C/o Villa Babushka, Sir A
Freemantle Street, San Pawl Ta Targa NXR06, Malta
Countries present :
Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Libya, Malta, Slovenia, Turkey
Proxies obtained for
representation :
Cyprus, Lebanon, Morocco, Serbia & Montenegro,
Syria, Tunisia
1.
General Secretary’s Report
Mr.
Ali Nihat Yazici, General Secretary and President of Turkish Chess Federation
gave a summary of the timeline of events since the MCA was established in Bled
on the 9th of November 2002. A number of countries who had not been
in a position to sign the Articles of Association had still to send a formal
letter showing their full agreement to the statute. These were being chased.
The
MCA Board had organised, as planned, the 1st Junior Championships
for Boys and Girls in Ejelat, Libya between the 23rd of March 2003
and 29th March 2003. All Mediterranean Federations had been invited
irrespective of whether they had signed the Articles of Association yet. Apart
from some normal problems of communication with some countries the majority of
countries (around 20 from 22) had been contacted and the majority had confirmed
participation.
Unfortunately
as the tournament drew closed war broke out in Iraq and there were some last
minute cancellations by France, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia. The
tournament still went ahead with 14 boys and 10 girls competing in two separate
tournaments. The boys tournament was quite strong with three IMs and was won by
Dimitrios Mastrovasilis of Greece with a score of 8.5 / 9. The girls tournament
was won by Ana Srebrnic of Slovenia with a perfect score of 9/9 although she
had a close contest with Amina Mezioud of Algeria who finished in second place
on 8/9. Full results can be viewed at the MCA web-site :
http://www.tsf.org.tr/mca/events/1st_mca_junior_chess_championshi.htm
The
commitment to the success of these two events was also shown by the attendance
of the Deputy President of FIDE, Mr. George Makropoulos as well as continental
presidents for Europe, Mr. Boris Kutin, and for Africa, Mr. Nizar Elhaj who
were welcomed by the delegates.
Mr.
Yazici also explained that the MCA had requested a fee of 1000 Swiss Francs
since MCA had been registered as an Associate Member with FIDE. Whilst it was
recognised that these funds were not available currently the General Assembly
approved that they would pay the fee but that they would ask FIDE for a two
year grace before payment to ensure that the Association was working properly.
2.
Libyan FIDE Delegate’s Address
Mr. Al Nami Khalid then welcomed the MCA delegates
to Libya and on behalf of his Government and his Federation wished all
delegates a pleasant stay and hoped that the Assembly would be a big success.
He said that Libya had expressed full support for the MCA since it strongly
believed that such initiatives were positive both from a chess point of view for
the region and also from the perspective of improving the long standing
relationships between Mediterranean countries.
Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici then thanked the Libyan
Federation and Government for their superlative hospitality and organisation of
the General Assembly as well as the two Junior Championships in Ejelat.
3. FIDE Deputy President’s Address
Mr.
George Makropoulos said he was glad to be in Libya and see the evolution of the
Mediterranean Chess Association. They had attempted twice before to get this
Association off the ground and finally a dream had come true.
The
Mediterranean region was the most active area within FIDE and apart from the
numerous open tournaments held by all Mediterranean countries, the region had
held the last two Olympiads (Istanbul 2000 and Bled 2002) and were also holding
the next two (Menorca 2004 and Torino 2006). Additionally Mediterranean
countries such as Spain and Greece were regularly organising World and European
Junior / Youth events.
Historically
there has always been excellent relationships between all the Mediterranean
countries and this is reflected in sporting events, cultural events etc.. It
was also supported by the European Union who respected the importance of these
relationships in the Mediterranean. He also thanked His Excellency Eng.
Mohammad Al Gathafi for his keen interest in chess and offering to organise the
three opening events in Libya.
Mr.
Makropoulos said that he was available to discuss any issue and his commitment
to the success of the MCA was guaranteed. It was important however that
delegates would work hard together to get the results and achieve the
objectives set out clearly.
4. European
Chess Union President’s Address
Mr.
Boris Kutin echoed Mr. Makropoulos’s beliefs regarding the MCA and that the
events had started correctly with the Youth Championships. It was a tremendous
success to have got these two items so quickly off the ground and this would
allow the incoming board to organise other events throughout the rest of the
year.
There
was no doubt that with the co-operation of everyone, this organisation would be
a big benefit since the countries were relatively close and travel expenses
would thus be kept at moderate levels. There was also a high level of technical
standard in the Mediterranean region and the stronger nations would assist the
weaker nations possibly through technical camps or other ideas.
5. Other
Federation’s Addresses
Mr.
Sakis Kouvatsos from the Greek Chess Federation said that despite the problems
in Iraq, this was the best opportunity and he was positive that with everyone’s
support, the Association could prove to
be a big benefit to everyone. There were a lot of ideas and suggestions and
already the Board had shown its capacity to organise events despite the huge problems
of the war in Iraq.
Mr.
Geoffrey D Borg from the Malta Chess Federation said that a lot of work and
contact had gone into the organisation of these first events and the MCA
respected that parents may have problems with sending their children although
Libya had given an unconditional guarantee that there would be no problem with
security. In fact all players and delegates were treated with the highest
respect during their stay and there was no single incident to report. The
hospitality was extensive and everybody was appreciative of the participation
of players and delegates.
6. Future
events
The
Assembly then moved on to proposals for forthcoming events. Mr. Geoffrey D Borg
then informed the Assembly that the MCA had received a definite offer to host
the MCA Men’s and MCA Women’s Championship in Beirut between September
25th - October 6th, 2003. The Assembly
approved this proposal and thanked the Lebanese Chess Federation for their
offer. Full details of this event will be circulated to all Mediterranean
Federations in the next two weeks.
Additionally
it was proposed to hold a 9-round team tournament in November and it was later
agreed that ideally there should be a team tournament for men with a format of
4 players + 1 reserve and a tournament for women 2 players + 1 reserve with one
coach for both teams. This would give a maximum number of 9 people where
Federations entered two teams. It was estimated that there would be around
150-200 people at this event. The Board said that there were some countries who
had shown interest already but it would prefer a call for proposals at this
point in time and then inform the members later on about the organisation.
7. Changes to
the statute
Following
some recommendations made by the Assembly and discussions subsequently, some
amendments have been made to the statute. These amendments are reflected in the
attached statute. The most important amendment is the amplification of the
Board should other members wish to contribute towards the effective working of
the MCA.
11 (c) The
elected Board members may co-opt by majority vote any other person or persons
they deem appropriate. Persons co-opted to the Board will have full voting
rights as any other Board member and such appointment will be for the duration
of the Board’s period of election.
This means that anyone who is motivated to contribute
towards the MCA with some hard work is welcome to join the Board with full
voting rights. In this way there will be wider results achieved by the MCA. The
Board positions were also amplified from Bled to reflect direct
responsibilities for President, Deputy President, Vice President, General
Secretary and Treasurer.
8. Elections
The
nominations for election to the above mentioned five posts were then opened and
in effect only five nominations were directly received. Three other countries
have said that they would like to offer their services later on the year or
during 2004.
The
nominations received were for :
Eng. Mohammad Al Gathafi Libya
Dr. Sakis Kouvatsos Greece
Dr. Ammar Houry Lebanon
Mr. Geoffrey D Borg Malta
Eng. Ali Nihat Yazici Turkey
All
five nominations were accepted nem-com with a vote taken by the thirteen
countries represented personally or by proxy.
In
the subsequent Board elections the posts were decided as follows :
·
President – H.E. Eng.
Mohammad Al Gathafi (Libya)
·
Deputy President – Eng. Ali
Nihat Yazici (Turkey)
·
Vice President – Dr. Ammar
Houry (Lebanon)
·
Treasurer – Dr. Sakis
Kouvatsos (Greece)
·
General Secretary – Mr.
Geoffrey D Borg (Malta)
It was also agreed by the Board that despite offers
to host the secretariat by several countries, the work of the secretariat would
best be achieved if it was located in the same country as the General
Secretary. For this reason the address indicated above is temporary and a
permanent address and contact details will soon be forwarded to all
Federations.
9. Other
matters
The
Board also looked at a new logo for the MCA and also the possibility of a
dedicated web-site. Members were encouraged to propose ideas which would
enhance the MCA. The Board also decided that in the first year there would be
no subscription fees but members were encouraged to donate reasonable amounts
to the MCA to ensure the smooth working of the secretariat.