The 3rd quarter Presidential Board was held on September 22-23 in Elista, Russia, concurrent with the World Championship Match between V. Topalov and V. Kramnik.
The Board evaluated the process initiated two years ago and judged it a success. The key result is the stabilization of the chess world, and the Topalov-Kramnik Championship Match is the best sign of this process.
President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov presented his visionary view and strategic plan for the next four years of FIDE. He strongly emphasized the task to elevate FIDE to new heights, to make it a financially stable and the powerful international sports organization that strengthens its relationship with and its role within IOC, the International Olympic Committee. In order to achieve these aims, he had decided to establish a company which can serve as a commercial arm of FIDE. A commercial license agreement between the Company and FIDE will be drafted and dealt with in the Presidential Board Meeting in December 2006, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Other FIDE activities are to be strengthened and utilized. The President called the attention to the Chess in School program, the Chess Trainers` Academy and the World Chess Championship cycle.
In a long session, the Presidential Board thoroughly debated key elements of the strategic vision and reviewed several practical schemes, versions, as well as proposals regarding future format of the World Chess Championship and commercial activities of FIDE. The Board discussed the FIDE budget for 2007 and accepted it. It established the FIDE Public Relations and Marketing program by unanimous decision and created the PR and Marketing Directorate headed by Mr. Peter Rajscanyi, Hungary.
The Board approved FIDE titles for players, arbiters and organizers. FIDE Calendar 2007/2008 has been accepted. The Board reviewed the structure of the organization and assigned functional responsibilities to each Board member to make FIDE more pro-active.
In order to resolve difficulties in the organization of the Candidate matches, the Board offered a round-robin tournament for the 16 players as an alternative to the original form of the competition. President Ilyumzhinov offered to hold all the matches or the tournament in Elista in April 2007.