Russia, the biggest superpower in chess, has been effectively banned from the game it considers its own, alongside its neighbour Belarus.

FIDE, the Russian-dominated world governing body of chess, took the momentous step to take action against both countries at an emergency meeting of its FIDE Council held today. It follows the international outcry over Russia's invasion of Ukraine which FIDE responded to initially by stripped Moscow of the 190-nation Chess Olympiad, which was due to take place in July.

The new measures FIDE agreed were:

• Russia and Belarus banned from holding official FIDE chess competitions and events 
• Russian and Belarusian players banned from displaying national flags at FIDE-rated events and nationals anthem will not be played
  
• FIDE will terminate all sponsorship agreements with Russian or Belarusian sanctioned and/or state-controlled companies

FIDE also said it condemns "any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action". It said two Russian grandmasters, Sergey Karjakin and Sergey Shipov, will have to face its Ethics and Disciplinary Commission following controversial comments online.

Sergey Karjakin has made a series of controversial posts online since the Ukraine invasion started | photo: World Chess

Karjakin, in particular, has been accused of bringing the game into disrepute for a series of increasingly-bizarre outbursts since the invasion. Karjakin even saw fit to block chess24.

The 32-year-old, who is currently relaxing in Dubai with his family, has a spot in the Candidates Tournament to find the next challenger for the world title. It is now unclear whether he will be able to compete in the event due to start in Madrid in June.

FIDE's ruling also comes just days before the start of the next Grand Prix event in Belgrade, which is due to feature five Russian grandmasters, Andrey Esipenko (replacing Dmitry Andreikin), Alexander Grischuk, Vladimir Fedoseev, Nikita Vitiugov and Alexandr Predke.

The past few days have been tumultuous for the Russian-dominated organisation - as they have for the rest of the world. FIDE appears to be riven with division over the issue.

Today's decision will almost certainly have been controversial internally given that the organisation is largely funded by Russian corporate donors and Russian sponsors such as Gazprom and Nornickel.

On its website, the partners FIDE lists remain unchanged

The FIDE President is also a former Kremlin insider - the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and the organiser of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Arkady Dvokovich. His predecessor, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was also Russian and the post has been in Russian hands since 1995.

However, a series of public statements from officials within FIDE making clear their unease at Russia's use of military force in Ukraine appears to have forced the issue.

English Grandmaster Nigel Short, who holds the position of vice-president, had this to say:

Short, who has until now publicly supported the leadership, is understood to have tabled the motion to ban Russia. But Short wasn't alone.

In a Facebook post uploaded while she was on a delegation in Uganda with the FIDE President, Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola said this: 

In its update posted on the FIDE website, the federation said the Council had also approved the following statement to accompany its ruling:

FIDE expresses its grave concern about the military action started by Russia in Ukraine. FIDE stands united against wars as well as condemns any use of military means to resolve political conflicts. FIDE will take any necessary action to ensure the security of chess players and other members of the chess community. No official FIDE chess competitions and events will be held in Russia and Belarus.

It goes further than FIDE's carefully-worded comment on Thursday which drew criticism for describing Russia's aggression as a "rapidly deteriorating geopolitical situation". Yet it still stopped short of using the phrase "invasion".

Following Thursday's misstep, FIDE faced intense pressure from the chess community worldwide to strip Russia of the prestigious 150-nation Chess Olympiad scheduled to take place in Moscow in July.

On Friday morning, its council met and relented. But following rapidly changing events, and a series of other sporting organisations announcing their own punishments for Russia, it became clear that was not enough.

Even so, it will come as a shock that Russia - which many consider the spiritual home of the game and the country that boasts more grandmasters than any other - could be banned from international competition.

Here is the ruling in full:

Also significant is that FIDE faced pressure from the International Olympic Committee, of which it is a member federation.

FIDE hinted at that in its update saying it reached a decision on the issue of national flags "following the call from IOC". Maintaining its membership of the IOC is essential for any ambitions chess has of becoming an Olympic event.

Chess is extremely popular in Russia and still a source of national pride, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin has been a keen supporter of the game and the career of Karjakin, who challenged Magnus Carlsen for the world title in 2016 and lost.

However, Russia has not won a Chess Olympiad since Bled, Slovenia, 2002, and it hasn't had a classical World Champion since Vladimir Kramnik lost to Vishy Anand in Mexico 15 years ago.

According to FIDE, there are tens of millions of chess fans in Russia, and the sport is enthusiastically supported by its institutions and also by its private sector.

The country often hosts top-level chess competitions, including official ones, like the previous Candidates Tournament that took place in Yekaterinburg amidst the pandemic.