Asian Continental Minutes

Asian Chess Federation

Continental Assembly

22 December 2017

Al Ain, UAE

Present:

Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan                President

Bharat Singh (IND)                                           Deputy President

Hisham Al Taher (UAE)                                    Secretary General

Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh (IRI)                            Treasurer

Federation Delegates and Official Representatives:

Mohammed Naeem Ghafori                   AFG

Sami Khader  (proxy)                            BRN

Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim                  BAN

Pg  Abd Rahman Yusof                         BRU

Hisham Al Taher (proxy)                       CHN

Nisban Jasmin (proxy)                           HKG

Bharat Singh                                         IND

Dwi Hatmisari Ambarukmi                    INA

Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh             IRI

Dhafer Al Madhloum                             IRQ

Sami Khader                                         JOR

Berik Balgabaev                                    KAZ

Dhafer Al Madhloum (proxy)                 KUW

Milan Turpanov                                    KGZ

Mottaz Abdulrahman Al Sulaiman          KSA

Ali Abbas (proxy)                                 LIB

Jamie Kenmure (proxy)                         MAC

Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin MAS

Maung Maung Lwin                              MYA

Sainbayar Tserendorj                             MGL

Observers:

Nooh Ali                                  MDV

Jamie Kenmure                         NAU

Shrestha Eka Lal                       NEP

Laila Al Najar                           OMA

Abdus Salim                             PAK

Murad M. Aburajabal Tamimi    PLE

Casto Abundo (proxy)               PHI

Bharat Singh (proxy)                 QAT

Nisban Jasmin                           SGP

Abdus Salim (proxy)                 SOL

Luxman Wijesuriya                   SRI

Abbas Ali                                 SYR

Vatanov Khurshed                     TJK

Nakvanich Sahapol                    THA

Luxman Wijesuriya (proxy)       TPE

Serdar Veliyev                          TKM

Casto Abundo                           TLE

Hisham Al Taher                       UAE

Khuran Turdialiev                     UZB

Dang Tat Thang                        VIE

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov                               RUS

Georgios Makropoulos                           GRE

Willy Iclicki                                          BEL

Bolat Asanov                                        KAZ

Dzumazhov Makhmud                           KGZ

Ernist Dozumbetov                                KGZ

Dr. Rashid Alanezi                                KUW

Yaser Al Otaibi                                     KSA

Ahmad  Belali                                       KSA

Peter Long                                MAS

Ramiz Abdul Muhsin                 MDV

Lama Dharam Bahadur              NEP

Lama Al Salah                          OMA

Muhammad Wasif                     PAK

Murad Abu                               PLE

Thomas Hoe                             SGP

Ubaidulloev Zubaidullo             TJK

Minutes

0.1 Obituaries

We mourn the passing in the preceding year of:

Ali Al Dabni (UAE) Former president of UAE and Arab Chess Federation.

Jayaram Jayalalithaa (IND) – FIDE Honorary Member

Ardiyansah (INA) – Grandmaster

0.2 Roll Call

Executive Director made the roll call and the quorum was established.

Section A: Administrative Matters

1. Report of the President

The Asian Chess Federation successfully organized all Asian championships in the 2016-17 calendar. Since the last Continental Assembly, member federations on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation, organized the various Asian Championships. ACF financially supported the Asian championships organized by the federations of Uzbekistan, Iran, China, Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, India, New Zealand and Thailand.

Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan personally presented the Asian Chess Excellence Award for Man of the Year to H.E. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, President of Turkmennistan, at lavish ceremonies in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan at the Sport and Health presentation in April before the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

The Uzbekistan Chess Federation hosted the Asian Youth Championship in Tashkent. ACF Executive Director Casto Abundo attended the awards ceremony.

The Chess Federation of the I.R. of Iran organized the Asian Juniors and Girls Championships in Shiraz. ACF Treasurer Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh awarded trophies.

The Chinese Chess Association hosted the Asian Continental Championship in Chengdu attended by ACF Executive Director Casto Abundo.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines hosted the first Eastern Asia Juniors and Girls Championships in Tagaytay attended by ACF Executive Director Casto Abundo.

The Mongolian Chess Federation hosted the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championship in Ulaanbaatar.

The Chinese Chess Association hosted the Asian Youth Chess Championships in Pianjin, Lianoing.

The Sri Lanka Chess Federation hosted the Western Asia Youth Chess Championship in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. ACF Secretary General Hisham Al Taher attended the closing ceremony.

The 1st Asian Chess Championship for Disabled was hosted by the Kyrgyzstan Chess Federation in Bishkek. ACF Deputy President Bharat Singh attended the Awards ceremonies.

The New Zealand Chess Federation organized the Asian Seniors Chess Championship in Auckland.

The Thailand Chess Association organized the Asian Amateur Chess Championship in Chiang Mai.

Asian Chess Federation financially supported prize funds for Zonal tournaments in multi-federation zones of 3.1 (Iran) 3.2 (Nepal), 3.3 (Philippines), 3.4 (Uzbekistan), 3.6 (New Zealand). ACF Secretary General Hisham Al Taher awarded trophies in New Zealand.

Asian Chess Federation assisted in the organization of seminars in Oman, Malaysia, Nauru, Palau, Guam, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Bahrain and Pakistan.

Our biggest event of the year was the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, an event of the Olympic Council of Asia in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. We lobbied successfully to increase the number of gold medals from the previous four to ten.

Among other elements of the Asian Development Program, ACF supported official championships, travel subsidies and purchased 5,000 chess sets and 1,000 chess clocks to be donated to federations.

We are succeeding in our aim to spread chess development around Asia by encouraging different federations in all Zones to host Asian championships.

2. Financial Report

Treasurer Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh presented the financial report in Annex 1. The Assembly approved the report and discharged the Treasurer from the responsibilities for the financial year 2017.

3. Election of Asian Representative to FIDE Electoral Commission

The Continental Assembly unanimously elected Deputy President Bharat Singh of India as Asian representative to the FIDE Electoral Commission for 2018.

4. Establishment of Asian Chess Foundation

Sheikh Sultan informed the Assembly that he shall establish the Asian Chess Foundation as a private vehicle to raise funds to support chess development.

Section B: Asian Calendar

We thank National Federations who organized Asian championships and thank participating federations as well. We request all organizers to submit their report in compliance with the Tournament Hosting Application Form.

5. Asian Continental (and Women’s) Individual Championshp 2018

We invite bids for this event.

6. Asian Youth U8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 Championships 2018

The Thailand Chess Association will organize this event.1-10 April 2018 in Chiangmai. Continental Assembly approved unlimited number of players per federation in the Asian Youth.

7. Asian Juniors and Girls Championships 2018

The Mongolian Chess Federation will organize this event 17-26 August 2018 in Ulaanbaatar.

8. Asian Schools Chess Championship 2018

The Sri Lanka Chess Federation will organize this event 1-10 July 2018.

9. Asian Schools Chess Championship 2019

The Uzbekistan Chess Federation shall organize this event 19-29 June 2019 in Tashkent.

10. Eastern Asia Youth U8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 Chess Championship 2018

The Chinese Chess Association shall organize this event July 2018 in Shanghai.

11. Eastern Asia Juniors and Girls U20 Chess Championships 2018

The Korean Chess Federation will organize this event 1-9 August 2018 in Jeongson.

12. Western Asia Youth U8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 Chess Championship 2018

The Uzbekistan Chess Federation shall organize this event 24 November to 4 December 2018 in Tashkent.

13. Western Asia Juniors and Girls U20 Chess Championships 2018

The Royal Jordanian Chess Federation shall organize this event in November 2018 in Amman.

14. Oceania Youth Chess Championship 2018

Zone President Paul Spiller advised that they are trying for Canberra to host this event. The Oceania Chess Confederation proposes to allow neighboring country of French Caledonia to participate in the Oceania Youth Chess Championship.

FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg proposed that the Oceania Chess Confederation amend their statutes to include French Caledonia and let their players join the Oceania Youth Championship but not the Zonals. Continental Assembly approved.

15. Oceania Juniors and Girls U20 Chess Championships 2018

We invite bids for the event for Zone 3.6.

16. Oceania Youth Chess Championships 2019

The New Zealand Chess Federation shall organize the event 4-13 Jan 2019 in Auckland.

17. Asian Amateur Chess Championship 2018

The Chinese Chess Association will organize this event November 2018 in Zhengzhou.

18. Asian Seniors Chess Championship 2018

The City of Tagaytay will organize this event on behalf of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines 2-12 November 2018 in Tagaytay City.

19. Asian Nations Cup

The Bangladesh Chess Federation shall organize this event from 15-27 July 2018 in Dhaka.

20. Asian Nations Cup Under-14 Team Championship 2018

The Chinese Chess Association shall organize this event May 2018 in Shandong Binzhou.

21. Asian Universities Team Championship

The City of Tagaytay shall organize this event on behalf of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, 26 May to 2 June 2018 in Tagaytay City. On query of Mr. Thomas Hoe, it was agreed that the players in a team should belong to one federation.

22. Asian Corporate Cup Chess Team Championship

The All India Chess Federation shall organize this inaugural event. Deputy President Bharat Singh said that the format will be a combined individual and team event with Rapid Chess played over a 2-day weekend.

23. Asian Chess Circuit

Continental Assembly approved establishment of an Asian Chess Circuit. Asian Open tournaments shall be combined into a Circuit with Awards given at the Asian Chess Excellence Awards.

Section C: Other Matters

24. 4^th Annual Asian Chess Excellence Awards

Annex 2 is the list of Awardees for the 4^th Annual Asian Chess Excellence Awards. Singapore Chess Federation proposed that nominees should have the approval of their national federation. Sheikh Sultan said that these awards recognize the contribution to chess of individuals and organizations regardless of political motivations. Sheikh Sultan proposed to keep the awards purely about chess. Continental Assembly approved.

25. Asian Chess Federation Statutes

To raise operations of ACF to international federation standards, Continental Assembly approved a general review of ACF Statutes.

The Continental Assembly appointed a committee chaired by Secretary General Hisham Al-Taher with Jamie Kenmure of Nauru and Luxman Wijesuriya of Sri Lanka to review the Statutes of the Asian Chess Federation and to propose amendments of the Statutes to be in line with sports governance best practice. As approved by Continental Assembly, the Committee commissioned a specialized law firm headed by Dr. Rashid Alanezi, an experienced lawyer for sports organization and member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to assist in the review and amendments. The Commission met in Ashgabat during the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and again in Al Ain during the Asian Chess Summit.

Continental Assembly added the Deputy President to the list of 7.5 for the President to delegate his duties.

Continental Assembly authorized the Executive Board to create an ad-hoc Disciplinary Committee and Ethics Committee to deal with urgent matters if such matters arise before the appointment of the two committees in the next Continental Assembly.

Continental Assembly approved the amended Statutes in Annex 3.

26. Draft Mission Statement

Continental Assembly noted the proposed Mission Statement in Annex 4 for further consideration.

27. Appointment of Press Officer

Continental Assembly noted the appointment by Secretary General Hisham Al Taher of Mr. Peter Long of Malaysia as Press Officer.

Annexes:

1. Financial Report
2. Asian Chess Excellence Awardees
3. Asian Chess Federation Statutes
4. Draft Mission Statement