Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board visits Botswana and South Africa
FIDE delegation lead by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, continues the transformative journey across Africa as part of the FIDE Chess4all WOM project. At the end of March, it visited Botswana and the Republic of South Africa to better tap the development needs of each member federation, promote FIDE social initiatives, secure support of country’s officials to professional & educational chess and explore possibilities to host FIDE events. On her trip to Botswana, the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board was accompanied by Ms Tshepiso Lopang-Africa Chess Confederation President, Botswana Chess Federation President Mr Mooketsi Segaise, Member of the FIDE Medical Commission Dr Onkemetse Francis, and Member of the FIDE Fairplay Commission Ms Kutlwano Tatolo. Upon the arrival in the country, Dana Reizniece-Ozola had official meetings with Colonel Botsang Tshenyego, President of Botswana Olympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Regional Vice President-Africa & Mr.Peaceful Seleka, Sport Development Officer of Botswana National Sports Commission. Later this day, Dana gave a simul to young Botswana players. Later this day, Dana gave a simul to young Botswana players. On her trip to the country, the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board was accompanied by Ms Tshepiso Lopang-Africa Chess Confederation President, Botswana Chess Federation President Mr Mooketsi Segaise, Member of the FIDE Medical Commission Dr Onkemetse Francis, and Member of the FIDE Fairplay Commission Ms Kutlwano Tatolo. The next stop was South African Vredenburg, where she delivered a short inspirational speech to kids in the local Holiday Chess Programme in Vredenburg. Mr Andre Lewaks, President elected for Chess SA, has worked with children to keep them off the streets. Mr Lewaks was instrumental in arranging all the meetings during this trip. One of the key highlights of the visit was a meeting with Charmaine Laubscher, Executive Deputy Mayor of Saldanha Bay Municipality, and Jonathan Kilroe-Smith, Group CEO at Club Mykonos Resort Langebaan. Dana Reizniece-Ozola expressed her appreciation for their interest in supporting social chess programs, such as Infinite Chess (chess for kids with ASD), educational chess, and chess for seniors, and thanked them for their invaluable support to women’s chess. Dana also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Mrs. Natasha Opperman, President of the West Coast Chess Union for her great input in educational chess development and empowering girls. Later, FIDE delegation met with Lyndon Bouah, a passionate chess historian and Chief Director of Sport & Recreation for the Western Cape Government and Mr. George Butau from Khayelitsha, who has brought chess to over 300 underprivileged children. Later that day, the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board made a presentation on Chess for Freedom for the Malmesbury Medium A Correctional Centre officials. This correctional facility’s team is looking forward to participating in the 4th Intercontinental Chess Championship for Prisoners this year. Dana’s visit culminated in the opening ceremony of the SA Closed Chess Championship 2024. As a guest of honor she made the first ceremonial move in the SA Women’s Championship and after completion of the competition had the opportunity to engage in a working breakfast with the strongest female chess players of SA, marking a successful end to her visit.
The day Switzerland showed its love for chess: FIDE100 torch ceremony in Bern
In a vibrant series of events involving Swiss chess players, children, politicians, government officials and people from all walks of life, Switzerland celebrated the 100th anniversary of FIDE with elegance and enthusiasm, staying true to the spirit of the game and its universal appeal Switzerland is a country with a significant chess history. As the official seat of FIDE (located in Lausanne), it holds a prestigious position in the chess world. Additionally, the first treasurer of FIDE was Swiss, and the Swiss Chess Federation, founded 135 years ago, predates FIDE itself. The Swiss hosted two chess Olympiads (1968 and 1982), a world championship match, and numerous important chess tournaments. It was home to the great Viktor Korchnoi and is also known for the Swiss system tournament format. Living up to its chess heritage and role as a home of the International Chess Federation, the Swiss threw a big party for chess on Sunday, April 7. For the first time in the history of the Swiss capital, Bern, an Olympic-style ceremony unfolded – as the President of FIDE, Arkady Dvorkovich, carried the torch that lit the flame on the Bundesplatz, the central square in the city, in front of the Parliament Building – the seat of political power in Switzerland. With the deep, melodious sound of the alphorn players, as if to announce Caissa’s descent from the Alpes, the torch was carried through the centre of Bern to the amazement of onlookers. Arkady Dvorkovich thanked Bern, the Swiss Chess Federation, Swiss officials and all chess enthusiasts for “coming to the event and enriching this celebration”. “We truly feel at home here in Switzerland, and we hope that this event will help get more people interested and involved in chess,” Dvorkovich said, thanking the Swiss Chess Federation for organizing the celebration. The torch ceremony was the start of several special events that took place in Bern on the day. The message from the President of the Swiss Federation The celebration also included a greeting message by the President of the Swiss Federation, Viola Amherd who thanked FIDE for its “loyalty to Switzerland”, having maintained its office in Lausanne since its foundation in 1924. Amherd wished everyone a “wonderful family celebration,” noting the FIDE motto “We are One Family” and adding: “We want the family to keep on growing”. Swiss Post commemorative stamp To commemorate the 100th anniversary of FIDE, Swiss Post (which is celebrating 175 since its foundation) issued a special 1st class stamp designed by Lausanne illustrator Catherine Pearson, which was presented on the Bundesplatz by the company’s director, Christian Levrat. A prominent Swiss politician for many years, Levrat is also a dedicated chess player. In his address – “after a night spent watching the Candidates tournament in Toronto” – Levrat said that the stamp is “a testament to the rich history of FIDE”. “Catherine Pearson created a stamp with vibrant colours that radiates joy. The geometric abstract chess pieces crisscross and intertwine, reminding us of the endless calculation of variants by sitting on the chess board. I believe it’s a great success, and I would like to thank the artist and the Swiss Chess Federation for their cooperation,” said Levrat. Thanking the Swiss Post for their gift, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich acknowledged the value of the gesture for the entire chess community, noting that “it is a beautiful stamp – modern but also showing history”. “Both FIDE and the Swiss Post have the same task – to connect people. Now, the stamp belongs to the whole world. This is a huge present to the whole chess family and keeps the tradition of issuing post stamps that make chess visible to people around the world. Thank you,” said Dvorkovich. This is only the second time that Switzerland has issued a chess stamp. The first one was issued in 1968 in celebration of the Lugano Olympiad. Chess simul and banquet True to chess tradition, the Bern celebration featured a chess simul on 32 boards, given by the former Women’s World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk and one of Switzerland’s greatest players – Werner Hug, who was the Junior World Champion in 1971, and Swiss champion in 1975. The simul lasted 90 minutes, and the opponents proved tricky, as both Kosteniuk and Hug lost a game. This was followed by a banquet for the FIDE and Swiss chess officials as well as distinguished guests, including the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and one of the leading world players in the 1980s, Artur Yusupov. During the evening, Vladimir Kramnik gave a short speech in which he shared memories of chess in Switzerland from “many years and 20 kilograms ago,” including from the famous match between him and Peter Leko in 2004 in the scenic Swiss town of Brissago. The Swiss way in chess: 50 years of youth chess and beyond Chess is recognized as a sport in Switzerland and, in recent years, has seen an increase in public visibility thanks to the nation’s chess federation, which is currently headed by André Vögtlin – an economist and headhunter by profession – who also loves chess. “The strategy of the Swiss Chess Federation is to increase the number of members because we have a demographic problem. We want to flatten the hierarchy of ages,” explains Vögtlin. “I started a project named Generation Chess, and after we had an improvement of 20 percent in two years, we renamed the project to – The New Generation. With this in mind, we thought of taking part in the celebration of FIDE100 with a chess party. The party would not be just for us but the whole chess world, the chess people in Switzerland and the new chess generation everywhere,” he explains. “We have worked for one year on this project, and we had a lot of support from FIDE, and we are happy to have pulled this off,” says the President of the Swiss Chess Federation, who is also active in several other chess initiatives – from chess for displaced