An interview with Christos Pilalis - by WGM Anna Maria Botsari

Specifically, Christos Pilalis states that Mr. Makropoulos is busy with FIDE issues outside the country, while Mr. Efstathopoulos deals with chess as a secondary occupation, providing his potential to the University of Athens, where he serves as Vice-Rector.

The following are the basic views and priorities of Mr. Christos Pilalis regarding Greek chess.

Anna Maria Botsari: Mr. Pilalis, tell us a little about the situation prevailing in the Board of Greek Chess Federation. What is your main criticism?

Christos Pilalis: Since 1982 until today, the Federation has been managed in a personal manner. It is a fact that many valuable proposals and ideas of experienced and renowned chess people are not taken into account since they do not coincide with those of Mr. Makropoulos. His successor, Mr. Efstathopoulos, also acted in this way, often favoring Mr. Makropoulos, changing and intervening in the issues of the agenda according to his knowledge and wishes.

For example, when about three years ago, the Government submitted a bill by which chess is officially classified as a ‘game’ (while it has been recognized in Greece for decades as a sport), the reaction of the President of the Federation was weak and almost non-existent.

You mentioned that the Federation President's reaction to the downgrading of chess from a sport to a game was inadequate. What was your proposal at that time?

The fact of the great inaction of the President was largely due to the fact that at that time Mr. Makropoulos was outside Greece, dealing with FIDE issues. Thus, the direct and strong encouragement from me and the majority of the Board to send our objections in writing to the Deputy Minister of Sports was ignored. . Mr. Efstathopoulos waited for the approval of Mr. Makropoulos after a long period of time to finally accept the encouragement and pressure of the members of the Board of Directors to react to this unfavorable regulation.

What are your main priorities for the operation of the Federation if you are elected?

The direct and democratic handling and mode of operation of our Federation is therefore my main priority. Chess in Greece has a variety of capable executives with extensive experience in organizing mass and international competitions. A large number of our athletes have the competitive experience of top international competitions, and consequently contact with different practical methods and systems from other countries, knowledge that may be useful in our field.

The opinions of these people are either not heard or, if they are rarely heard, they are sidelined and overshadowed by the centralism of the last two presidents of the ESO.

What is the situation of sports chess clubs in Greece today, especially due to the economic crisis?

Especially in a period like today, when the dysfunctions and problems of Greek society are magnified due to the prolonged economic crisis in the country, the sports clubs that cultivate chess are amateur and are facing enormous financial problems.

How do you plan to address the lack of funding for clubs and athletes?

As for further corrective actions, I believe that there should be a serious and coordinated demand with other sports federations for an increase in state funding for the ESO. It should be noted that state funding for the ESO 15 years ago was over 800,000 euros, while today it is only a little over 100,000. This amount does not cover the needs of supporting the competitive programs of a federation that consists of over 200 sports clubs as its members. Furthermore, it is impossible to provide remuneration to our extremely hardworking referees, who until now have been paid with amounts of money that are negligible and humiliating in my opinion. Furthermore, the support in terms of training and competition of young athletes who have already had great international successes is bordering on the impossible, even though, as everything shows, they have all the qualifications to have even more successes in the older age categories of the open category and the women's category. It is worth noting the most emblematic case in my opinion, that of the prominent Greek chess player, Stavroula Tsolakidou, three-time World Junior Champion and currently competing successfully in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix.

You mentioned supporting young athletes and the case of Stavroula Tsolakidou. What are your plans for strengthening these talents?

If we, as the Greek Chess Federation, provide the necessary support for Mrs. Tsolakidou's competitive career, it is absolutely certain that this will contribute decisively to her possible claim for a medal at the Women's World Championship. Personally, I am committed to doing everything necessary to communicate Tsolakidou's value, something I am already doing as a chess journalist in two national newspapers, with the aim of claiming serious financial sponsorships, for the development and elevation of the Federation, as well as for all of the above.

What is your position on the integration of chess in schools? What actions have been taken so far?

In addition, for the base, the first steps of chess, (those usually done in school years), I consider it particularly important to claim the full integration of chess into the school curriculum. In support of the above, many actions have already been taken that contribute to this initiative by the School Chess Commission of which I am President. The Greek  Chess Federation has submitted 3 programs of this Commission with the aim of learning chess in Kindergarten, Primary and High School to the Institute of Educational Policy of the Ministry of Education. These programs were accepted by the Institute of Educational Policy and teachers are now given the opportunity, voluntarily, to teach them in school. However, because the views of Mr. Makropoulos and Mr. Efstathopoulos emphasize that student championships should be self-financed by the ESO and not by the Ministry of Education, chess has not been characterized by the state as a school sport. Thus, a valuable ally - such as that of the Ministry of Education - is lost in the promotion of chess in schools.

There are problems with coach training in Greece. What do you propose as a solution?

Three very important coaching schools of the General Secretariat of Sports (Deputy Ministry of Sports) have been completed, but unfortunately there have been no more for three years. At the same time, the coaching schools of the General Secretariat of Sports of Greece are multiplying in other sports. Their continuation is my fundamental goal, as is the pursuit of co-organizing information and learning programs for teachers in collaboration with the University of the Aegean (where a relevant program is already underway), as well as with other Universities that may be interested and the Federation will initiate a dialogue with them. Regarding the number of players per team in the Greek team championship matches, its reduction from 10 to at least 8 chess players per team is imperative. The financial cost for each team is great in a country going through a prolonged economic crisis. Many clubs have identified this, but nothing has been done in this direction.

What is your opinion on the phenomenon of cheating in chess competitions? What measures are needed?

Regarding the relatively new phenomenon of cheating, I have to mention that in 2018 I was Deputy Chief Arbiter and Anti-Cheating Arbiter at the European Youth and Junior Championships in Riga, Latvia. I was very impressed and positive by the excellent organization of the control that was carried out there, with full guidance and use of appropriate tools by the organizers. Six years later, in our country, anti-cheating control is dangerously inadequate. For this and for many other issues, as I said before, the opinion of sports clubs has not been taken seriously for years.

How do you intend to immediately utilize the great collective expertise that exists among many chess club executives?

A large online conference on the prospects of Greek chess is necessary and will take place immediately after my election as President. One of the proposals that I aspire to bear fruit is the claim for a permanent seat for the Greek Chess Federation in a public sports arena, as there are numerous ones that were created for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

You talked about the importance of acquiring a permanent space for the Federation. What are your next steps in this direction?

However, our Federation has never claimed any public space, resulting in the need for unbearable amounts of money to rent the necessary space. We will enter as a Federation into the vigorous claim of a minimum public space for chess. In any case, beyond my personal opinions, the opinion of the majority of our sports clubs becomes vital for our decisions and steps.

If you could summarize the changes you want to bring about in one proposal, what would it be?

In one sentence, I believe I can summarize what is going to change in Greek chess after these elections. After the elections of December 15, the Greek Chess Federation will turn a page! It will NOT be person-centered, BUT fair, collective, creative and effective.

About the author

Anna-Maria Botsari is a Greek chess player, who has held the title of women's grandmaster since 1992. She has won the title of Greek women's champion eight times. She won a bronze medal at the 1990 World Youth Chess Championship and a silver medal in 1991. She was the highest-rated Greek player for over three decades. She participated in the Women's World Interzonal Chess Championship in 1991, 1993 and 1996. She has represented Greece in seventeen Chess Olympiads from 1986 to 2018. Her best performance was 6th team place and fourth individual medal on the third board, at the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad, where she scored 8.5/12 points. She also had a good performance at the 35th Chess Olympiad in Bled with a score of 8.5/13 points. She has represented Greece in twelve European women's team chess championships from 1992 to 2017. Gold medal in the second board in Debrecen in 1992. Two individual gold medals (in 1992 and 1994) and a team gold medal in Varna in 1992 at the Balkan Women's Chess Championship. Mediterranean Gold Champion in 2009 at the 7th Mediterranean in Rijeka and others. She is a chess coach with an A rating from FIDE.

On February 27-28, 2002, she achieved a Guinness World Record in Simultane, in Kalavrita, playing with 1,102 opponents in more than 35 hours. She won 1,095 people and had 7 draws.

About Christos Pilalis

Christos Pilalis is a teacher and MSc in Statistics at the Athens University of Economics. He has been playing competitive chess since he was 11 years old, an international master in online chess (FIDE ARENA), an international trainer, international organizer and international arbiter of FIDE, and a member of the Board  of the Greek Chess Federation for 19 years. Within the framework of his duties on the Board of the Greek Chess Federation, he is President of the School Chess Commission and the Social Chess Commission. Ηe was Secretary of the Media and Communication Commission of ECU, while he was a member of the Commission for Chess in Education in the European Chess Union, as well as a member of the FIDE Commission for "Chess in Education" for 6 years. He has taught chess at the Military Academy of Cadets and in programs of parents' associations of primary schools. He has collaborated on chess with many newspapers and sports radio stations for the last 32 years. He has refereed major international tournaments as well as the friendly match between Anatoly Karpov and Vasilis Kotronias in 1997 in Athens.