FIDE Report January 2012:
There have not been many developments since my report in late November.

The Sport Accord World Mind Games took place in Beijing from December 8-17. Three competitions were organized for 16 elite men and 16 elite women . A 7 round rapid event was followed by a blitz round robin and a 7 round blindfold tournament was the finale, for a total of 58 rounds. I was the Chief Arbiter for the events and found the experience intense but satisfying. Sport Accord has confirmed that the games will take place again next year and unofficially for another 2 years thereafter.

Istanbul Olympiad: We are still without an Olympic Co-ordinator so these duties are being spread out between Ilia Bluvshtein, Michael von Keitz, Fred McKim and myself. The main task remains one of fundraising for our teams. We are not alone in our elusive hunt for dollars. During my stay in Beijing, Turkish Federation President Ali Yazici advised that the Turkish Government has reduced their contribution to the Olympiad. The event itself is still solid according to FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, but a more modest production will be the likely result.

If any of you have ideas for Olympic fundraising please let me know. For the moment the fundraising activities are essentially comprised of donations and designated tournaments. Again I encourage all of you to be in touch with prospective donors and organizers in your area to promote our Olympic efforts.

2016 Olympic Bid: As you know, seed capital was acquired from the provincial government by a group in Toronto to prepare a bid for the 2016 Olympiad. In December the committee was restructured and most of the fundraising personnel have left the team. David Cohen was the instigator of these changes and continues to work on the project. As FIDE Rep I remain in regular contact with David. His activities are currently centred around the “bid book”, which is part of the contractual obligation to the province. David intends to use the bid book as part of his pitch to corporations, which is planned to commence in February. The proposed budget of $25 million is ample for both the World Cup and the Olympiad, but task is daunting nonetheless. The bid deadline is May 31. The CFC will have to be satisfied with the fundraising/sponsorship progress in order to support the bid.