The second FIDE Council Meeting of 2023 took place in Baku on August 1, 2023, alongside the World Cup. The meeting adopted a hybrid format, allowing the Council members to attend through Zoom.

As usual, the meeting started with the reports of the FIDE President, Treasurer, followed by updates to the chess calendar. Discussions centred on the tournaments for the current year and the bidding process for competitions in 2024 and beyond. While no approvals were granted during the meeting, FIDE has undertaken to conduct the necessary inspections, with decisions expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

The Qualification Commission presented an important proposal regarding changes in rating regulations aiming to address rating deflation concerns. We wrote about it here. This proposal, formulated by Mr Sonas and the working group, will be subject to public discussion. We encourage the chess community to send us their comments and suggestions at qualification@fide.com until  September 30, 2023.

There are exciting developments in FIDE membership. The Council approved the New Caledonia Chess Federation as an Affiliated Organization and welcomed the Tonga Chess Federation as the newest member of FIDE. These additions signify a historic milestone, as FIDE will reach the inspiring mark of 200 member federations by the end of 2023, pending General Assembly approval.

For the first time in history, FIDE Council has approved 92 School Instructor titles, putting them on par with other official FIDE titles. The credit for this achievement goes to the FIDE Chess in Education Commission, whose successful "Preparation of Teachers" course, based on a new and revised training program, will soon see its 9th edition. The translation of the program from English to other languages, primarily Arabic, Portuguese, and French, is being actively discussed and is likely to be implemented soon.

We congratulate 17 new Grandmasters whose titles have been approved at this meeting! The list includes Zhu Jiner from China, who proudly joins the ranks as the world's 41st female player to earn a GM title. We are also exceptionally happy for Lukasz Nowak from Poland as he officially becomes an International Master. The remarkable journey of this 25-year-old overcoming a spinal disease serves as a shining example to the chess community.

We will publish the complete list of decisions shortly.