Maybe Vassily Ivanchuk can just play chess now.

Ivanchuk, the No. 3 player in the world, who has been a fixture among the game’s elite for two decades, will not be suspended for failing to take a drug test at the conclusion of the Chess Olympiad last year.

The World Chess Federation began testing players for drugs as part of an effort to get chess included in the regular Olympics — a goal that most people think is far-fetched, at best. The effort by the federation has angered many players who argue that, outside of caffeine, there are no drugs that can help them play better, making testing absurd.

Despite the grumbling, there had been no real problems until the Chess Olympiad, a biennial event that was held in Dresden, Germany, last year.

Going into the last round, the Ukrainian team, led by Ivanchuk, was poised to medal, perhaps even win gold. They faced the United States, who they were favored to beat. Instead, they collapsed, losing so badly that they fell out of the top three places.

After the round was over, Ivanchuk, who had lost to Gata Kamsky of the United States, was extremely angry at himself. There was an official from the federation waiting to ask him for a urine sample as he had been randomly selected to take a drug test. Evidently, Ivanchuk did not know who the official was and marched past him without stopping and left the playing venue, thereby failing to take the test.

According to federation rules, Ivanchuk could have been suspended for two years.

On Tuesday, a hearing was convened by the federation at the Corus tournament in the Netherlands, where Ivanchuk is playing. After hearing testimony, the panel concluded that Ivanchuk was not at fault as there was no “designated doping control officer,” so Ivanchuk could not have known that the official that he walked by after the match was there to perform a drug test. In addition, the panel said that the official tried to speak to Ivanchuk in English, which it pointed out is not his first language.

The text of the decision is on the federation’s Web site.

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