Dear Friends,

Following the necessary change of ECU website there is a new email address of Secretary General: secretary@europechess.org. The former address is still working, but it will be closed after some months.

On 13 and 14 September 2008 there was a Board meeting in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. The Vice-Mayor of Herceg Novi, Mr. Vladimir Mracevic, welcomed the ECU Board in his home town. He informed that the problems with the land for ECU had been solved. The whole land of appr. 2200 m² belongs now to the municipality of Herceg Novi and may be used by ECU for its activities. Everybody is ready to discuss the ideas of ECU, for example a tournament hall, chess museum, teaching rooms and accommodation.

The General Assembly is scheduled for 22 November 2008, from 09.00 a.m. to 02.00 p.m., in Dresden, Germany. If necessary it will be continued in the afternoon. Until 6 October at the latest all relevant information will be sent out. Any request should be sent to the ECU office in Berlin.

For European Club Cup 2010 there are bids from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. The General Assembly has to decide about these bids. Presentations by the bidders will be prepared.

ECU Marketing Director Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou reported his main duties:
- taking care for the ECU image as leading Sports Organisation and manages the use of ECU logos and profile
- preparation of the ECU promotional material and sponsorships programme
- contact to sponsors of ECU
As a first step he will create a printed ECU profile, which will include the history of ECU, a description of the annual competitions, sponsorship importance and opportunities. This video presentation will be published during the FIDE Congress in Dresden.

The final decision of ECU Board about the bids for the European Youth Championships U8 to U18 in 2010 was postponed to the Board meeting in Dresden.

As we did not receive any bid for the European School Team Championship 2009 President Boris Kutin decided that once more Varna, Bulgaria may organise this event.

The European Individual and Team Championship for Cadets and Juniors 2009 will be organised in Subotica, Serbia.

From 15 to 18 January 2009 we organise a seminar for arbiters in the FIDE Trainer Academy in Berlin. The seminar is especially for national and international arbiters, the main content will be:
- laws of chess, including the changes by FIDE Congress in Dresden
- FIDE title regulations
- FIDE rating regulations
- tournament organisation
- Swiss pairing
- tie-break systems
Arbiters who are interested in appointments for chief arbiter or deputy chief arbiter of European championships should pass such a seminar. The participation fee is 100 Euro, nominations by ECU federations can be sent to ECU office in Berlin.

Up to now the medals for all ECU championships are produced in Slovenia and have been provided by ECU without charging the costs. From 2009 the organisers have to pay the costs for producing these medals. If any federation has a proposal for another producer we are free to negotiate.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for 19 November 2008 in Dresden.

Best regards,

Werner Stubenvoll

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