Mr. Fumey announces his candidacy for FIDE President
Enyonam Sewa Fumey has announced yesterday, April 30, his intention to run for FIDE President. While the electoral campaign formally begins on May 7th, Fumey communicated his decision to present a candidacy on a call to the incumbent FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich. “FIDE machine is working effectively, but with my team, in a collaborative spirit with the current administration, we will ensure to deliver more and in a more efficient way, especially towards small federations”, declared Mr. Fumey. “Our team will develop a more sensible approach to the issue of sport and politics, while recognising the importance they have with each other. Our team will broaden FIDE sponsorship base, support all Level 4 and 5 federations by serious funding and help generate independent revenue for the federations. Our team will involve a broader range of countries in its operations”. Born in Lome, Togo, in 1981, Fumey got a degree in Linguistics, and he practised as a French teacher for several years after graduating. In 2003, he was one of the founding members, and the first General Secretary, of the Togolese Chess Federation, when the three existing chess clubs in the city of Lomé decided to put together their efforts to popularise the game of chess in the country. His chess career took off in 2012, when the federation was officially recognized by the Togolese government. This opened the door for the federation to become a member of FIDE in September 2012, as well as to participate in the Chess Olympiad. In Istanbul 2012, Enyonam Sewa Fumey was one of the leading players of the national team, as well as its captain. In 2014, Fumey was elected as General Secretary for the African Chess Confederation, a post he would hold for the next four years, until 2018. During this period, he also invested in his chess formation, earning the titles of International Arbiter, International Chess Instructor, and reaching his peak rating and the Candidate Master title. Between 2014 and now, he has been Chief Organizer at 11 chess events, and Chief arbiter at 12. In 2017, Enyonam Sewa Fumey was elected President of the Togo Chess Federation. Shortly after, he became one of the first people to take side with Arkady Dvorkovich in the electoral campaign, being one of the five people originally included on his ticket, in June 2018. In Batumi FIDE General Assembly, he was elected as FIDE’s General Secretary, a post he held until May 2021, when he stepped down to become a member of the FIDE Social Commission. Even though the tickets are not official yet, Fumey has announced that his Deputy-President would be FM Stuart Fancy. Born in London in 1959, and now a resident of Papua New Guinea, Stuart Fancy has represented that country at the 1982, 1992, 2002, 2004 and 2006 Olympiads. His best results were winning the individual Gold Medal on 2nd Reserve Board at the 25th Chess Olympiad in Lucerne 1982. He is a businessman that specialises in acquisitions.
May rating list: five young players debut in Top-100 Open
The top ten places in the May rating list were mainly affected by the Berlin FIDE Grand Prix and the American Cup, while the European Championship and several Swiss tournaments across the globe caused some shifts in the lower echelons of the top-100. Fabiano Caruana gained 5 rating points, climbing to the fourth position; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ascended to #7, while Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Anish Giri dropped 12, 20 and 12 points, respectively. Ding Liren played no less than 28 games in three events in China from March 26 to April 25, earned 7 rating points and regained second place in the world rankings. It means that the top Chinese player has an excellent chance to participate in the FIDE Candidates Tournament that will take place this summer in Madrid. Photo: Lennart Ootes Biggest gains in top-100 (open and women) Bluebaum, Matthias GER 2663 (+26) Gukesh D IND 2659 (+22) Ma, Qun CHN 2666 (+21) Moussard, Jule FRA 2651 (+21) Niemann, Hans USA 2656 (+19) Martirosyan, Haik ARM 2652 (+19) Tabatabaei, Amin IRA 2650 (+18) Bulmaga, Irina ROU 2397 (+18) Alinasab, Mobina IRI 2373 (+18) Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2672 (+16) Salimova, Nurgyul BUL 2418 (+15) Sargissian, Gabriel ARM 2694 (+13) Keymer, Vincent GER 2667 (+13) Roebers, Eline NED 2369 (+13) Milliet, Sophie FRA 2410 (+12) Matthias Bluebaum (pictured below) is the clear winner in this category. The newly-minted European Champion picked up a whopping 26 rating points and triumphally returned into the top-100 Open. Gabriel Sargissian and Vincent Keymer also did a great job at the European Championship, earning 13 points each. Photo: ŠZS/Luka Rifelj Gikesh D keeps climbing on the rating ladder – the young Indian gained another 22 rating points in two Swiss tournaments in Spain (48 Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez de La Roda 2022 and Menorca Open) and broke into the top-100 Open for the first time in his career. The same applies to Hans Moke Niemann (USA), Alan Pichot (Argentina), Jules Moussard (France) and Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), who are making their debut in the elite top-100 Open club. The young American dropped some rating in the Reykjavik Open but more than compensated for this loss by winning LV Torneo Internacional Capablanca in Memoriam – Grupo Elite – 2022 and grabbing 23 points. Irina Bulmaga steamrolled her opponents in the women’s section, scoring 8/9 and earning 18 rating points. Hans Moke Niemann / Photo: Anna Shtourman The Frenchman turned in a decent performance in the European Championship (+7 points) first and then came as the winner of VI Open Internacional de Ajedrez Semana Santa, which translates into another 14 points. The Iranian made some splash at the final leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin, advancing into the playoff stage and picking up 18 rating points. The Argentinean crushed the competition at the Torre Blanca Anniversario and increased his rating by 11 points. Following his good showings at the European Championship and two open tournaments in Spain Haik Martirosyan (pictured below) returned into the top-100 open after a nearly one-year absence. Photo: Anastasiia Korolkova The second qualifying tournament for the Chinese national team saw the triumph of Ma Qun, who tied for the top position with the rating-favourite Ding Liren and claimed the first place thanks to better tiebreaks. Last but not least, this result means +21 rating points. The young Iranian Mobina Alinasab continues her hot run that had started in March (+28 points). In the following month, she did very well in the Open Chess Menorca and picked up another 18 rating points.