The FIDE Presidential Board rose from its meeting 17 August 2003 at the NICON Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, and took a number of far reaching decisions with respect to the implementation of the Prague Agreement and the World Chess Championships. Click here to see the list of titles approved Titles Approved. The meeting which was chaired by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, mandated the President to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Ponomariov-Kasparov World Chess Championship match scheduled 18 September 2003 in Yalta, Ukraine shall be held in accordance with FIDE Regulations and the terms of the Prague Agreement for the said match. World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov was requested to sign his Player’s Agreement without any conditions. The Board noted the ongoing discussions between FIDE and the Einstein Group with respect to the Kramnik-Leko match and resolved that the FIDE President should continue the dialogue to determine possible areas of cooperation in Einstein’s effort to complete the match and the unification process under the aegis of FIDE. The Board further resolved that while discussions were ongoing with sponsors for the hosting of this year’s World Championship (knockout) tournament, now renamed the FIDE World Cup, and the Women’s World Championship, the dates for the events should still be in the period of the last week of November and first three weeks of December with allowance for a few days’ possible adjustment at the beginning or at the end to include the Christmas holidays. With regards to the hosting of the Chess Olympiad 2004, the Board directed the Executive Director to ensure that the financial guarantees for the event scheduled for Menorca, Spain, were in place. The Board applauded the proposed hosting of the Chess Grand Prix in February 2003 by the Icelandic Chess Federation and congratulated the Turkish Chess Federation for the excellent organization of the European Individual Championship. The Board approved the year 2004 as the Tigran Petrosian year in honor of the late Armenian World Champion. Finally, the Board resolved to thank the Government and people of Nigeria for the hospitality extended to members of the Presidential Board and the participants in the Test Run for the Chess event at the All African Games. The Board thanked in particular, the Executive Director of the Organizing Committee of the All Africa Games, Dr. Amos Adamu, who was nominated for the Knight of FIDE award at this year’s FIDE Congress in Greece. From left are FIDE President H.E. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, H.E. AlHaji Bello Aminu Masari, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Rebublic of Nigeria. Dr. Amos Adamu, Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer of the Organizing Committee of the African Games (COJA) and FIDE Honorary President Florencio Campomanes.