A POSIÇÃO DA FEDERAÇÃO FRANCESA

The Board of Directors of the French Chess Federation, reunited in Paris on the 27th of January, has raised a strong protest against the decisions taken by the FIDE, imposing on one hand a new time control it's tournaments and on the other hand, the suppression of the zonal tournaments.

It is scandalous that such important decisions for the future of Chess should be taken hastily, without the slightest consultation with the National Federations. Furthermore, as was already signalled by the Dutch and German Federations, the Presidential Board doesn't have the authority to take such decisions according to the by-laws of the FIDE.

Consequently, the French Chess Federation will not take in account the pseudo-decisions concerning the new time controls. Furthermore, it would like to point out the dangers of a European tournament which will qualify 46 players for other phases of the World Championship. Finally, the French Chess Federation asks the these propositions be put on the agenda for the General Assembly in Bled 2002.

Jean-Claude Loubatière President French Chess Federation

A POSIÇÃO DA FEDERAÇÃO HOLANDESA

On 26 December 2000 in Tehran the Presidential Board took a decision on the time control with effect from 1 January 2001. The new time control to be used in all FIDE events and international tile tournaments will be 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 second per move from move 1.

This decision was taken in line with the decision of the FIDE General Assembly in Istanbul and based on the consensus of opinions of the overwhelming majority of top players at the Worlds Championship in New Delhi, the Board writes in its statement.

This subject however was not discussed in Istanbul by the General Assembly. There was a suggestion made by GM A. Shirov to use a time control of 40 minutes per player in one game plus 30 seconds per move. This was supported by GM E. Torre. Accepting this suggestion would mean that rapid chess would become the official form of chess.

The Executive Board directed that the views expressed by the various proponents on the time control should made available to all the players at the Olympiad for their opinion after which the matter could be addressed at the Presidential Board meeting.

These plans were not made available to the players at the Olympiad, but instead there was an inquiry on this subject during the World Championship. As we understood the players were asked if they would favour a faster time control system than the current one. They were not asked for their opinion of a specific form of time control.

By accepting the time control decided upon in Tehran it is not possible to gain titles in FIDE events or in international title tournaments. In the FIDE Rating regulations (art. 1.3) it is stated: For games to count for title applications a six hours session is required at least. This can only be altered by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Qualification Commission. Such a change will come into effect on 1st July of the year following the decision by General Assembly.

According to the FIDE Statutes nor the Executive Board (art. 4.1), nor the Presidential Board (art. 7.1) may take this decision.

The Board of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation does not agree with the decision of the Presidential Board to change the time control in this way. There has been no investigation of the results of this measure and even reasons to do this are not outlined. The proper procedures of FIDE are not followed, the official commissions of FIDE were not consulted. The new time control is contrary to other rules valid in FIDE.

Such a far reaching change, which effects the core and the level of the game of chess, can only be taken by the General Assembly after a fundamental discussion on the future of chess.

Our Board therefor asks you to withdraw the decision on the new time control immediately and to put the proposal on the agenda of the next General Assembly.

A RESPOSTA DE  Emmanuel Omuku Director executivo DA FIDE

The President has requested me to respond to your two letters in which your Boards have questioned the basis for the Presidential Board's decisions in respect of the World Chess Championship as well as the new time control for FIDE events. I am also in touch with FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, who met over the weekend with World Championship Cycle Committee Chairman Willy Iclicki on some of the issues in your letters.

I would like to begin by stating that there has been a misunderstanding here. I have taken time to go through the tapes of the General Assembly meeting in Istanbul as well as the resolutions of the Presidential Board, the initial Press release after the Tehran Board meeting as well as the clarification of some of the issues raised in the Press release, which was contained in our circular letter of 4 January 2001.

The extract of the tape recording of the Minutes, copy of which is attached, clearly shows that it was the true intention of the General Assembly that the final decision regarding the matter of the new time control and the World Championship be dealt with at the Presidential Board. You will also kindly recall that this precedent is nothing new and that our Statutes allow it. Permit me to recall that the final decision on the Regulations for the World Championship, which was applied in Groningen/Lausanne, in 1997/98, was reached after the General Assembly meeting in Yerevan in 1996 delegated this matter to the Presidential Board and there are many more instances where the General Assembly has mandated the Board or in some cases, the President, to act on its behalf in very complex situations. Let me also state that having specifically delegated the issue of time control and the World Championship to the Presidential Board, the input of the Qualification Commission or any of its constituent parts or where applicable, the World Championship Cycle Committee, can only be secondary to that of the Presidential Board, acting in the name of the General Assembly.

With specific reference to the time control issue, it was clear on the 12th of November in Istanbul, that a poll amongst the players at the Olympiad had not been taken and could not have been taken, given the circumstances and share logistics of having a reliable poll in Istanbul with the little time left. What then could have been more representative than the decision to take a sampling from the cream of our top professional male and female players, who were present in New Delhi for the World Chess Championships. Out of the 159 players polled, 135 players returned their questionnaire. The sampling produced the following result: 61 to 42 in favour of a reduced time control. 32 were non-committal. In addition, the following technical experts were present at the two sessions of the Board meeting in New Delhi and Tehran:

Mr. Willy Iclicki, Chairman of the World Championship Cycle Committee, Mr. Casto Abundo, Rating Administrator, Mr. Geurt Gijssen, Chairman of the Rules Committee, GM Valery Salov, President of the World Players' Council, GM Zurab Azmaiparashvil. The Board members present were as follows:

FIDE President K. Ilyumzhinov, Honorary President F. Campomanes, Deputy President G. Makropoulos, Vice President P.T. Ummer Koya, General Secretary N. Tabbane, Treasurer D. Jarrett, Continental President B. Kutin, Continental President L. Mazouz.

I am in a position to say that all the issues were thoroughly debated at the two sessions of the Board in New Delhi and Tehran before the Board reached its decision. This was apart from various meetings at Committee levels chaired at different times, by the President and Deputy President. In keeping with our Statutes, and where communication allowed, contact was established with some of the Board members by fax or telephone for their input, when the matter was being debated especially at the Tehran stage.

Let me now address the issue of the Status of the Zones. As I stated in my earlier note, the Zonal structure shall continue to be maintained as the bedrock of our chess development effort. They shall continue to be used for purposes of titles and ratings as contained in the Handbook. But as was clear from our discussions in Istanbul, the Continental Championships for commercial reasons will now be used for purposes of qualification to the World Championship. At the same time, the Continental Championships are now going to be administered by the Continents and they may well select the winners for qualification for the World Championship from this event, along Zonal lines. It should also be noted that the Presidential Board had granted substantial increases to the number of qualifiers from the Continents thus allowing for all possible variations to satisfy the needs of the Continents as well as the Zones from within this Continental structure.

In addition, FIDE is proposing to provide financial support towards the prize fund for the continents for this important event of the World Championship cycle, as follows:

Europe - USD 120, 000 less 20% to FIDE = USD 96, 000 Americas - USD 80, 000 less 20% to FIDE = USD 64, 000 Asia - USD 80, 000 less 20% to FIDE = USD 64, 000 Africa - USD 70, 000 less 20% to FIDE = USD 56, 000

It is now up to the Continents to use this financial incentive from FIDE to generate additional sponsorship for the prize fund through a bidding process out of which 20% shall go to the Continents. It is also possible for the Continents to decide, which financial support they may wish to advance to those Federations, which need them for their players, the stipends for the officials as well as the nomination of tournament officials. It is anticipated that these extra expenses will now be taken care of from the additional sponsorship generated by the Continent.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the idea of using the Continental Championship as basis for qualification to the World Championship will now make it an important activity for the players and officials of the Continents. It would also help to provide FIDE with a solid number of events, which could be presented to a General Sponsor with additional financial benefits to everyone.

Finally, it is very clear from our Statutes that decisions of the Presidential Board are of a continuing nature until subject to review by either the General Assembly or Executive Board at its subsequent meeting. In the case of what has been decided on now by the Presidential Board, in respect of the time control and the Continental Assembly, it is our respectful submission that this was well within the contemplation of the General Assembly, when it mandated the Board to decide on these matters. Such decisions, which have been validly taken by the Board, cannot therefore be described as illegal.

I hope that with this clarification we can all join hands with the members of the Presidential Board who are genuinely also working with all their hearts for the benefit of chess to satisfy the needs of the players, the zones, the Continents and all of FIDE.