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Chess Life Magazine 2014 September Brown & Guadalupe Report from FIDE Congress
Chess Life Magazine 2014 September Brown & Guadalupe Report from FIDE Congress | Brown & Guadalupe Report from FIDE Congress |
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| By Franc Guadalupe & Walter Brown | |
| August 13, 2014 | |
 Report of the 2014 FIDE Congress by Walter Brown My trip to the FIDE Congress in Tromso, Norway from the US Open in Orlando, Florida was long, but went without a hitch. Representatives from the Olympiad Organizing Committee met me at the Tromso airport and took me to our hotel. The scenery from the hotel room is excellent. We are on the river and across the river is a massive hill. There are about 20 hours of daylight at this time of year. On August 5, I attended Rules and Tournament Regulations (RTR) and the Qualifications Commission, where I serve as a Councilor. In this meeting, we reported on the change of the K factor as of July 1st (for details please see section 8.56 of the rating regulations). We also discussed the National Team Championship and Leagues. Certain Federations have a first division, second division, and sometimes a third division. Beginning July 1, 2015, players on these teams will not be able to achieve norms without meeting the foreign player requirement in any division. I also attended the Technical Commission and the Arbiters Commission. Recommendations on new applications were done. Many were turned down or made conditional, especially for IA's. The biggest contributor was lack of IT3 forms (conditional upon receipt), norms submitted were not proper norms, especially for the IA level, or norms being used were before the FA was awarded. Workshops for IA's were mentioned and that they will continue. A new arbiters manual was distributed. A bigger issue was Disciplinary Issue for Arbiters. This paper included suspensions for arbiters for different issues in regard to their performance or lack of while working events. A final report will be available sometime after the Congress. Report from the 2014 FIDE Congress of Zonal President Franc Guadalupe  This is my fourth consecutive FIDE Congress. This is the first time that I visit a city this far north of the planet. The city of Tromso, the third largest community within the Arctic Circle, is certainly a beautiful place and I did get a chance to go on a couple of nice sightseeing walks. The weather has been very pleasant and since it is still summer, we have had daylight for over 20 hours daily, if not all day. All I know is that when I wake up in the middle of the night, it is lit outside! I am just glad that I am here now and not five months later! As International Arbiters, Walter and I have a lot in common, so both of us attended some of the same Commission meetings. Title applications considered and recommended approval by the Qualification and Arbiters' Commissions will be announced as soon as they are approved at the General Assembly. As Walter alluded to, an Arbiter's Disciplinary Sub-Committee is being created. Proposals by this sub-committee will include specific penalties for arbiters who fail to perform duties satisfactorily or comply with FIDE rules. These rules will likely take effect on 1 July 2015. The highlight of the Technical Commission meeting was probably the regulations in order to avoid cheating. This focused mainly on the banning of electronic devices in playing areas and the organization of the tournament hall.  As the Zonal President, I am the representative for USA at the FIDE Executive Board meeting. This meeting was scheduled to last all day but the vast majority of the discussions were postponed until the General Assembly. The meeting lasted less than one hour! The FIDE Women's World Championship (Knock-Out) was originally scheduled to be held 11 to 31 October 2014. As I write this, no bids to hold the event have been received! The FIDE President said that efforts were being made in Moldova and Turkmenistan to organize the event. So, for the time being, our representatives at this event, GM Irina Krush, IM/WGM Anna Zatonskih, and WGM Tatev Abrahamyan are "patiently" waiting. At the FIDE-Americas Continental meeting, I submitted a bid for the 2016 Continental Championships. The delegate from San Salvador submitted a bid for the same event; however, his bid included a rate for hotel and meals of $50 daily, which, of course, I could not match. As result, and not surprisingly, the vote went overwhelmingly in his favor. Speaking of bids, based on the rotation for the World Youth, it will be FIDE-Americas turn in 2017 to host that event. Potential organizers must submit their bids between 1 January and 31 March 2015. If no one in the Americas submits an acceptable bid, this process will be open to others. More information on upcoming FIDE and Continental events, as well as approved decisions at this FIDE Congress will be published very soon. On that subject, the 2014 Continental Championships will take place in Praia da Pipa - Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, 18 to 26 October. Interested players should contact me at [email protected]. Of those interested, I will be selecting the top three using the September FIDE Rating List and they will be designated as the official USCF representatives and will receive free room and board. Of course, the event is open to all. In addition to the $20,000 prize fund, the top four players at that event will be the Continental representatives at the next FIDE World Cup. The General Assembly continues tomorrow and, of course, the last round of the Olympiad will take place. So...Go USA!! |