CFC FIDE Representative election - Feb 2021

[Vadim Tsypin]

I will establish or strengthen horizontal ties with fellow FIDE Members, other National Chess Federations (NCFs). Decentralization and professional networks is the key in our day and age. My healthy friendly relationships both within FIDE management and with the executives of key chess federation in the Americas, Asia and Europe will allow me to obtain unique opportunities for Canadian players and officials, especially for the young players.

I will continue working tirelessly to leverage my international connections for the benefit of Canadians. One of the achievements I am the most proud of is getting Canadian teenagers invited to participate in an all-expense-paid trip to the 14th edition of the Vladimir Dvorkovich Cup. This high-profile international competition organized by the FIDE President annually in memory of his late father, a renowned International Arbiter, is called an unofficial World Youth Team Championship (the average rating of invited teams is higher than even at the FIDE Youth Olympiad) and is contested by teams from all four FIDE continents.

Thanks to an agreement I was able to reach, in 2019 it was Team Canada rather than Team USA that was invited from the Americas. Thus, 2019 marked the first appearance of Team Canada at this prestigious event. The four Canadian players (2F, 2M) from Fredericton, NB, Ottawa and Windsor, ON, were selected by the CFC in a transparent process. I acted as a captain and personally flew the team halfway around the world, to Aktobe, Kazakhstan, where young Canadian stars experienced a diverse sports and cultural program, establishing lasting friendships with their peers worldwide.

[Vadim Tsypin]

I will work with the CFC Executive, provincial associations, chess organizers, local tourism bureaus and chambers of commerce to bring FIDE events to Canada. There are two major types of FIDE events: summits (a FIDE Congress, an in-person FIDE Council meeting, an in-person Management Board meeting) and competitions (the World and Continental events, including those for Youth, Seniors, and Disabled players). Our federation has licensed International Organizers who are the only people allowed to sign bids for FIDE events. When communities and corporate sponsors support, we shall not hesitate to bid on the World (L1 level) FIDE competitions, starting with some simpler ones.

Canada shall have a more fruitful and mutually beneficial partnership with our continental body, the Confederation of Chess for Americas (CCA). We shall establish a rotation schedule similar to those that already exists for the North America Youth Ch. In this case, Canada will be able to host Panamerican Open, Women’s, Youth, Scholastic, and others.

[Vadim Tsypin]

Canada has great coaches and arbiters who are excellent in passing on knowledge to others. FIDE has a variety of programs where stronger chess countries help developing nations. These programs are financed from the FIDE Development Fund. Of particular interest to Canadian professionals are the help programs for such newly admitted Caribbean nations as St. Lucia, Grenada, Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis.

I will make sure that Canada participates in these programs so that our coaches and arbiters have a chance to train players and officials in the Caribbean.

[Vadim Tsypin]

The CFC’s daily operations are a labour of love by our great Executive Director Bob Gillanders. Bob is doing a great job, despite being constantly overworked in having to combine essentially several demanding positions: the Executive Director, the Technical Director, The Rating Officer, and the Titles Officer.

As a person responsible for procurement within FIDE, I will share with the CFC the best practices of FIDE’s own offices around the world and those of leading national federations. I will help Bob and the CFC Executive to identify which logistical solutions and software platforms used by our colleagues worldwide might be beneficial for Canada.

[Vadim Tsypin]

I am running for the CFC FIDE Representative in order to serve the Canadian chess community, to become its steward at FIDE, and to provide for its well-being. I will devote all my energy to serving your interests. I truly believe that our big chess family deserves a much better life, and I promise to use all my knowledge, skills and experience to make it happen.

Let’s succeed and prosper together!

[Christopher Mallon]

This is my view as well.

Under the Handbook replacing a resigned director is the job of the EXECUTIVE, not the president acting alone nor the VM assembly.

The pertinent documents are
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...QJELb4/preview
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...lO6dgI/preview

Note that the letter in the first document to the federal government was NOT written by me and that there are amendments to the "Classic Handbook" that were never discussed in detail. My information is that these changes were based on the sample constitution enclosed in the "new" 2014 Not for Profit Corporation Act.

The bottom line is that at that point our backs were to the wall and there was a serious risk of the CFC losing its charter if we did not file on time. Some of these forced changes I have strong reservations about in terms of years of the usual practice of the CFC but they are what they are.

With respect to replacement of a resigned executive member the pertinent section is
Number of Directors
The board shall consist of the number of directors specified in the articles. If the articles provide for a minimum and maximum number of directors, the board shall be comprised of the fixed number of directors as determined from time to time by the members by ordinary resolution or, if the ordinary resolution empowers the directors to determine the number, by resolution of the board. In the case of a soliciting corporation the minimum number of directors may not be fewer than three (3), at least two of whom are not officers or employees of the Corporation or its affiliates.


with the section dealing with replacement of a director being
Vacancy in Office
In the absence of a written agreement to the contrary, the board may remove, whether for cause or without cause, any officer of the Corporation. Unless so removed, an officer shall hold office until the earlier of:
the officer's successor being appointed,
the officer's resignation,
such officer ceasing to be a director (if a necessary qualification of appointment) or
such officer's death.

If the office of any officer of the Corporation shall be or become vacant, the directors may, by resolution, appoint a person to fill such vacancy.


Thus I conclude that holding a poll on the best way to replace Hal Bond and acting on the result of the poll is outside the specifications of our bylaws.

I have multiple times in e-mails described this as "Playing Fischer Random with the Handbook"

I have been making this point several times in private e-mails with the executive since the resignation of Mr. Bond. And there was a solid consensus on the Executive for a candidate.

That's all I'm willing to say since being on the Executive does require some discretion but there's no question I am far from the only irate Director at this point.

So Vlad, can you please explain for all of us why you did not follow the legal rules in this case?

You can't claim ignorance since this was brought up in the public discussion weeks ago (by Pierre I believe), and now we see you even had Exec members - a solid consensus - arguing against you.

You're usually the first person to claim that since something might be against the rules, we can't even consider it. But here you are twisting and contorting the rules to try to stack the Executive. I don't know Vadim, and I am not sure I've ever met Victor, but I also don't know what you are up to with trying to get a bunch of friends on the Exec. We in Ontario all saw how that goes with BT and the OCA - it very nearly destroyed the OCA, in fact, and we only survived because the Ontario Government decided it wasn't worth pursuing.

[Lyle Craver]

In a declared conflict of interest situation it is NOT impossible for such a director to remain a director - what is required is that they declare their conflict and TAKE NO FURTHER PART OF THAT PARTICULAR DISCUSSION INCLUDING ANY VOTES BASED ON IT.

Given most of the CFC work is done by e-mail the best that can be done is for the person in conflict to request to be removed from e-mails on that point. I have been appointed several times by our municipal council to serve on various committees and have declared conflicts. Since the meeting was face to face I left the room. When I was summoned back to the room I asked the chair what the result of the board was (which is NOT a conflict since I had taken no part in the matter and would in any case find out later in the minutes), was told, thanked the chair and the meeting went on to the rest of the agenda. All of this is entirely proper in a conflict situation.

Again - a conflict of interest situation is NOT a sign of moral turpitude - in fact it's probably inevitable given you WANT directors who have a well established record of demonstrated interest in the area (in our case chess) that is the reason for the organization's existence. As an organization you WANT such people on your board - people whose interest is demonstrated by their past actions.

Please don't interpret this as a sign of support for any candidate - I'm merely explaining why properly handling any conflicts are both inevitable and important they be done right.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I've been accused already by a few VMs of attacking fellows VMs etc. for disagreeing with me. I've never had any such intentions.
In fact all this affair is hardly passing a smell test. Hal's resignation letter, an attempt to make Aris his heir, a race between Aris and Vadim, then Victor is getting there and Aris resigning...

However let me reiterate where I stand without attacking anybody:

Vadim's background in chess governance, including being a core member of the new FIDE management team since the 2018 FIDE elections, makes him the best candidate for this position. Only Vadim will be able to open the door wide for Canada into world chess and to bring exciting opportunities for Canadian players, coaches, and organizers. His campaign already has widespread support in all provinces and has been endorsed by well-respected chess professionals on the CFC site and in social media.

Victor Plotkin is in the right spot as the Men's team Captain, his skills set is good for that. Were he to be elected Canada delegate, he would become one of 195 mostly nameless delegates who stand in line with empty hands for four years in a row and are never given anything for their countries apart from an offer or two during the FIDE election year. Realistically, with Victor the delegate Canada will always be behind Kosovo, Burkina Faso or Venezuela in access to any FIDE help. Victor is on record in his electoral program stating that if he were elected, he would rely on Vadim Tsypin and would seek his help dealing with FIDE. Doesn't this tell you everything? Why have a second-hand article when you can own a genuine item?!

Vadim is already at the FIDE's highest table where all important issues - budgets, event bids, regulations - are decided upon. Shall not Canada literally leap at this chance and embrace Vadim as its most capable advocate (see: China WCCC letter, disabled player transfer, Para Olympiad, wild card in World Youth Online, all-expense-paid trip for young players to the Vladimir Dvorkovich Cup, etc.) ?!

I understand the tribalism in political process, and chess is no exception. And if there were two approximately equally qualified candidates either choice is OK. But today's situation is not the case...
Our choice without tribalism issues is an easy one!

Sasha Starr, VM

Sasha's post got lost because it was probably made just as the threads were copied. To complete the circle, here it is.

[Victor Itkin]

The Executive voted to allow this application to proceed. That prompted Hal's resignation.

Thank you for your comments, Vlad.

But I believe that the voting members would be interested to hear some comments to this story directly from Vadim. In particular:

- what was his wife Arbiter title prior to this upgrade?
- in what tournaments had she serve as an Arbiter, and in which of them without his participation?
- what was a reason for Arbiter Upgrade application? Has she improved her qualifications in some way prior to this application?
- has she any other occupation not related to chess?

It was interesting to know some information about Victor Plotkin's wife activities. We may expect to hear something similar from another candidate, especially taking into account that her application became the main reason for Hal Bond's resignation.

Of course, Vadim has every right not to answer these questions on the back of the "fifth amendment".

[Fred McKim]

The situation leading to the resignation of the CFC's FIDE Representative has been well documented. There have probably been a half dozen cases of an Executive member resigning mid-term, since my first time on the Board in 1978. Without exception, the Board has always selected someone to fill the spot until the next AGM. It was clear to all of us that the NEW constitution also allowed for that.

Aris Marghetis was the choice of at least 4 of the remaining 6 Executive members. Aris would have served for 6 months and the election campaign would have been held prior to the AGM along with any others. This would have happened, except the President decided another route would be taken. Certainly the Voting Members might feel they should have the say now, but I think the proper time for that would be at the AGM. While someone might have a 6 month head start on competitors at that point, it could also work against them. Personally, I don't think this nearly month long campaign has helped the CFC in any way.

I have been approached by all 3 candidates for their support. I have no qualms in suggesting any of them would have done a good job. I was going to publicly support Aris, as I felt as an Executive member that was the procedurally correct choice. With his withdrawal from the race, I am not going to throw public support behind either candidate, I know them both and have worked on issues and ideas with them. I will be using the next 6 months to see how things work out with either Vadim filling both this role along with his FIDE Management role or how things go between Victor and him, should Victor win. I'm hoping that we will have at least 2 if not 3 candidates for this spot come the AGM. The last time we had an election for FIDE Rep was years ago trying to make a tough choice between Phil Haley and Nathan Divinsky.

And most importantly, I hope wounds can heal after this race is over, and we can all just get along.

Fred