FIDE Report
Development Commission
I returned from Athens yesterday evening after a meeting of the FIDE Development Commission. Though the meeting was productive, my new laptop died within 3 hours of arrival. The Development Commission (formerly CACDEC) identifies Federations with financial and technical needs and allocates resources with the goal of increasing FIDE activity.
The 2012 budget (in Euros)for the Continents are:
Africa 70,000
Americas 43,750
Asia 35,000
Europe 13,125
In addition to these amounts, FIDE offers 15,000 in activity rebates as well as youth travel grants (to the WYCC of World Junior) to youth players in developing countries who score well in Continental Championships.
A useful tip came to light for players and organizers wishing to build up our FIDE rating pool. A 10 player RR with 4 rated players can produce official FIDE ratings for the 6 unrated players in a single tournament, provided that the unrateds score a point against rated opposition. Although this is in the FIDE Handbook it is not well understood.
World Championship Match
I leave for Moscow on May 8 for the Anand - Gelfand match. As Deputy Arbiter, this will be my 6th time working with the Chief Arbiter, Armenian IA Ashot Vardapetyan. It was a great honour to be selected by the players themselves. With any luck my next laptop will survive and I can stay in touch with the motherland!
Istanbul Olympiad, August 27 – September 10
As Michael von Keitz has indicated, our teams have been named with one or two cavaets. The players will now select their Captain(s). Though several candidates were approached, we were unable to recruit an Olympic Co-ordinator so these tasks have fallen to a coalition of the willing. Our fundraising campaign is underway but we are unlikely to raise the full amount from donations and tournament activities. Therefore I hope the Governors can support the commitment to fully fund our teams in the event of a shortfall.
I have sensed over the past few years that our Olympic enthusiasm, perhaps due to the bourgeoning FIDE calendar, has waned. This is disappointing. The Olympiad provides a unique opportunity for our top players to face off against the very best players in the world. Most of the world’s elite players are not accessible – they play amongst themselves in round robins and matches. Without the Olympiad we would not see Charbonneau beating Anand, or Bluvshtein toppling Veslin, or Roussell-Roozmon scoring a 20 game GM norm to earn the title. We have so little to offer our elite players. They give us two weeks of their time to represent our country. They should not have to pay for this privilege. Please let us give them their chance to shine!
Respectfully submitted,
Hal Bond, 2012-04-02
