The Asian Mind Sports Association (AMSA) and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) are pleased to announce the signing of two landmark Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), marking the beginning of a new era for Chess development across Asia.
Under the agreements, AMSA and ACF will jointly cooperate on the Chess competition at the 2026 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), while also establishing a broader long-term strategic partnership focused on the modernization, digitalization, and expansion of Chess throughout the continent.
The partnership brings together ACF’s long-standing leadership and technical authority in Asian Chess with AMSA’s growing digital infrastructure and mass participation ecosystem under the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) framework.
One of the key visions of the cooperation is the future integration of online and offline Chess activities across Asia. Through AMSA’s technology platforms, future OCA-related Chess events will gradually connect participation, broadcasting, competition management, and digital engagement into a more unified continental ecosystem — while continuing to preserve the professionalism and elite competitive standards that define top-level Chess.
The cooperation also introduces a new development model for national federations across Asia. Under the AMSA system, each participating country will be able to build and strengthen its own digital user base and data ecosystem, allowing federations to regain greater direct engagement with their domestic Chess communities in the online era.
Every online event hosted through the AMSA infrastructure will have the ability to be broadcast digitally, while competition data and participation records can be integrated directly into national federation systems. This creates new opportunities for talent identification, player development, audience growth, sponsorship activation, and long-term commercial expansion for federations throughout Asia.
For ACF, the cooperation provides an opportunity to further expand continental participation and digital reach without requiring additional technical investment, while continuing to lead the sporting and technical direction of Chess in Asia.
For AMSA, the partnership represents an important step toward building sustainable digital infrastructure for mind sports under the OCA framework, with Chess serving as one of the leading models for future continental development.
Both organizations believe this partnership represents a significant milestone for the future of Chess in Asia and look forward to working closely together to create a stronger, more connected, and more modern Chess ecosystem for generations to come