A tournament of failures could trigger an international conflict for the Falklands

The Argentine Federation of Chess (FADA) organized a tournament in the Falkland Islands and British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sparked an unexpected diplomatic conflict by viewing sports as a "provocation".

The Islas del Sur tournament took place from 26 to 28 March in Puerto Argentino and brought together two veterans of the Falklands War who fought at the battle of Monte Harriet: the Colonel of the Argentine Army José Jiménez Corbalán and the lieutenant of the British Royal Navy Marc Villiers Towsend, with an Argentinian victory from 2.5 to 1.5, after four games. After the contest, the English Chess Federation (ECF) initiated a protest in front of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which also included another tournament in 2018.

But everything turned into a diplomatic conflict after the intervention of Hunt, one of the candidates for the succession of outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. The Chancellor published on his Twitter account an official statement of the British federation and added: "We are with the ECF about it.The Falkland Islands (sic) are part of the United Kingdom: the state of this box on the chart is not in question ". Members of the Malvinas legislature also joined the demand, calling the situation "deeply troubling".

We are with the ECF about it. The Falkland Islands are part of the United Kingdom: the status of this box on the board is not in question! https://t.co/n1D12CknpJ

– Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) June 1, 2019

In his statement, the CEF considered that it is the one who administers the chess activity "in the British Overseas Territories that are not full FIDE members" and has qualified the tournament for "clandestine" and "unacceptable violation" of the jurisdiction. , in addition to a "diplomatic provocation".

Finally, FIDE has decided not to count the competition records for the ELO ranking, which ranks competitors worldwide. However, the president of the FADA, Mario Petrucci, told Clarín that it was "a purely sports activity" and that he had had conversations with the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs before organizing it.

In statements to the agency Telam said: "The FADA has a status and the Malvinas Islands belong to Argentina, so we will appeal the decision of the FIDE not to consider this tournament as valid , and we will actually repeat it next year at the same place. "