FIDE will conduct an extraordinary General Assembly in Abu Dhabi this week to consider adopting a new charter which would reshape the organization. Details are on the FIDE website
We have spent the day working with FIDE officials to smooth out some issues with the proposed charter. I think all of our group is here now. One task is to try to get a US representative elected to fill the seat on the Ethics Commission held by Ruth Haring before her unfortunate loss. Dave Hater has made the trip for that purpose. He has served for many years on our ethics committee and served as a US Army G1 - which is tasked with dealing with the administration of disciplinary procedures. We think he would be a great candidate. There are 6 nominations. If the new charter passes there will be 2 more added to that commission for a total of 3 seats to be elected. If the charter does not pass there will be only the one seat up.
Will the FIDE Presidential Board consider all the title applications sometime this week? I know there was no 4th quarter meeting, and some American players have been waiting since September.
They meet today. I don’t know if that is on the agenda
The US Chess nominee to the seat Ruth Haring held on the Ethics Commission was elected to the seat. The new FIDE charter passed overwhelmingly.
The FIDE Executive Board met on Saturday and approved a series of titles. There was one US GM norm rejected. We worked to get that decision reversed but have not yet been successful.
What, overall, is your opinion of the new charter?
Bill Smythe
I addressed that in my response to the CLO article. In short the first draft had serious problems. We wrote a 12 page response of needed changes. We were able to review and request changes in subsequent drafts, included the night before it was submitted to the EGA. As I said in the floor this is not perfect but it is a good step forward. We publicly urged delegates to support the new charter. It passed something like 120-1 with 1 abstention.