After months of working closely with several major corporate sponsors, today
the Karpov2010 campaign announced the results: a four million dollar worldwide
chess development package. Said Karpov from Jakarta and Singapore, where he's
on an Asian campaign sweep:
"This four million dollars is from commercial interests that want to invest
in chess and who want to profit from our new global movement to professionally
support and promote the game. We have been talking with different groups for
months and wanted to make sure everything was set before making any announcements.
We told them that starting this year, chess was going to be a huge opportunity
with a new FIDE administration that would take commercial sponsorship seriously."
The four million dollar chess development package will be distributed over
the four years of Karpov's first term as FIDE president. The arrangements
now move to a regional level. Karpov has already announced a $100,000 for
Central America, where he received early support. And $300,000 for the Balkan
region has also been announced ($75K per year). That still leaves $900,000
per annum in the package, all of which will go to development and promotion
activities.
"It is important to point out that this development program is for training,
promotion, developing regional tournament networks, and other grassroots efforts,"
said Karpov in Singapore. "Youth chess programs and producing titled
players in developing federations produce long-term benefits for the entire
chess world. This package does not count sponsorship for the World Championship
and other major events. Those will have their own sponsors, and we do not
foresee any difficulty in supporting popular professional events. It is time
to get back to the era when major corporations bid competitively to invest
in chess and to break this dependency on unreliable sources. It is time to
stop begging for money and to put chess back on the map, bigger and better
than ever."
Richard Conn Jr. of the USA, Karpov's candidate for Deputy President of
FIDE and campaigning with him in Asia, spoke about how the money would be
distributed. "We are now in discussions with our regional allies to find the
best way to allocate this money for maximum impact. In some areas, such as
parts of Europe and Central America, negotiations are already well advanced
because we have clear lines of support. We are now looking for reliable partners
in South America, Asia, and Africa who can give our sponsors the performance
they need – and the results our administration will demand."
Conn continued, "Anatoly's decades in top chess have given him clear ideas
about promoting chess at every level, our professional partners have expertise
in media and sports marketing, and, most importantly, we are also partnering
with the leaders of the federations because they know the demands and opportunities
of their regions."
Anyone interested in more information about can reach the Karpov2010 campaign
at campaignhq@karpov2010.org.
