The fourth quarterly meeting of the board of ECU was held on November 13-14 in Antalya, Turkey, during the 2022 European Youth Chess Championship. The Turkish Chess Federation hosted the event under excellent conditions and Mrs. Gulkiz Tulay, President of the Turkish Chess Federation, opened the meetings on Saturday, November 13. At the beginning, a minute of silence was held in memory of former ECU treasurer Martin Huba.
Main information and Decisions:
A. Administration
1. ECU Board members were briefed on the income statement through November 2022 and the projection of revenues and expenses through the end of the year.
2. The Board agreed that the main directions for the projects to be submitted to the FIDE Development Fund in 2023.
3. The ECU Board decided to amend the ECU entry fees for a few European Championships as European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. The detailed decisions and the new tables will be announced and ratified by the ECU General Assembly.
4. The contract with the ECU legal adviser Mr. Marco Biagioli will be extended till end of the year 2023.
5. The distinguished chess personalities Mr. Panagiotis Nikolopoulos and Mr. Adrian Mikhalchishin were appointed as advisors to the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili.
B. European Championships
6. Remaining Qualification places for the 2021-2023 World Championship cycle were discussed and decided:
- 23 qualification places will be awarded at the 2023 European Chess Championship and
- 9 places at the 2023 European Women’s Chess Championship
- 1 qualification place was awarded to the Zone 1.10 (European Small Nations) tournament.
7. The ECU Board unanimously confirms its position and commitment that the World Championship cycle and qualification phases should be managed exclusively by FIDE, the continental bodies, FIDE zones and the national chess federations.
8. The European Cities and Towns Chess Championship has been postponed from Sunday, December 11, 2022, to Sunday, January 29, 2023, due to many requests for better preparation, schedule and securing funding. The regulations remain unchanged, and registration continues through the online platform of Tornelo.
C. ECU Commissions
9. Chairman Geert Bailleul presented the main objectives of the Arbiters Council for the next 4 years, focusing on training and evaluation of arbiters, as well as helping them to gain more experience. The new call for arbiters at the European Chess Championship 2023 will be announced in the next few days.
10. The ECU Board has decided that the updated arbiters’ stipends for the European Chess Championship will be valid from April 1, 2023, after the decision of the ECU General Assembly 2022. The new detailed table with arbiters’ fees will be added as an annex to the ECU tournament rules.
11. Mr. Franck Droin, Chairman of the newly established Social Commission, presented his vision about the Commission, which will focus on the development and funding of social activities within the Federations and implement successful national projects at European level.
12. Ms. Nina Rob, secretary of the ECU Events Commission, presented the main objectives of the Commission, which include the refreshment of the bidding process, the establishment of a system for the evaluation of tournaments and regular contact with the organizers to ensure the quality of European tournaments.
13. On the proposal of the ECU President, Mr. Azmaiparashvili, the ECU Board appointed Mr. Ivan Sokolov as the Chairman of the newly established ECU Trainers Commission, whose main goal is to provide innovative and high-quality training programs for chess coaches and players. At its next meeting, the ECU Board will discuss the tasks of this commission as well as its composition taking in account the report of the appointed chairman.
14. The proposed budgets and plans for all ECU Commissions were noticed and discussed.
15. A working meeting between the Chairpersons of the Commissions and ECU Board will take place on December 17 in Katowice during the 2022 European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships to set the budget for 2023 and the goals for the coming years and to discuss the cooperation of the Commissions on joint projects.
The Circular Letter No. 5/ 2022 can be downloaded here.