The Turkish Chess Federation was granted the 2011 European Individual Women Championship, the 2011 European Women Rapid and the European Women Blitz. The contract was signed in March, 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia.
The Turkish Chess Federation has a concrete strategy in investing in women’s chess by supporting and organising Atatürk Memorial in 2008, FIDE Women Grand Prix in 2009, Women’s World Championship in 2010, ACP Women World Cup in 2009 and the events granted specifically for women are 2011 European Women Individual Championship, 2012 European Women Individual Championship, 2011 Women World Team Championship, ACP Women World Cup 2011, FIDE Women Grand Prix in 2012.
These last few weeks, we started to communicate with the General Secretary of ECU to finalise the details of this event and then as a result of insulting and condescending behaviour on her part we requested the intervention of the President of the ECU, Mr.Silvio Danaiolov.
None of those attempts have however worked, as you will see from the various emails and letters sent, and we were completely neglected by ECU management. This is really a big disappointment for me considering that I was the first person celebrating the victory of ECU President just after election and wishing him good luck in the next 4 years.
I also sent a last official message on 24th December 2010.
Again, we have not been answered.
After all this unfair approach, we have decided to withdraw from the organisation of the 2011 European Individual Women Championship. Event, may I add, which would have created chess history with prizes at the same level as the event in Aix les Bains. Please look at below for the prize fund comparison.
We will take under careful consideration the legal rights of Turkish Chess Federation in the next few days.
We try to hope that this will be the last conflict between TSF and ECU management, created for no reason.
We would like to draw your attention to these issues in the interest of ECU and its future.
Best regards,
Ali Nihat YAZICI
President
Bad for chess.
Very bad for chess. Someone gets insulted and the Turkish Chess Federation cancels an event to which it is contractually obligated to hold? This just shows you in what low repute the TCF holds female chessplayers. It is an insult all right, an insult to all women!
Jan Newton
Goddesschess
A lipstick rook. What a sexist logo!
“A lipstick rook. What a sexist logo!”
The logo could have been worse… a huge black battery powered Bishop.
More ‘great work’ from Danialov allowing this event to be canceled. I guess European chess deserves what they get by voting this man as their president.
That has to be absolutely the worst poster for a chess event ever. I’m not in Europe any more but I think I’d refuse to play just on the strength of that awful image!
I hope the Turkish Chess Federation doesn’t back out of the 2012 World Chess Olympiad as well! Perhaps FIDE should change the location of Olympiad now.
What a Shame !
Love the poster (lipstick Rook is very clever idea), and prizefund equal or better to Mens event is very interesting idea.
How sad officals who are meant to work together are clearly having serious problems, this is bad for the female players who would have played in this event, and the image of Chess
I would like to hear the other side before jumping to any conclusions. Perhaps Susan can tell us more later.
I guess the Turks figured they were way overpaying for European women chessplayers, especially after the latter’s poor performance in the Women’s World Championship, with none making the top four.
And then paying them the same or more as the open tournament? That truly made no sense.
A deal’s a deal, except when it is cancelled. What else could Danailov do? The Turks were not going to come up with the money.
I’ve just been reading the documents presented by the TCF to support this decision – and I can’t understand what’s going on at all. The corrections to the tournament conditions requested politely by Sava Stoisavljevic (who ran the Olympiad, very well indeed) seem to be completely reasonable.
http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/7453/makqm.jpg
homemade logo for men’s !!!