We regard chess as a powerful instrument for personal development. We represent diversity whilst sharing common values:
- Unity in vision has developed a leadership and organization which respects the needs and requirements of each member
- Devotion to the principles of democracy within the worldwide chess community
- All finances and operations of FIDE will continue to be transparent and openly available to all its members
- Development by giving every child in the world the chance to learn chess and enjoy its numerous benefits
- Continued stability within FIDE as the main condition for the worldwide development of chess.
We will achieve this through the following programs and activities :
1. Organisational Development
MEMBERSHIP. Today, FIDE stands at 171 member nations and our goal is to increase the membership to over 200, with similar levels as FIFA and FIBA. The practice of excluding member federations of FIDE, due to non-payment, will not be exercised any more, and instead FIDE will review their membership to an associate membership level, without voting rights, until their situation improves.
SOLIDARITY. We must reinforce those Federations which may not be generating enough activity or finance to promote or develop chess adequately in their country as their primary concern lies in day to day survival. This leads to the various programs below that will be continued from previous work or introduced as appropriate. Additionally, stronger and established Federations will be encouraged to show solidarity through invitations for players and arbiters from weaker Federations so that the latter may obtain the necessary experience to show improvement.
ORGANISATIONAL REVIEW. Together with the national sport authorities (Sports Councils and Olympic Committees) and the Chess Federation officials, we will continue to carry out comprehensive reviews of the various ideas regarding development of people, resources and programs so that FIDE may assist and support in the development of a medium to long term strategy for chess in each member Federation. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, as well as several FIDE Board members, have already been visiting member Federations these last four years and this activity will be intensified.
STABILITY. Preservation of stability is the principal and essential condition of further development of chess and FIDE. We will continue our close work with National Chess Federations and Continents.
SUPPORT. FIDE will continue to assist Federations in becoming more professional by :
- developing Federations’ and Organisers’ manuals,
- extending training seminars on marketing, finance, administration and organization of Federations to all Continents.
- introducing a program of continuous reviews of development results in areas such as chess in schools, events, arbiters, trainers, academies and other critical areas, every 2 years, with all Federations around the world.
LIVING STANDARDS of all chess Grandmasters need to be improved by mandating titled players for training missions. FIDE will study the introduction of an additional financial contribution by organizers of its events, so as to create a pension fund for Grandmasters after reaching the age of 60.
TECHNOLOGICAL. A centralized web based rating update system will be introduced after a calculated study. This would become the standard platform for federations rating input, and we will provide hosting space and services at the FIDE website to federations. Through our joint venture with Chess Network Corporation, extensive services will be provided to all member Federations and millions of players.
2. Marketing and Sponsorship
The image and branding of FIDE and chess will continue to be our priority. With our joint venture in CNC, we envisage more media exposure which in turn could lead to attracting sponsorship at corporate and events level. CNC will cover all FIDE official events with a professional media team in order to provide free and objective articles, games, photos, videos and other media materials to over 60,000 media outlets around the world. We will create a large base of media outlets which promote chess on a regular basis in order that this base can be used to attract sponsorship for the principal events.
FIDE and CNC will also utilize the experience that has been garnered over the years to develop Academies all over the World on a franchise basis. These Academies are aimed at developing players, organizers, arbiters and trainers.
Additionally, a new chess social network will be launched, which apart from offering millions of players the opportunity to play chess, will also offer free chess lessons in many different languages.
3. Commissions
FIDE will introduce a system of accountability into the Commissions whereby specific objectives will be measured and reported to the PB on a quarterly basis.
4. World Championship
For future World Championship cycles, FIDE will retain the system of Zonals, Continental Championships, World Cup, Candidates Matches and the World Championship Match. We are studying the Grand Prix series which was introduced in 2008 to determine its feasibility, as well as alternatives that may exist. This will not affect the Women’s World Championship cycle where the Grand Prix series will definitely be retained.
5. Women’s Chess
FIDE will work together with leading women chess players, and based on the experience so far, we will design a comprehensive strategy for development and to encourage women to play chess throughout life. We will continue to introduce different types of women’s events, with different time controls. FIDE will encourage organisers to have more closed tournaments and in open events to offer reasonable women prizes.
6. Chess in Schools
This is fundamental to the successful development of FIDE in the next few years. At grass root levels by introducing chess more widely into schools at a primary level. Chess as a thinking skill, and at the same time as a sport, so that we can produce better citizens who weigh their decisions carefully and maturely whilst appreciating the competitive elements of chess. This area is critical for most Federations around the world and the CIS Commission will be headed by people who will be set clear targets for achieving the goals we all desire.
We will review all the CIS programs available around the world, to develop a FIDE master program of training in pre schools, primary and secondary levels. We will develop a knowledge centre sharing educational studies, scholastic performance reports, teaching instruments, lesson plans etc. The objective of this is to have a massive explosion in the number of kids throughout the world, who have acquired a knowledge and possibly a liking for chess.
FIDE will expand the world schools competitions to bring it to the level of other world youth competitions. Additionally, FIDE will launch chess educational programs, parallel to its most important events, in co-operation with national Federations, local municipalities, educational authorities and the local chess community.