Entscheidungen des ECU-Boards
Rainweidstrasse2 2, CH-6333 Hünenberg See, Switzerland
Circular Letter No.1/26.04.2023
Communique of the ECU Board
Dear Chess Friends,
The second quarterly meeting of the ECU Board was held in Rhodes, Greece, on April 21
and 22. The Municipality of Rhodes hosted the event under excellent conditions. ECU
expresses its thanks and appreciation to the Mayor of Rhodes, Mr. Andonis Cambourakis.
The opening of the meeting was attended by the FIDE and Greek Chess Federation Vice
President Mr. Georgios Makropoulos.
Main information and Decisions:
1. The ECU Board has decided to form a group to develop a proposal to update the FIDE
Transfer Rules for players in coordination with the respective FIDE Task force. The
ECU Board is considering the following:
a. strengthening the national chess federations,
b. motivating them to develop programs for talented players at the national level,
c. the harmonization of the FIDE rules with the transfer rules of the major
International Sports federations.
2. The ECU Board discussed the next qualification cycle for the World Championship
Cycle 2024-2025 and will send its proposals to FIDE.
3. ECU Board has decided to further explain and strictly apply the ECU Fair Play Policy
through special webinars and guidelines for European Chess Championships for
technical officials and players.
4. Parallel to the Board meeting the ECU Media Commission made its first meeting in
person, presenting new marketing initiatives and a modern approach to the ECU
media strategy.
5. ECU notes the proposals of ECU Trainers Commission and the new developments and
synergies. Proposals to be included in the ECU tournament rules will be forwarded to
ECU General Assembly.
European Championships and events
1. The European Pairs Chess Championship will be launched in Krakow on 19th of June,
as an official side event of the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023. The
European Games is the major event of the European Olympic Committees.
https://www.european-games.org/side-events/chess/
2. European Chess Union and the Asean Chess Confederation are co-hosting a chess
symposium for Trainers, Arbiters and Organizers on June 19-24 in Bangkok,
Thailand.
3. The option for The European Women Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2023 is
awarded to the Monaco Chess Federation to be held in December 2023. Monaco shall
confirm the event within May.
4. The European Union Youth Chess Championship 2023 will take place in August in
Czech Republic, as an ECU affiliated event.
5. The European Amateur Chess Championship 2023 in Sardinia, Italy was cancelled.
Turkish Chess federation express its interest to organize it. ECU will have final
information till end of May. The dates and venue for the European Amateur
Championship will be announced as soon as possible.
6. ECU Board decided to reschedule the venue and dates of European Youth Rapid &
Blitz Chess Championship 2023. The tournament was initially scheduled for June
2023 in Bosnia. The dates and new venue will be announced as soon as possible in
cooperation with a National Chess federation.
ECU Board additional notes that have lost any official communication with the
Bosnian Chess Federation and FIDE will be addressed whether there is a legitime
chess administration in the country elected by a recent (last years) General
Assembly.
Bids have been received for the year 2025-2026
The following European Chess Championships have sole bidders and are awarded by the
ECU Board conditionally that an inspection will be made where needed to confirm the
eligibility of the venue as also that all main financial conditions are met.
1. The European Amateur Chess Championship 2025 is awarded to Malta.
2. The European Youth Rapid Blitz Chess Championship 2025 is awarded to
Thessaloniki, Greece.
3. The European Teams Chess Championship 2025 is awarded to Batumi, Georgia
4. The European Women’s Individual Chess Championship 2026 is awarded to
Batumi, Georgia.
5. The European Individual Chess Championship 2025 and the European Club Cup
2026 are awarded to Budva, Montenegro as a combined bid.
6. The European Women Individual Chess Championship 2025 and the European
Youth Chess Championship 2027 are awarded to Rhodes, Greece as a combined
bid.
7. All the valid bids received by the deadline of 14th of April and the events remain
still open for proposals are published on the ECU Website:
https://www.europechess.org/bids-2025/
Sincerely,
Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou
ECU Secretary General
