Update: February 28, 08:05 GMT
The FIDE family keeps growing: today we have confirmed Cayman Islands, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, a new member federations. That brings total membership to 195, making FIDE the 4th largest sports federation by number of member countries.
Update: February 28, 07: 25 GMT
His Highness, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan: "It is an honor for me to welcome you all to the 90th FIDE Congress here in Abu Dhabi - my home. UAE and chess share a long association. Chess is a passion shared by all of us, including myself."
Update: February 27, 12:05 GMT
The Planning and Development Commission (https://pdc.fide.com) organized a federation management workshop. Marco Verdoia, who recently joined FIDE's marketing department, gave a brief speech in which he highlighted the importance of brand-building.
The workshop also included some guidelines for how to pitch potential partners with an event sponsorship proposal.
Update: February 27, 11:05 GMT
The Presidential Board meeting started at 15:00 local time (GMT+4).
Update: February 27, 10:45 GMT
FIDE's Executive Director Victor Bologan presented to the attendants the "Chess-ID" project, aimed at uniting all chess players, officials and other stakeholders involved in chess activities around the world, under one/unique FIDE umbrella.
This project is FIDE's response to a serious issue: the lack of big data and global figures. The chess community needs to tackle this problem in order to access new sources of funding.
Update: February 27, 10:20 GMT
The President of the International Chess Federation Arkady Dvorkovich addressed the attendees of the 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly. He thanked the Federations for their work, highlighting that FIDE is about to reach the 200-member federations milestone.
Update: February 27, 09:30 GMT
The 2020 FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly and Executive Board kicks off Abu Dhabi with the Final Report from the Planning and Development Commission, led by Sonja Johnson. 77 Federations have already benefited from this funding program, totaling $ 1,1 million.
February 27, 09:05 GMT
The 90th FIDE Congress has just started in Abu Dhabi with the participation of 195 delegates from 195 countries, organized by the Asian Chess Federation.
