A Congress and an Olympiad in Dresden

Communique of Executive Board, 76th FIDE Congress, Dresden, Germany

Meeting of the FIDE Executive Board in Dresden, with General Secretary Ignatius Leong, hon. President Florencio Campomanes, President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, Vice President Morten Sand, Treasurer David Jarrett.

The FIDE Executive Board held the 76th FIDE Congress hosted by the German Chess Federation from 17 to 24 August 2005 in Dresden, Germany. During the Congress, all delegates were invited by Lord Mayor Ingolf Rossberg of the City of Dresden to a reception at the new International Congress Center, venue of the Dresden Olympiad 2008. The impressive facilities added further to the confidence of FIDE that the Dresden Olympiad shall be well organized.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov delivered his annual report citing the coming US $1 million World Championship Tournament in San Luis for which the Argentine Organizing Committee has already fulfilled all of its financial obligations with all preparations on track. He also reported on the US $450,000 Women’s World Championship scheduled March next year in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

The Board took a number of decisions that marked the move towards greater professionalism in organization of FIDE events and closer cooperation with the Association of Chess Professionals. (ACP).

Inspections of all major FIDE events will be conducted in the future and organizers will have to enter into contract with FIDE. To improve channels of communication with players, FIDE accepted into various Commissions and Committees representatives of the ACP.

FIDE conditionally admitted two new federations from Sierra Leone and Palau bringing the number of FIDE members to 156 national federations.

The FIDE Commissions and Committees met for their specialized work during the Congress. The Qualification Commission received the report on the Alushta tournaments and after a thorough investigation and lengthy discussions approved all pending title applications while resolving to take measures to prevent fraud in future.

The Board approved the GM, IM and Arbiter titles and new titles of FIDE Instructors and Trainers.

Delegates were pleased to hear that both the Turin Olympiad 2006 and Dresden Olympiad 2008 were on track. The cities of Budva (SCG), Poznan (POL) and Goteburg (SWE) expressed interest in hosting the 2010 Olympiad. In accordance with the Olympiad bid procedure, deadline for submission of bids is on 26 February 2006.

On behalf of the Executive Board, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov thanked the German Chess Federation and Dresden Organizing Committee for their excellent work.

Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE)
25.08.2005

Picture gallery

The 2008 Olympiad will be held in Dresden, a historical town in Eastern Germany, which is fast becoming the capital of chess in this country. Dresden hosted this year's FIDE Congress, and used the opportunity to show the delegates the city and the Olympiad venue. The following pictures are by Nadja Woisin and Frederic Friedel. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a streaming video with scenes from Dresden and the Olympic presentation.

A view of Dresden from the Congress Center, with the river Elbe

The stone bridge across the Elbe river

The "Zwinger", a palace with one of the most beautiful art galleries in Europe

The inside court of the Zwinger

The delegates are taken to the Congress Center, where the 2008 Olympiad will be held

The giant hall where the games will be played

The second half of the hall

FIDE delegates and officers taking it all in (Campomanes, second from left, Ilyumzhinov and Israel Gelfer)

The official presentation with the Ambassador of Kenya, the Lord Mayor of Dresden, the President of FIDE, a main sponsor (Thilo von Selchow of ZMD Dresden)

Roberto Rivello, organiser of the Olympiad in Turin next year, with GM Nigel Short

Group photo outside the Congress Center, venue of the 2008 Chess Olympiad

• Video of the FIDE Congress in Dresden