Pinned Tweet
Today we launch our official website. European Chess has been underfunded and undervalued for too long. That changes now.
Here's our 10-pillar program for the European Chess Union. 馃У鈾燂笍
馃 Made with AI
ECU New Team retweeted
W Peru ustanowiono rekordy 艣wiata w d艂ugo艣ci i ilo艣ci gry w szachy. 艁膮cznie grano 69,5 godziny non stop i zagrano ponad 12,000 partii. A co sta艂o si臋 po turnieju?
Today I woke up and learned about yet another injustice. Of course, many see the decision to move the World Junior Championship to Venezuela as a political move.
Dear Peruvians,
Last week I came to your country to help grow chess, and I will not allow anybody to use our success to create fear or division.
Our event set a World Record and brought in more funding than the combined FIDE budget for the Americas for several years. If anybody believes that federations can be pressured in this way, then here is my answer:
Do not worry! I know many juniors were looking forward to this event and have been preparing for it for months. They should not be the victim of politics and constant administrative failures.
If this tournament doesn鈥檛 take place in Peru as promised, I am sure that another one will be organised - and another world record will be broken!
Federations should never feel threatened because they support change. They should feel empowered, respected, heard, and supported.
In just 86 days, these tactics will finally go - they do not belong in our sport, and they do not belong in the 21st century. We cannot continue to rely on governance that creates uncertainty, instead of opportunity.
We will build bigger things. In Peru and everywhere around the world. The future of chess belongs to the players, the children, and the federations. And I will not allow anything else鈾燂笍鉂わ笍馃嚨馃嚜
ECU New Team retweeted
Our position is clear ! I mentionned it to all the countries we have met for the last months ! In 2022 I had already the same position @advorkovich
An Open Letter from the ECU New Team
To the European chess community, our member federations, and the wider chess world:
The ECU New Team writes to state our position clearly and without ambiguity.
We stand with Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, the chess world has been forced to confront a question that goes far beyond the board: whether our institutions will uphold their own principles, or whether they will look for ways around them. Our answer is unequivocal.
We do not believe the Russian federation should be permitted to participate in ECU or FIDE competitions. This is not a position taken lightly, nor one aimed at individual players, but a recognition that a federation which continues to organise chess activity in occupied Ukrainian territory cannot be treated as a partner in good standing. We include in this our firm view that there should be no place for the Russian federation - whether under its own flag or through any neutral-flag arrangement engineered to soften the consequences of suspension - at the Olympiad in Samarkand.
We commit to the strict and full observance of every legal decision governing the sanctions regime. That includes the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling earlier this year, which found FIDE's existing measures insufficient and ordered the Russian federation to cease its activities in the occupied regions or face suspension - and the suspension that followed when those conditions were not met. We support compliance with these decisions in substance, not merely in appearance. Where governing bodies seek to honour the letter of a ruling while undermining its purpose, we will say so plainly.
The chess world's motto is Gens una sumus - we are one family. A family is held together by shared principles, not by silence in the face of their breach. The ECU New Team intends to defend those principles, and to ensure that European chess is governed transparently, lawfully, and with integrity.
We invite every federation that shares these commitments to stand with us.
Bachar Kouatly, Radoslaw Jedynak, Toms Kalnins, Birger Wenzel, Maria Gevorgyan and Loek van Wely
The ECU New Team
@BKouatly @Radoom @TomsKalninsLV @birger_wenzel @GevorgyanMaria @loekvanwely
An Open Letter from the ECU New Team
To the European chess community, our member federations, and the wider chess world:
The ECU New Team writes to state our position clearly and without ambiguity.
We stand with Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, the chess world has been forced to confront a question that goes far beyond the board: whether our institutions will uphold their own principles, or whether they will look for ways around them. Our answer is unequivocal.
We do not believe the Russian federation should be permitted to participate in ECU or FIDE competitions. This is not a position taken lightly, nor one aimed at individual players, but a recognition that a federation which continues to organise chess activity in occupied Ukrainian territory cannot be treated as a partner in good standing. We include in this our firm view that there should be no place for the Russian federation - whether under its own flag or through any neutral-flag arrangement engineered to soften the consequences of suspension - at the Olympiad in Samarkand.
We commit to the strict and full observance of every legal decision governing the sanctions regime. That includes the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling earlier this year, which found FIDE's existing measures insufficient and ordered the Russian federation to cease its activities in the occupied regions or face suspension - and the suspension that followed when those conditions were not met. We support compliance with these decisions in substance, not merely in appearance. Where governing bodies seek to honour the letter of a ruling while undermining its purpose, we will say so plainly.
The chess world's motto is Gens una sumus - we are one family. A family is held together by shared principles, not by silence in the face of their breach. The ECU New Team intends to defend those principles, and to ensure that European chess is governed transparently, lawfully, and with integrity.
We invite every federation that shares these commitments to stand with us.
Bachar Kouatly, Radoslaw Jedynak, Toms Kalnins, Birger Wenzel, Maria Gevorgyan and Loek van Wely
The ECU New Team
@BKouatly @Radoom @TomsKalninsLV @birger_wenzel @GevorgyanMaria @loekvanwely
ECU New Team retweeted
Proud to stand with the ECU New Team.
Together, we can build a more united, transparent, and forward-looking European Chess Union.
ECU New Team retweeted
The untapped potential of our sport is enormous.
We share Wadim鈥檚 vision for the future of Chess. In Germany we know from our own experience that Wadim gets the job done.
That is why the board of the German Chess Federation decided to officially nominate him as FIDE President!
Dear chess friends,
Today, I am announcing my candidacy for the presidency of FIDE.
I love chess. It has shaped my life, my way of thinking, and even the way I built my businesses. Chess deserves an organization that matches its greatness.
Today, FIDE has many dedicated people working hard for our sport. But dedication alone is not enough. We need stronger leadership, professional governance, faster decision-making, and a clear vision for the future. Our national federations deserve a governing body that listens, supports, innovates, and delivers.
That is why I have decided to run for President of FIDE.
I am proud to do so together with my running mate, Gordon Tang.
Together, we have built international companies, managed large organizations, attracted investment, and led teams across the world. We understand how successful organizations grow, how they create opportunities, and how they deliver results. It is time to bring this experience to FIDE.
Chess has enormous untapped potential. We must strengthen communication, modernize our digital infrastructure, attract new sponsors, improve marketing, invest in education, support our federations more effectively, and build a truly global chess ecosystem.
My vision is clear: FIDE should become one of the world鈥檚 most respected institutions in international sport.
And my goal is non-negotiable: FIDE needs to empower every one of its member federations.
In the coming weeks, we will present a comprehensive programme with concrete proposals and measurable objectives. We will also introduce a diverse international team of experienced professionals, grandmasters, business leaders, investors, and respected public figures who believe that chess deserves more.
We will work to strengthen every federation, create new opportunities for players of every level, develop exciting new competition formats, increase investment in chess worldwide, and continue pursuing our long-term goal of bringing chess into the Olympic Games.
This election is not about personalities.
It is about the future of chess.
The time has come to think bigger. The time has come to lead better. The time has come for change.
I invite every federation, every player, every organizer, and every chess supporter to join us.
Together, we will build the future of chess.
WGM Maria Gevorgyan brings elite playing experience, education expertise, and international administrative experience to the ECU New Team.
She is a Woman Grand Master and five-time Armenian Women鈥檚 Champion
Maria served as Secretary General of the Armenian Chess Federation, managing institutional coordination with FIDE and ECU and helping to organize the 2022 General Assembly.
We are pleased to receive an endorsement from Slovakia. President Milan Roman is a crucial figure in European chess and we look forward to partnering him when the ECU New Team wins the election!
Thank you to the Polish Chess Federation for endorsing our team!
We are fully aligned in our ambitions to make the European Chess Championships one of the most important events in the chess calendar - this is what Europe wants and it's what Europe deserves.
This quoted post is unavailable.
CM @birger_wenzel brings international business experience, event management, and practical chess organization to the ECU New Team.
He is our candidate for Treasurer of the ECU.
Professionally, Birger works as Head of International Business Development at Walcot Group, managing international partnerships, senior negotiations, and complex projects across multiple jurisdictions.
ECU New Team retweeted
Aus Schachkreisen wird berichtet, dass Weltschachverband-Pr盲sident Arkady Dvorkovich diese Woche in Br眉ssel Gespr盲che f眉hren soll, um seine pers枚nliche Situation im Zusammenhang mit dem m枚glichen 21. EU-Sanktionspaket zu er枚rtern.
@bundeskanzler @vonderleyen