;"i::iï,F'IDE GENSUNA SUMUS

FORT]M
CIIESSAIMS
FOR IOC
Amidst the din of battle in
the Oiympic Games drama,
soon we may find the preg-
nant silenceof chess.

FIDE PresidentFlorencio
Campomanesbroached the
subject to International
Olympic Committee (IOC)
PresidentJuan Antonio Sa-
maranchwhen they met Fe-
bruary8th at the IOC head-
quartersin neighboringI-au-
sanne.'Thefirst stepisrecog-
nition of FIDE by the IOC,"
Mr. Samaranchsaid recep-
tively. "Chessis a sport,"he
added.
In consonance with the di-
rectiveof the FIDE General
A s s e m b l y ,T h e s s a l o n i k i
1988,Mr. Campomanes had
a cordial hour-long meeting
with Mr. Samaranchto dis-
c u s sp o s s i b l ere l a ti o n so f
FIDE with the IOC.
FIDE was founded July
1924inParis which was then
playinghostto the 8th Oly*-
pic Games. The organizers
consideredchessa sport and
wished to include it in the
program. FIDE was en-
trustedwith the organization.
No clearline, however,could
be drawnbetweenchesspro-
fessionalsand amateurs.But
f o r t h i s q u e s t i o n ,F I D E
would today still be in the
rcc.
With the questionof ama-
teurism resolved,therefore,
chessmay soon share the
Oiympic motto Citius,Aitius,
Fortius (Faster,Higher, Far-
ther).
IOC PresidentJuan Antonio Samaranch (right) welcomes
FIDE PresidentHorencio Campomanesto theIOC headquarters.
World ChampionshipShouldRemainUnderFIDE
Joint communiqueby delegatesof eight Socialistcountries
meeting8-9February1989in Havana, Cuba:
Representativesof the ChessFederationsof the Socialist
countries(Bulgaria,Hungary,German DemocraticRepublic,
Cuba,Poland,Rumania,USSR and Czechoslovakia) gathered
at the conferencein Havanaon 8-9February1989,expresstheir
concernwiththe existingsituationandthe attemptof the GMA
to take over the organizationof the world championshipfrom
FIDE.
Participantsof this conferenceare decisivein their opinion
that all competitionsfor the world championshipshouldbe as
before (during the last 40 years)in chargeof FIDE, although
FIDE shouldtake into considerationwith specialcareall sug-
gestionsof the GMA connectedwith the world championship
(systemof competitionsand terms of play).
Suggestions of the GMA on this matter shouldbe estimated
and estabiishedat the General Assemblyof FIDE. By this, it
would be assuredthat the world championshipis organizedin
a fair and high qualityway.
The p artictpantsof the conferencein H avana underlinethat
the GMA coulduse the Grandmasters, membersof the GMA
at their competitionsonly in agreementwith the corresponding
nationalfederations.Theyexpresstheir hopethat the questions
of relationshipbetweenFIDE, which leadsthe world chessor-
ganization,and the GMA should be consideredwithout deiay
at the constructiveand goodwili negotiationswhich should
sen/eto the deveiopmentof chessin the wholeworld.
 GMA FAILS TO MEET WITH FIDE
Botvinnik-Kok-Timman PIan Nixed By Kasparov
A meeting scheduledin consonancewith the Presidentendorsedfavorablyto the Dubai
FIDE General Assembly decision in Thessa- General Assemblythe acceptancein principle
loniki last November, between FIDE repre- of theseproposals,which were later referred to
s e n t a t i v e sl e d b y P r e s i d e n t F l o r e n c i o in a specialExecutive Council meeting for de-
Campomanesand GrandmastersAssociation finition of specifics.
(GMA) representativesled by Chairmanof the
Board BesselKok, in Luzern on 2l February The ExecutiveCouncil then met in Brussels,
wascancelled. Februaryl9ST,concurrentwithameetingof the
GMA board. By then, however,the GMA had
At the initiative of 5-time world champion changedits mind. fhe GMA proposedinstead
Mikhail Botvinnik, Mr. BesselKok and GMA a draft agreement"while the Council had ex-
vice presidentJan Timman met with him 13-14 pected assimilationof the GMA within FIDE,
February in Brussels and formulated a draft or at least affiliation as one of its permanent
agreementwhich they consideredwould lead to commissions.The GMA stated they would
an honorableand lasting settlementof issues studythe implicationsof affiliation.Ina spirit of
betweenFIDE and the GMA. cooperation,the ExecutiveCouncil endorsed
the changefrom a 2-yearto a 3-yearcycle and
However, just beforethe meetingtookplace, proposed that, subject to affiliation of the
Mr. Bessel Kok informed Mr. Campomanes GMA,, FIDE would consult the GMA on all
that he could not come becauseWorld Cham- mattersregardingthe tournamentsandmatches
pion Gary Kasparovdid not agreewith the pro- in the cyclefor the individual world champion-
posal.Becauseof the lack of consensus in the ship, qualification matters and Rules of Play
GMA board, there was no alternative but to with decisionssubjectto approvalby the FIDE
cancel the meeting with FIDE, Mr. Kok re- General Assembly. President Campomanes,
gretted. therefore, wrote a letter to this effect to the
GMA and endorsedthe World Cup.
We are surprised that the private initiative of
Mr. Botvinnik and the goodwill of Messrs.Kok In May L987,the ExecutiveCouncilmet inTi-
and Timman should have been summarilv misoara,Rumania.The GMA telexedthe same
thwarted. proposalwithout point five, which appearedto
be a definition of a prospectiverelationshipof
FIDE UshersGMA an independentorganization(GMA) with an-
other (FIDE), not an applicationfor affiliation.
What happenedto the GMA's desired"spirit Basedon this telex. the Council wasunable to
of cooperation"with FIDE? Messrs.Kok and recommendacceptanceof the terms for joint
Timman appearto concurbut Mr. Kasparovde- decisionwhich infringed on the final authority
murs. Are the inherent divergencesin objec- of the GeneralAssembly, the cardinalbasisof a
tives within the GMA turning into open federation of national federations.
whichis what
fissures? FIDE truly is.

In 1986,Mr. Kasparqvand other grandmas- The 1987 FIDE Congressin Sevilla noted,
ters submitteda letter' to the FIDE General therefore, that the GMAb which had proposed
Assemblyin Dubai, proposingto repiacethe in Dubai to replacethe Players'Council within
Players'Council with a GrandmastersAssoci- FIDE, had decidedto form a bodyindependent
ation and to return to the 3-yearworld cham- of FIDE.
pionship cycle in order to accommodatethe
proposedWorld Cup tournaments. The following year, Mr. Campomanesmet
with Mr. Kok in MoscowinAuguston the occa-
Despite Mr. Kasparov'sall-out campaignin sion of the USSR Absolute Championship
Dubai againstthe Campomaneselectoralteam, (where Messrs.Karpov and Kasparov shared
top honors),andwith Mr. Kok alonein Brussels
in early November.Ihe GMAboard submitted
their telex proposalt on 5 September 1988.
Again, with the personal endoisementof Mr.
Campomanesand over and abovethe opposi-
tion of his hawkish colleagues,the FIOB
General Assembly acceptedthe proposal in
principle and left to the President'snegotiation
the section"decisive".In the FIDE côrridors,
membersexpressedconcernand cautionedthat
the final authority of the General Assembly
shouldat all timesbe respectedandheldinviol-
ate.
Despitetheseendorsements by Mr. Campo-
manes,Mr. Kasparovand his friends in media
continue harping that the FIDE Presidentop-
posesthe GMA!?
world championdid not agreeto the Kok-Bot-
vinnik-Timman draft proposal.
Quo Vadis?
As the FIDE president stated in his 18
January L989 Circular I-etter, "with goodwill
and through dialogue,we are confident thatwe
can reach an agreement."
Without free-flowing goodwill and give-and-
take dialogue, however, doors remain shut
while mindsare unopened.
Notes:
Note 1: Iætter of GM's to FIDE GeneralAssemblv.Dubai 1986:

The GMA board, in an open letter dated 3 1. In order to avoid further misunderstandings in the relationsbe-
December 1988,expressedconcern over the tween FIDE and the leadingGrandmasters,and also to facilitatethe
needfor negotiationsover thê word "decisive,'. prccess of decisionmaking,the Players'Councilshouldbe changedinto
an Associationof Grandmasters. This bodywouldconcernitselfwith all
In a press releaseon 6 December 1988.the mattersdirectlyor indirectlyconnectedwith the interests,the rightsand
GMA announcedthat "whilst waiting for a re- the duties of the Grandmasters,for examplethe systemof the Individ-
ual World Championship,the rcgulationsfor the tournamentsandmat-
sponsefrom the FIDE president,it would con- chesin the cycleof the IndividualWorld Championship,qualification
tinue with its plan based on the GMA,s matters and the Rulesof Plav.
2. Becausethe wo year cyclefor the Individual World Champion-
invoivementin the World Championshipecle ship hasprovento be ineffective,we mustretum to the threevearcycle. -Cup
In order to raisethe prestigeof chessall over the World, a World
from the Semi-finals onward." This press re- should be introducedwith six SuperToumamentsto be playedduring
leasealsoincludedthe gist of the personaland two yeæs of the cycle.From the World Cup funds we will give a finan-
confidentialletter of 3 Decembér 1988:that cial contribution to FIDE with the purposeof giving FIDE a stronger
financialbasis.
"professionaltournaments...- eventssuchasthe 3. Sincethe aboveproposalsare connectedwith the World Cham-
World Championship,World Cup,professional pionship rycle1987/1990 andtheWorld Cup1988/1989,
cussedand decidedon in the 1986GeneralAssemblv.
theymustbe dis-

Team Championshipsand otherswhich direct-

ly involveGMA members- shouldbe underthe
control of the GMA."
AII For Naught
Instead of replying to the specifics of the
aboveletter, Mr. Campomanesproposedin a
telex of 4 January1989,to move on io the next
stageof detailednegotiations,andproposedthe
secondweekof February.Mr. Kok suggested in-
steadthe third week of Februaryto which Mr.
Campomanesagreed. The meeting was an-
nouncedin the President'sCircular Lætterof 18
Janlary 1989.After another changeof venues
anddates(Madrid,4-5March),theheetingwas
finally set at the initiative of Mr. Kok foi2lst
Februaryin Luzern.
__Meeting with Mr. Kasparovin Cannes,Mr.
Kok called the FIDE office on L6 Februarv to
advise that he could not attend becausethe
Note 2: ProposedFIDE-GMA Agreement,Brussels1987:
1.The GrandmastersAssociation(GMA) is an internationalChess
Association, the existenceof which is fully recognizedby FIDE.
2. The GMA will cooperateand supportFIDE on mattersof com-
mon interest.
3. FIDEv/ill consultthe GMA on all mattersregardingthe tourna-
ments_and matchesin the cyclefor the individualWorld Championship,
qualificationmattersand the Rulesof Play,
4" In mattersconcemingthe q/stemand competitionsfor the Indi-
vidual World Championship,changeswill be madeby joint decisionof
FIDEand the GMA.
5. The GMA undertakesto establisha fund, to bejointly contrclled
by the CMA and FIDE, calledthe GMA chessEducationFund.10Zaof
the final prize fund for the rrVorldCup will be donated to the fund.
Moneyscannotbe movedout of the fund without I FIDE simature and
2 GMA signatures.
Note 3: GMA proposal,5September1988:
1.FIPE recognizes the GrandmastersAssociation,subjectto theap-
provalofits members,asthe representative ofprofessionalchessgranà-
masters,
2. FIDE recogrizesthat an agreementmustbe worked out as sôon
aspossible whereby the GrandmastersAssociation acquires a decisive
role in establishingand/oramendingthe rulesof chesswhichdircctlvaf-
fect GMA members,
3. FIDE and the GmndmastersAssociationdecideupon an agree-
ment definingthe rcle of the CrandmastersAssociationin the organiz-
atioû of the world championshipcycle.
 The SeychellesSuccess
Story
By Rownyl.Wdot
President
SeychellesChessFederatiort
Since the chessexplosionin Sep-
tember l-985,The Seychelles, with a
small population of 65,000inhabi-
tants,hasbeenimplementingarl âm-
bitious and comprehensivechess
programparticularlyaimedat eman-
cipating its young citizens starting
from the age of six in the hope that
young talents will spew forth and
blazethe trail to masterclass.The re-
sultshavebeen astonishing.But be-
fore we go anyfurther I would like to
givea brief historyof how everything
started.
I started promoting chessin L970.
During those days not much was
known about the gamein Seychelles
and alsonot much could be done as
we were still under the British colo-
nial rule. But one or two of us en-
thusiastswould concentrateat that
time on improving our own meager
skillsamongourselvesandwhenever
weheardthat therewasavisitorfrom
overseaswho playedchesswe would
attemptto locatehim and challenge
him to a girme.This statecontinued
until 1975when one or two expatri-
atesteamedup with us. We started
to gathertogetherregularlyon a so-
cialbasisto playchess.
Seychellesachievedindependence
inJune1976andinMarch1978some
30 persons,mostlyexpatriates,at my
initiative formed the Seychelles
ChessFederation.An important or-
ganizationwasborn. It must be said
that a good numberof theseexpatri-
ates did not understandwhat a
Federation really meant but, after
all,the order of the daywaschessand
that united us all for a while. As fate
would haveit,I travelledto Buenos
Aires,Argentinaon a trip sponsored
by the African Chess Federation
through the Libyan ChessFeder-
ation with the expressaim of affilia-
ting Seychelleswith FIDE. In less
than a year after our founding, the
SeychellesChessFederation took
this greatleap.
In 1979wetravelledtoLibyato take
part in thc Lst African ChessTeam
festivaland this first overseasinter-
nationalexposureI mustconfessdid
Seycltelles ChessFederation presidettt Rowny Wdot (eft) with funtre nt&sters.
whetour insatiableappetitefor more
internationaltournaments.In Oc-
tober 1981,Seychelleswas repre-
sentedat the first 7.one12 tourna-
ment held in Tripoli, Libya. Al-
though our final results were not
spectacularwe did m:rnageto bring
home three "scalps".Meanwhile on
the home front chesscontinued to
make small gains here but since it
was under expatriate control it
lackedthenecessarynationalism and
charismatomakeamorepositiveap-
proach.Moreover,manyof us were
not politically and nationalistically
evolvedat that time in order to un-
derstandthe need for effectivepro-
gress.It was at this point that I de-
cided that the only way for us to
achieve national successthrough
chesswasto'boot out' theseexpatri-
ates who were only interestedin
playrng chessover a cup of coffee
anda lot of gossip.FinallyinSeptem-
ber 1985togetherwith the help of a
few trusted Seychelloisfriends who
sharedthe samehope and aspira-
tions as I, we redraftedthe constitu-
tion which nationalizedali postson
t h e e x e c u t i v eb o a r d a n d a l s o
reservedall votingrightsfor Seychel-
lois. It was a caseof sour grapeson
thepartofthe expatriates. In thepast
whenwe would suggestthe idea that
one day the country could produce
its own masterclassplayers,we were
met with negative,defeatist atti-
tudes,etc.All theywereinterestedin
wascontrol,not progress.After the
sanitizationoperation,not oneEuro-
peanexpatriatewantedto play chess
with us any longer despitethe fact
that we still welcomedthem.
Since then we never looked back.
Barely a month later I proceededto
organize a mixed team champion-
ship. In 1986we organizedno less
than six tournamentsfor boys and
girls. That year sawour first partici-
pation in the World Junior and Girls
Championshipsheld in Oslo, Nor-
wayandVilnius,USSR,respectively.
Incidentally,Seychelles wasthe only
African countryto be representedin
Vilnius. Then came Dubai, where
The Seychellestook part in its first
Olympiad. Seychelleswas only one
of two African countriesto send a
women's team. Our score was not
commendablebut most important
we laid the foundation for our pro-
gress.In L987we organizedon the
local front some27 tournamentsfor
boys and girls in various age ca-
tegories.That sameyear,Seychelles
was again represented(by dint of
perseverance of raisingfunds)in the
World Junior and Girls Champion-
shipsin Baguio,Philippiues.Again I
mustsaythat Seychelles wasthe only
countryfrom Africa to senda female
representative,and in the juniors,
were only one of two African coun-
tries. Seychellesalso was repre-
sented at the World Juniors and
Girls Championshipsin Adelaide,
Australia in 1988and at the Thessa-
loniki Olympiadin Greece.
On the local front we haveconsoli-
dated our national calendar.We
stagea total of 30 tournamentsper
year,namelythe NationalOpen and
variousAge Group National Cham-
pionshipsfor boysandgirls.We have
starteda programofchessin schools,
teaching around 350 kids from six
yearsofage,a largenumberconside-
ring our national population of
65,000.We are training chesstea-
cherswith the aid of ChessBase on
the computerdonatedby FIDE and
hope to spreadchessteachingto all
27 schools.All the assistancethat
FIDE hasprovidedusthroughCAC-
DEC hasbeenput to full useand the
resultsspeakfor themselves.