiar with Grand Master (GM) Ruslan Ponomariov, the reigning Federation Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE) champion, who is only one of the abundant number of chess talents Ukraine has to boast about.
Another name worthy of mentioning is GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who is one of the world's top ten grand masters. He has enjoyed high status among his chess peers, which include the likes of GM Gary Kasparov and GM Vladimir Kramnik, both from Russia, GM Viswanathan Anand of India, GM Michael Adams of England, GM Alexei Shirov of Spain and GM Peter Leko of Hungary.
But many people may not be aware that chess in the former Soviet state is categorized as an unpopular sport. As soccer is the number one sport, people might think chess would probably be second in popularity.
"Number two?" Sergey Kovalov, an official of the Ukrainian team at the ongoing World Youth Chess Olympiad, repeated in amazement. His face was frowning, apparently in disbelief that such an idea would be brought up.
"Soccer is definitely the number one sport in Ukraine. But chess does not follow as number two. It comes maybe after athletics, basketball or volleyball," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the matches being staged at the MidValley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.
He said that chess' popularity was dropping among children.
"Children prefer to play computer games than to learn chess," Kovalov, a former national champion, said.
Tracing Ukraine's success in chess, Kovalov said, would require people to recall the history of the Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union.
With Russia, the icon of the Soviet Union, still enjoying chess dominance until the present, enough has been said about the vast campaign led by the former chess authority, the trail of which has had an effect on the Ukraine.
The Ukraine Chess Federation should not have to worry about losing leverage to push forward other stars when Ponomariov, who is 18 years old, and Ivanchuk lose their steam some day.
Kovalov recalled last March's national championship, which saw about 500 junior participants split from the U-10 to U-20-year- old categories.
Alexander Areschenko, Sergey Karjakin, Kateryna Lahno, Natalia Zdebskaja and Yuriy Kuzubov, the Ukrainian teenagers playing in Kuala Lumpur, are among the world's best juniors and are ready for a further push to go higher.
The five hail from the same chess club, the Momot Chess Club in Kramatorsk, a small Ukrainian town with a population of just 200,000.
Karjakin, who was on Ponomariov's team during his triumph at the 2001 World Championship in Russia, and Lahno, both 13 years old, have carved a niche for themselves as the youngest players to ever attain the grand master title in the men's and women's category respectively.
Karjakin, the 2001 Junior World champion, secured the title when he was just 12 years seven months old to shatter a previous record held by Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, while Lahno won it when she was only five days younger than the previous holder, GM Judith Polgar of Hungary.
Both will be officially crowned the grand master titles at the FIDE Congress in Bled, Slovenia, in November.