From USA to Australia, chess sings its immigrant song

The United States is a melting pot of different cultures for sure, but even by its diverse standards, a team of Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez and Sam Shankland is a delightfully eclectic mix. Out of the five who are part of the top-seeded US team in the open section, Shankland is the only one born to American parents. Aronian, So and Dominguez were born in Armenia, Philippines and Cuba respectively, and switched their allegiances to the US recently. Caruana was born in Miami to Italian parents.

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As the overwhelming favourites of the open category in the 44th edition of the Chess Olympiad, the diversity of the Americans is hard to miss. But scroll through the 180-plus teams in the event, and you will find countless such examples. Seven of the ten Australian players were born outside the country for instance. The England women’s team, in action against one of the Indian teams on Sunday, features a player from Poland and another from China.

The ease with which a player can switch chess federations facilitates this phenomenon. According to Gopakumar Sudhakaran, deputy chief arbiter of this Olympiad, there is no need to acquire another country’s citizenship to start representing it.

“A player needs to apply to the world chess federation and acquire an NOC from the previous federation. If it’s a top player (wanting to move federations), there is a compensation that needs to be paid to the previous federation,” he said.

The amount of compensation depends on a player’s rating. For those rated above 2700, an amount of 50,000 euros needs to be paid. In theory, then, there’s nothing stopping Magnus Carlsen from suddenly deciding that he no longer wants to represent Norway. In 2022 alone, almost 200 players have switched federations.

“For the top players, a cooling-off period of only a year or so needs to be observed,” Sudhakaran added.

In the case of the US, the infrastructure for chess and the support that its federation provides were influential factors according to world No 6 So. He started representing the US in 2014.

“They say the US is a land of immigrants. Right now, chess is doing really well in the US. There are many private sponsors who enjoy the game and support us. Personally, switching to the US is the best decision I made in my life,” So said.

Once So made the move, the presence of superior sparring partners also made a big difference. It is perhaps why Aronian and Dominguez also made the switch.

“I got a lot more support, training facilities and really good sparring partners in the US. For Levon too, it was a really good decision to switch considering the politics happening in Armenia. Even Dominguez was already living in Miami and later moved to St Louis. When you are young and starting out, it is important to have good coaches and regular weekly tournaments. When you are a Grandmaster and trying to get to the next level, being in the right country (federation) at the right time is also very important. Otherwise, your strength will stagnate,” said the 28-year-old.

While players holding dual citizenship and representing multiple countries is a common theme across the spectrum, it seems to be particularly prominent in the chess world right now.

“There are many other nations who are also trying to recruit players. Romania recruited Richard Rapport (world No 8) recently, Spain got some new players in and Russia got (Sergey) Karjakin several years ago. It is normal. It is an interesting part of chess. Because if you are a chess professional, it is important to be in the right place at the right time,” So said.

In the Australian context, their diversity is highlighted by the presence of Anton Smirnov, Temur Kuybokarov, Bobby Cheng, Justin Tan and Zong-Yuan Zhao in the open section and Julia Ryjanova, Jilin Zhang, Heather Richards, Mai Chi Phan Nguyen and Giang Nguyen in the women’s team.

While Australia is not known for its prowess in chess, non-playing captain Jack Rodgers feels they have become more competitive due to the influx of players with roots in countries like Russia, China and Uzbekistan. Until ten years ago, Australia had only three Grandmasters. Now, each of their five players in the open category is a Grandmaster.

“Australia is still a relatively new chess country. I believe we have one of the most diverse teams at the Olympiad. Most of them have been long enough in Australia to gain citizenship, but it is a part of our culture. It is exciting to have that diversity because it brings different features to our chess. We will continue having diverse teams,” he said.

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