BruvsChess Media

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UPDATE: Regrettably, BruvsChess Media will not be represented on the ground at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand.

Our correspondents were accredited, tickets were purchased, and we pursued every available avenue to complete the visa process. However, the process required an MFA visa-support telex from Uzbekistan, which we were ultimately unable to obtain through the organizers.

We contacted the relevant Uzbek diplomatic and consular authorities and made every effort available to us. In the end, everything depended on the required MFA telex being processed by the host side. Without it, our correspondent could not proceed with the journey, and we eventually had to cancel the trip.

We are grateful to everyone who supported our effort to bring BruvsChess Media to Samarkand. In an extraordinary gesture, one of the supporters who funded our travel has asked us to keep the funds following the cancellation and use them to continue building BruvsChess Media.

We deeply appreciate that generosity and the confidence it represents in what we are building.

Although we will not be in Samarkand physically, BruvsChess Media will still cover the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad and continue bringing the stories from the Olympiad to our audience.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: Kasparov is writing from Strasbourg, where he is pressing the European Court of Human Rights to create legal mechanisms to release frozen Russian funds. He says more news will follow tomorrow.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: "I will not stop and I will not hide," Kasparov writes. "I believe that the best defense is a good offense." He says neither he nor Tyutrin was explicitly told they were the redacted names in the assassins' indictment.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: Writing in The Next Move, Kasparov says he and Free Russia Forum co-founder Ivan Tyutrin were warned by security services in Lithuania and the US that their lives were in danger.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: Garry Kasparov has responded to the reported Kremlin assassination plot against him, thanking supporters for their outrage and concern. "Ukrainian victory remains the best form of security," the former world champion said.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

CONFIRMED: Grandmaster Boris Avrukh has relaunched https://t.co/BEWxnVwKLJ with 62 downloadable PGN files covering 59 opening repertoires, pawn structures, and tactics, now available via instant payment through card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: According to EL MUNDO, Kasparov, founder of the Free Russia Forum, was given special protection for the first time since going into exile and settling in New York in 2013.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: EL MUNDO reports that Russia has been planning for months to kill chess legend and dissident Garry Kasparov in the United States. US authorities warned him this summer that he was a Kremlin "target."

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: Nigerian chess junior talents funded and supported by International Master Thomas Oparaugo (TOCO) continue to make rating progress, with Tyowase Collins crossing 2200, Okwuosa Chukwunoso Emanuel passing 2000, and Osayande Kingsley returning above 2000.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: The penalties these Afghan players will face remain unclear. Some interpretations of Islamic law link chess to gambling, which could expose these players to severe punishment.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: FIDE president Timur Turlov says diplomatic efforts are underway to support the chess players. The case has reached the European Parliament, where an urgent debate is being sought.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: A fourth chess player, Mirzaad Sayed Wahabuddin, crossed the border without being detained. Team captain Zaheer Asefi said the group left Afghanistan legally and did not expect serious consequences.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: The Taliban had ordered border posts to detain the chess players after learning they competed under Afghanistan's name and flag. Chess is suspended in the country and clubs have been closed.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: The three Afghan chess players were stopped at the Hairatan border crossing. Their passports were confiscated and they were separated for questioning before being taken to Kabul, Afghan media report.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: Khaibar Farazi, Habibullah Guldoost and Habibullah Amini, three Afghan players from the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, were detained Monday on return to Afghanistan and placed under house arrest in Kabul.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: The room applauded. Session chair Viswanathan Anand replied: "Thank you, Vincent." Bruce spoke during the quorum debate on the Assembly's second day.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: Bruce demanded action: "We maybe should have some kind of penalizing mechanism here in play. If you want to be a delegate, take it seriously. Be here. You are here two days. And if you don't want to do that, then send somebody else."

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

DEVELOPING: "Our flights are paid, our hotels are paid, our food is paid. Everything is paid for us. Why? Why are these delegates not in this room? I just don't understand this," Bruce said.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: Israel Bruce, delegate of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, slammed absent colleagues at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand on September 27. Their flights, hotels and meals were fully paid, yet seats sat empty.

[BruvsChess Media @BruvschessMedia]

ALERT: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines delegate Israel Bruce publicly shamed absent federations at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, demanding a penalty mechanism for delegates who accept fully funded trips and skip the congress. The hall applauded.

[Zimbabwe Chess Federation @ChessZimbabwe]

A proud moment for Zimbabwean Chess as @ChessZimbabwe wins the prestigious #FIDEKickStarterAward at the 2026 FIDE Year of Chess in Education Awards! 1 of only 8 winners globally & the only African country recognised.

#ZimbabweChess #FIDE #ChessInEducation