The Stateless Kings: How Chess preserves an ideal in a fractured world

Aarav Dengla traces the journeys of chess players caught betwixt their crippled and the authorities of their countries. From Viktor Korchnoi’s defection from the Soviet Union to Alireza Firouzja’s interruption with Iran and Ian Nepomniachtchi playing nether the FIDE emblem aft opposing Russia’s war, helium explores however FIDE has stood betwixt players and geopolitical upheavals, providing a neutral crushed for those who could nary longer vie nether their nationalist flags. For these stateless kings, the banner did not erase individuality - it protected their state to play.