Circular Letter 3 / 2001

Written by Heinz Herzog, WebAdmin

Monday, 24 December 2007, id:317 Article cached on Thursday, 07 August 2008 10:06:09

Pic-Id:116

To:

All European Federations

Associated members, Board members,

FIDE and FIDE Zonal Presidents

April 6^th 2001

Dear Friends,

The last weeks have been principally influenced by the discussions concerning the new time control mechanism for the World Championships as well as the preparations for the European Individual Championships. The meeting of the FIDE Presidential Board in Cannes/ France on the 25th and 26th of March has clarified some uncertainties.

The new time control is now mandatory for the World Championship events and herewith also at the Continental Championships. It is as follows; 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. Accordingly the European Individual Championship in Ohrid/ FYROM and the European Individual Women’s Championship in Warsaw/ Poland have to be played subject to these rules. In all other European events the existing time regulations are to be followed.

Following decisions taken in Cannes, the ECU is to receive US$ 20, 000 each year from FIDE COMMERCE as part of the European Women’s prize fund and US$ 120, 000 for the European Individual Championship. The qualifiers for the WCC are 29 women and 46 men. Furthermore it has been agreed with FIDE that the European Individual Championship 2002 will be held in Goningen/ NL from the 19th of December 2001 until the 4th of January 2002.

Preparations for the European Women’s Championship in Warsaw are being met. More than 150 players are expected to compete for the title and qualification for the final stage of the World Championship. We have faced some difficulties concering the fact that, with a few exceptions, all players have to stay in the official hotel (Marriott). As this problem has also come up in the past, the Board should discuss it and propose a solution at the next meeting of our General Assembly

Due to political reasons doubts have been expressed concerning Ohrid as the venue of the European Individual Championship. Our president Boris Kutin is in permanent contact with the Macedonian Chess Federation. As the political situation has improved he is finally in a position to confirm that the championship can as planned take place in Ohrid. We have also received statements from embassies in Macedonia which clearly state that there is no risk involved in entering the Ohrid region. The official invitations will be distributed within the next few days.

The European Rapid and Blitz Championships in Sopot/ Poland has to be postponed due to unfinished construction work. A new date will be announced in the near future.

The European Senior Championship has been granted to St. Vincent/ Italy and are to take place between the 15th and 23rd of September 2001. The organizer may offer to host one player per European federation free of charge. The details are to be announced directly by the organizer.

We would like to congratulate the Chess Academy of Moscow for having won the 3rd European Senior Team Championship. 22 teams participated in this championship in Dresden/ Germany. As this was a large rise in the number of teams, we would like to especially thank the organizer for their efforts in supporting senior chess. As the Austrian

Chess Federation decided not to use their option for next year, Dresden has gained the right to hold the European Team Championships 2002 and 2003.

The ECU website is available in the meantime. Thanks to EDAMI (Escola D’Eschacs Miguel Illescas) we are now in a position to publish all our information on the internet. Our URL-address is as follows; http://www.eurochess.org. Our manual 2000 is the basis for the first publications. We will correct the addresses of the officers of all federations within the next few days.

The Board is invited to the next meeting in Baku/ Azerbaijan on the 22nd and 23rd of June 2001. Further meetings are planned in connection with the FIDE congress in Kallithea/ Greece at the beginning of September and in Leon/ Spain. The ECU General Assembly is scheduled to take place in Leon on Sunday the 11th of November 2001.

Kind Regards,

Horst Metzing

Secretary General