Anna Muzychuk interview: On fleeing Ukraine, last-minute invite to Candidates

When the sisters left for Poland, they took just a couple of bags between them. It took Anna and Mariya over 30 hours to make it to Poland by a bus that seemed like it was stuck forever on the long road to the border. On their way, they saw women saying goodbyes to fathers, brothers, partners who were all being called in to fight for the country.

Having seen the costs of war from close quarters back home, Anna Muzychuk was sympathetic when she was informed that Koneru Humpy had pulled out of the Candidates in March. (Credit: Michal Walusza/FIDE)

“My sister and I now live in Spain, but our family is still back there in Ukraine. Most of our relatives, including our parents, are there, so we worry about them every single day and also about the whole situation in Ukraine. Every day there are some explosions in some cities and people are dying, so it’s very painful,” says Anna, who will be seen at the Norway Chess tournament later this month defending her title.

“I was forced to basically leave the country because it’s very difficult to practice chess in Ukraine when you have so many problems with electricity, water, you don’t have any flights going from Ukraine, so it’s very difficult to travel,” says the 36-year-old, who adds that she’s returned to Ukraine a few times to meet her parents and close ones. But even now, those journeys have to be undertaken by road through the border Ukraine shares with Poland, a reminder that normalcy is still a far cry in the country.

Four years after the Russia-Ukraine War started, the world shifted its attention to a new war, the one between the USA-Israel coalition and Iran in the Middle East. The world of chess too seems to be moving on. At its General Assembly in December last year, FIDE approved the lifting of sanctions on Russia and Belarus which allowed teams from both nations to return to official FIDE competitions.

At last year’s Women’s World Team Championship, the Russian team, playing under the FIDE flag, won gold leading to protests by the Ukrainian Chess Federation, which labelled it a “blatant disregard for 600 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed by Russian occupiers.”

On her part, Anna’s opinion comes through in games with Russian opponents, like when she defeated Russia’s Kateryna Lagno in the Women’s Candidates tournament a couple of months ago and there was no handshake between the players.

Ask her about FIDE’s General Assembly easing restrictions on Russian teams playing in competitions and she says: “There are a lot of nuances in this because FIDE allowed the Russian women’s team to play the Women’s World Team Championship. And flags and anthems are allowed only for the youth tournaments, not the adults events. Even now at the Candidates, Russians played without the flags. For me, it’s a very hard topic because I’m Ukrainian and was affected by the war directly. FIDE didn’t ban any player from the very beginning, so they still played anyway. I mean, I can have an opinion that now they shouldn’t be allowed to play the team competitions, but, I don’t have any influence on that.”

A last-minute call for the Candidates

Having seen the costs of war from close quarters back home, she was sympathetic when she was informed that Koneru Humpy had pulled out of the Candidates in March. The Indian’s withdrawal meant a last-minute spot had been freed up for her. Her initial reaction was of surprise. At an event where no quarter is given, suddenly a seat was left vacant for her.

While Anna was chuffed at the start, the reality of what she was being offered soon hit her. Travel arrangements had to be made, battle plans had to be drawn up. She was headed to one of the most cut-throat tournaments in the sport for which many players had spent months preparing. She had been given a week.

“After being told, in three days I had to fly to Cyprus. I was at a disadvantage. When you’re preparing for the Candidates, you’re preparing for seven very specific opponents. With Humpy withdrawing, they had to prepare for one extra player at the last minute. I had to prepare for all seven in a week’s time,” says Anna.