Dear Chess Friends,
This is the latest information from the European Chess Union and the invitation for the 2nd ECU Congress.
- The 2nd ECU Congress will take place from 1st (arrival) to 5th November (departure) 2017 in the Creta Maris Hotel, Hersonisos-Crete, Greece. The annual ECU General Assembly 2017 will take place on Saturday 4th November 2017 at 9:30 am in the same venue. The invitation with all registration details is in annex_1.
- The Icelandic Chess Federation proposed to the European Chess Union to be a partner in the festivities for the 75th Anniversary of 11th World Champion Robert J. Fischer, which will take place during the Reykjavik Open 2018 – Bobby Fischer Memorial from 8th to 14th of March 2018. ECU President accepted the honorary proposal made by the Icelandic Chess Federation and asked the Georgian Chess Federation to reschedule the European Individual Chess Championship 2018 in Batumi from 16th (arrival) to 29th March (departure) 2018. The letter by the Icelendic Chess Federation is in annex_2.
- On 30th September 2016, the Bulgarian Chess Federation filled an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision of the European Chess Union General Assembly on 10th of September 2016 to expel the Bulgarian Chess federation from the European Chess Union.After an exchange of written submissions for both sides and the hearing held in Lausanne, Switzerland on 28th April 2017, the CAS dismissed the case brought by the Bulgarian Chess Federation against ECU and ruled that all costs of Arbitration shall be paid by the Bulgarian Chess Federation as also a part of the ECU legal expenses.The full CAS award is attached in annex_3 and the ECU Press release in annex_4 and is referring to all the history of the case and the court findings and conclusions.
- The ECU Educational Commission launched its activities in late 2014. The main reason was a need of an organization representing the growing movement of using chess as a pedagogic tool to develop social and intellectual skills to children.The ECU Educational Commission is now ready to actively respond to this. As first step the ECU Advisory Board was created. The board members are internationally renowned professors of different academic disciplines and the board will help making strategic decisions, and to coach and validate different projects.More details and brief CVs here.The commission is also about to introduce The ECU School Chess Teacher Certificate. The certificate is received either through participating in a chess camp or in on-line courses. The courses are shaped by the best school chess instructors in Europe, and are in line with the latest research and are validated by scientists. The ECU Teacher Certificate courses will be monitored and evaluated by the Academics in the ECU Advisory Board.The further target of the ECU EDU Commission is to establish cooperation with main European universities, and to give academic points to “ECU School Chess Teacher Certificate”.More details here.
With kind Regards,
Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou
ECU Secretary General