On a Visit to Curaçao, Karpov Meets Caribbean Chess Leaders

On August 9-11, Anatoly Karpov and Richard Conn visited Curaçao as part of their FIDE presidency campaign and to promote chess in the Caribbean region. Their visit came after the Curaçao International Chess Festival. As Curaçao has an active chess life and a long tradition of international chess events, a large number of chess fans and local journalists turned out to greet the former champion and his deputy.  The local organizers, Fabio Mensing and Quirino Richardson, had prepared a full program for the visiting challengers and had invited local media to accompany them during their visit. Also on hand were representatives of the chess federations of Jamaica, Surinam, and Guyana, who had come to Curaçao to meet with the chess legend. 

During their short but eventful visit, Karpov and Conn met with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles, Emily de Jongh Elhage. The government and Caribbean chess federations consider chess an important educational tool for elementary school students. One of the initiatives is to donate chess sets to elementary schools. The Antillean Chess Federation organized a ceremony in the Avilla Beach Hotel where representatives of the elementary schools were invited to receive their chess sets personally from Anatoly Karpov and Mrs. Alcala- Walle, the Commissioner of Education, Sports and Culture.

Karpov had several meetings with representatives of Caribbean chess federations to discuss strategies to further develop chess in the region. One traditional problem is the high travel and lodging costs for international competitions, making Caribbean islands a less than obvious venue for chess events. Following the meetings, the former champion played a simultaneous match against talented local youth players.

The 2010 Curacao International Chess Festival was held from July 23 through August 1. On the agenda were the traditional Open tournament and a Youth tournament. The Open tournament is always an interesting mix of chess players from the Caribbean region, Europe, the United States and South America. (See more info about the event on the federation’s official site).

Anatoly Karpov also went to work “behind the scenes” and, as a result, had some very good news for the Organization Committee of the Curaçao International Chess Festival: the Curaçao cellular company Chippie has agreed to be one of the major sponsors of the 2011 Chess Festival.

Karpov and representatives of the region’s chess federations concluded their visit with a sailing tour. Karpov demonstrated his qualities behind the wheel of the yacht. In the coming months we shall know if Karpov will also get to steer FIDE through quiet and rough seas.

Karpov, Konn and regional chess leaders steer the Insulinde through the Caribbean Sea 

Following the team’s discussions with the Caribbean chess officials in Curaçao on August 19, Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) announced that an agreement has been signed by Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname to establish a Caribbean Chess Union (CCU). The planned umbrella organization shall be fashioned after  the CARICOM, and vested with the power to make decisions on behalf of the entire  Caribbean chess community and represent it at international forums.

Guyana was represented by president of the GCF, Errol Tiwari, Jamaica by the president of the Jamaican Chess Federation Ian Wilkinson, Netherlands Antilles by the president of its Chess Federation Ludwig Abad and Suriname by the president of the Suriname Chess Federation Dr Carlos Dos Ramos. Click here to read the full report on the agreement.

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