MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/. The Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the development of chess on the territory of Russia and member states of the Asian organization, the press service of the CFR said in a statement on Monday.
The ceremony that took place at the CFR's Chess Museum, was attended by Executive Director of the Chess Federation of Russia Alexander Tkachev and General Secretary of the Asian Chess Federation Hisham Al Taher.
"May 1, 2023, the Chess Federation of Russia becomes a full member of the Asian Chess Federation. It will allow Russian chess players to participate in a large number of major international competitions. Besides, it becomes possible to organize the most important tournaments of the Asian calendar in our country. CFR has become the first among all sports federations of Russia to transit into the Asian federation, thus setting a positive example for other Russian sports organizations," the statement reads.
The purpose of strategic cooperation with the ACF is to strengthen friendly relations among professional athletes, to jointly organize personal and team tournaments of high level, and to hold friendly matches and tournaments among athletes of ACF member countries, the CFR noted.
On February 28, delegates of the General Assembly of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) voted to admit the Chess Federation of Russia into the organization. The decision of the transition from the European Chess Union to the Asian Chess Federation was taken by the organization’s Supervisory Board on April 14, 2002 and was approved by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Council on February 22.