India, July 24 -- Viswanathan Anand has been appointed as the interim president of FIDE after the European Union imposed sanctions on the current chief, Arkady Dvorkovic. In the EU's latest sanctions, Dvorkovich was named and linked to Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. Dvorkovich was Russia's Deputy Prime Minister between 2012 and 2018. He has been the FIDE chief since winning the 2018 presidential election.

Anand was also serving as FIDE deputy president before Dvorkovich's removal. The chess legend backed Dvorkovich's successful re-election bid in 2022 and was later named as deputy president at the FIDE Congress in Chennai.

Taking to X, Anand wrote, "Following the decision by President Arkady Dvorkovich to suspend the exercise of ...