Fernando Romero Nuñez 
The Argentine chess scene was shocked this month to find out Alan Pichot, one of its best players, is switching allegiances. Pichot was the top-ranked player in Argentina and South America, but will now be representing Spain, after leveling serious accusations against the head of the Argentine Chess Federation (FADA). Pichot was one of eight Argentine players to hold the title of Grandmaster at the time, the highest title the International Chess Federation (FIDE) grants.
“The only reason for my decision has a first and last name: Mario Petrucci,” wrote Pichot, naming the FADA president in a long Twitter thread earlier this month explaining his decision.
“In the last 10 years since he took over Argentine chess, he has made sure to have many players, leaders, tournament organizers and referees in his pocket so that criticism of his management is not heard,” he wrote. “The more loyal you are [to him], the more jobs you will get. He toys with people’s economic needs and their fear.”
FADA did not respond to a request from the Buenos Aires Herald for comment on these allegations.
Things came to a head in May 2022. That month, Pichot was supposed to take part in the 2022 Chess Olympiad in India. However, the Argentine team was plagued by problems, with players and management mired in bitter disputes over pay.
According to Infobae, FADA offered to either cover players’ airfares to India or pay them the equivalent of US$2,000, plus expenses ranging from US$300 to US$850, depending on the player’s rank and title. An insurance company reportedly agreed on an extra US$6,000 payment for the men’s and women’s teams, provided the players wore their brand logo on the uniforms.
Some players felt this was insufficient, with top players Pichot, Sandro Mareco, Carolina Luján and Florencia Fernández looking for a separate sponsor. A meeting was called at Petrucci’s house, where they said they were willing to drop out of the team if the conditions weren’t met. Other players felt the demands were excessive and did not attend.
“We met and talked about various topics, and even paid each of them the cost of the plane tickets in cash, since they preferred to travel on their own because they had scheduled a tour of different tournaments prior to the trip to India,” Petrucci told Infobae.
He also claimed that the insurance company approached the players directly, without contacting FADA. “Since we had not yet talked with the potential sponsor (nobody ever called FADA), I guaranteed them from my own company an advance payment of the money promised by the sponsor to distribute among all the players.”
A FADA statement later claimed they had bought the players’ plane tickets, and that it was the federation, not Petrucci, that had paid the players the sponsor money in advance. They had done this to avoid an exclusivity problem, they said.
The separate payment to these four players led to the insurance company withdrawing from the deal. On June 15 2022 the remaining players protested the additional money being paid to the four top players instead of the entire team.
“On June 1 a meeting was held between the Olympic players Sandro Mareco, Alan Pichot, Carolina Lujan and Florencia Fernández and Mario Petrucci, president of FADA. At that meeting, these players requested and collected a sum of US$6,000 that FADA provided for the entire team. As of today the remaining players have not received any of that sum,” read a statement put out by the excluded players.
Following this, Grandmasters Mareco and Pichot announced their withdrawal from the men’s team via their social media, while Grandmaster Carolina Lujan and International Master Florencia Fernández were removed from the women’s team by FADA.
“We categorically deny the false accusations that have been made,” the quartet of erstwhile star players said in a statement. “We made an agreement with [FADA] President, Mario Petrucci, to guarantee our participation in the Olympiad. A few days later, he unilaterally decided to break it, maliciously informing our teammates and promoting a bad environment.”
Switching to Spain
One year on from the chaos, Pichot announced that he would no longer be playing under the Argentine flag. “I am not switching for economic or opportunity-related reasons,” he tweeted before taking aim at Petrucci.
“He is the one who refused to provide any type of financial aid to the best players in the country, despite the fact that FADA has a surplus and plenty of resources to do it.” He also claimed that Petrucci has repeatedly paid him under the table.
Pichot accused the FADA president of demanding 10,000 euros from him to authorize his switch to playing for the Spanish Chess Federation (FADE). International Chess Federation rules say a federation has to pay up to 30,000 euros for a Grandmaster with a rating like Pichot’s to switch federations. Otherwise, the player must wait two years since they last played under their current federation to play in official competitions.
FADA responded with a statement saying that they were only asking for 10,000 euros, a third of what they’re entitled to — and from FADE, not from Pichot. “If the player wants to take care of any of these costs to lower the cost [of the switch] for the Spanish Chess Federation, it is not the responsibility of FADA, nor of its president,” read a statement published on FADA’s website.
The organization also accused Pichot of having a “selective memory” and “only remembering when his requests were not accommodated.” It denied acting against his interests.
Pichot and Fernández declined to comment. Pichot has been listed on the FIDE official website as a Spanish player since August 15.
