CL No4/2023 – Communique of the ECU Board Meeting and ECU General Assembly 2023

Dear Chess Friends,

The biennial European Chess Union Congress 2023 was held in Budva, Montenegro from 17^th to 19^th of November 2023. Montenegro Chess federation hosted the fourth quarterly meeting of the ECU Board, the ECU General Assembly, and the Commissions meetings, under excellent conditions.

Main information and decisions of the ECU Board meeting:

• The Board discussed and approved the ECU Budget for the year 2024.
• The ECU Board informed about the income statement by 14^th November 2024
• ECU Board decided to partner with the Aegean University on academic programs for chess teachers.
• The European Individual Chess Championship 2026 and European Club Cup 2027 were awarded to the Romanian Chess Federation as a combined offer.
• ECU Board decided to propose to ECU General Assembly the development of guidelines for social media for official and players and the updating of European Fair Play policy.

The annual ECU General Assembly 2023 took place on the 19^th of November with representatives and officials from 39 European Chess Federations. A detailed video-report of ECU activities was presented by the ECU Board.

Main information and decisions:

1. The closing of the year 2022 was unanimously approved and the ECU Board was discharged for the year 2022. ECU Board presented the income statement by 14^th of November 2023 and confirmed that ECU annual accounts return to positive results.

2. The budget for the year 2024 was unanimously approved.

3. Kosovo Chess federation requested that the footnote (asterisk) should be removed from the name of Kosovo in all ECU documents, tournaments and media,. After discussion a secret ballot followed.

39 federations voted on the item 7 of the agenda.
27 federations voted in favor of removing the footnote.
10 federations voted against the removal of the footnote.
2 ballots were invalid.

4. The ECU General Assembly authorized the ECU Board to update the regulations concerning “European Fair Play” (Section R of ECU Tournament Rules) and develop “social media guidelines” for officials and players.

5. Following a short presentation of Genova’s bid for the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2028 by the President of the Italian Chess Federation Mr. Luigi Maggi at the ECU General Assembly 2023, 39 European federations present, voted unanimously in favour of the following resolution:
“The ECU GA requests of FIDE that: Should there be two or more valid bids for the 2028 Chess Olympiad, then the decision on the venue of the Chess Olympiad should be made at the FIDE GA at Budapest 2024, as has been the custom and practice for previous decisions. Voting on this matter in an online meeting is not only irregular, but also prevents delegates from properly evaluating bids as they have done in previous years”.

6. The representatives of the newly elected Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation Mr. Milen Vasilev, President, and Mr. Georgi Gradev, Secretary General addressed the ECU General Assembly and informed about their application to be accepted as a FIDE member during the upcoming FIDE General Assembly and expressed their gratitude to ECU President Mr. Azmaiparashvili and Board for the seven years efforts assisting Bulgarian chess community to restore transparency and good governance.

7. European School Chess Championship 2025 was awarded to Romania on the occasion of the 100 years anniversary of the Romanian Chess federation. The option for the year 2026 was awarded to Croatian chess federation.

8. Chairpersons of the Commission for Women’s Chess, Mrs. Regina Pokorna, ECU EDU Commission, Mr. Jesper Bergmark Hall, Arbiters Council, Mr. Geert Bailleul and Media Commission, Mr. Pavel Matocha presented reports on the activities of the Commissions and set the next targets and steps to be followed.

9. Chairman of Events Commission Mr. Paris Klerides referred to the many successful events in year 2023 and presented the changes in ECU tournament rules and tournament fees.
The proposed changes approved by the ECU General Assembly except the changes in articles B.7.1 and B.7.1.1 The ECU Board is authorized to finalize this proposal. 

10. Chairman of Trainer Commission Mr. Ivan Sokolov presented the new Commission projects and asked the delegates to support the ECU Trainers Commission regulations. The ECU GA approved the Trainers Commission regulations.

11. The next annual ECU General Assembly will take place in Budapest, Hungary 2024 during the FIDE World Chess Olympiad 2024.

Photos by ECU Press and Mark Livshitz