Q&A with Bessel Kok
18.02.2006
Dutch businessman and long-time chess supporter Bessel Kok has thrown his hat into the ring to run for the presidency of FIDE, the international chess federation. We submitted a list of questions, including several from readers, and received detailed responses on issues such as sponsorship, time controls, and of course, the world championship.
The campaign team of Bessel Kok and Ali Nihat Yazici, presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the FIDE leadership in this year’s elections solicited questions. We have also submitted similar questions to the current FIDE administration and will be happy to publish their responses. Our thanks to Mr. Kok for his time and his thoughts.
1) What other sports federations can FIDE learn from and why? What specific initiatives could we import? (Thanks to Matt Phelps)
There is no doubt that at this point in time FIDE has a lot to learn and adjust to in the modern world. I initially had some talks with the Chairperson of the Netherlands Olympic Committee, Ms Erica Terpstra and I have also visited the offices of UCI (International Cycling Union) in Aigle, Switzerland and was invited to see how they are doing things there. Despite the problem that this sport may have with drugs they are doing a great job.
The team has also reviewed the business models of successful organizations such as FIFA, UEFA and FIBA to see what we can learn from them. We have also looked internally of course to chess Federations that have been successful these last few years and looked at the Turkish business model to identify which facets of an organization very close to home could be imported into FIDE.
These include in summary format:
• Better marketing skills in promoting the benefits and image of chess
• Better communication between the executive team and top players or stakeholders
• Better use of information technology
• Better financial planning
• Better management of resources available
• Attracting more commercial sponsors to the game
• Effective distribution of funds to develop the sport
These areas are all being developed in further detail in an overall strategic plan which would form the basis of the way forward for a NEW FIDE!
2) FIDE’s stated goals are admirable but vague. FIDE must try to please professional players, amateurs and fans, and the federations themselves, which in many cases have developed interests separate from the players they represent. Is your view more trickle-down or bottom-up? I.e., emphasize the professionals so they can spread the game via spectacle or spread the game wider at the grassroots directly? Perhaps we could put it this way, if a donation of a million dollars comes in to put toward new initiatives (or expand current ones), how would it be distributed? Should FIDE itself sponsor pro events, amateur events? (Thanks to rockrobinoff)
We believe that even the way our team ticket has been made up clearly addresses these precise points. I have an excellent legacy of honest, open and transparent communication with Grandmasters coming of course from the GMA days. My colleague, Ali Nihat, has revolutionized, literally, the game of chess in Turkey by addressing the grassroots. From around 1,000 members in 2000 they now have a membership level of around 120,000 people and the target is to go to around 3 million by the end of 2010 ! Funds should be directed towards promoting the grass roots and expanding our player base. What we are expecting is that FIDE’s budgeted activity reflects what is expected from the world federation. Today the Turkish Chess Federation budget alone is over 2 million Euros per year! We have no idea what we have been missing out on all these years.
3) As president, how would you define success or failure in various areas? What would you expect/hope to have achieved after one year, two years?
Success can be measured firstly by the number of players that Federations start to reflect in their membership numbers. Then it is reflected in the financial position of these same Federations. Failure would be reflected by the situation we have today where a very large number of Federations are still not capable of paying to FIDE annual dues of between 1,000 to 2000 Swiss francs per annum. Despite all the millions that the current administration claim to have poured into chess, we are still left with a legacy of poor Federations both financially and structurally.
Within the first two years we would like to see an overhaul of the business model so that the organization is staffed with competent people who are capable of discussing and promoting the game with sponsors and stakeholders. People who are accountable to the chess world and who have to deliver results.
4) How can we balance corporate sponsorship with the traditions of the game? Must we be reduced to doing whatever sells or are there any lines that can’t be crossed? E.g. if Samsung or ESPN says they’d put up millions for world championship decided by blitz shuffle chess, exaggerating to make the point.
A stable, united, classical World Championship is an objective that everybody in the professional chess world desires today. Sponsors are not the people who are demanding changes in the basic parameters of the cycle. Ideas such as the time control of 90+30 or a World Championship based solely on a knockout, were dreamt up by the FIDE Presidential Board, implemented and only after the massive protests all round the world, were these ideas shelved or changed. Obviously it took at least couple of years for these mistakes to be acknowledged by the current administration.
What do sponsors want ? They want a professional organization to deal with who is consistent and communicative. It appears today that we are doing sponsors a favour when we allow them to talk to us ! We believe there are enough sponsors out there willing to back chess but they want a commitment that the organization is being professionally managed. We are confident that we can offer this perspective to them.
5) FIDE officially represents the federations, not the individual players. Should FIDE be more involved in promoting the sports’ stars?
Of course, the icons of the sport or our chess heroes are what normally start to motivate somebody who has learned the game, and who has started to play to take a more serious interest in the sport. Our icons are however poorly promoted. The chess world suffers from having the image limited to a very few number of people. If you ask the general public to mention top chess players I doubt whether they could recall more than two or three names!
How do you address this lacuna? Well, by first bringing respectability back to the game. By getting major sponsors in IT, telecommunications, leading consumer goods to back our strategy and work with us for a common interest. There are lots of great people in the chess world and we must not be averse to singing their praises and promoting them.
The rest of the Q&A can be read here http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2929
It seems that Bessel Kok is a serious candidate.