ACP President Emil Sutovsky Proposes Special Fund for Veteran Chess Players

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

The ACP president Emil Sutovsky published an open letter in which he addresses FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov with a proposal to establish a special three-year program. Here is the letter: 

"Dear Mr. President,

Let me address you on behalf of the ACP Board at a time when the cooperation between FIDE and the ACP is bearing important fruits in the World Championship cycle stability, Anti-Cheating effort and other important fields.

I'd like to address you on a topic which is at the very heart of the long life of a chess player.

Many living chess players, in the course of their career, have had a substantial impact on the chess and cultural life of their countries, and continue to be a powerful source of inspiration for the younger generations worldwide long time after they passed their prime.

True chess legends, who maintained the chess glory and tradition throughout the years, often without a significant financial reward. We all grew up on their games, read the books written by these noble veterans, and - more in general - the chess world owes a lot to these masters who preserved and enriched our unique chess culture.

The rewarding status of chess legend, however, often clashes with the resulting economic position, especially once age takes its toll and the time for retirement comes. Unfortunately, in most cases, the later years are very difficult years for these noble veterans, who often become forgotten by the contemporary world and usually have little or no access to pension funds or other sustenance. In these circumstances even a small help can sometimes make a big change.

Hence, I address you, Mr.President, not only on behalf of the ACP, but also on behalf of all the people who love our game and value its history and tradition.

We, as ACP, believe that FIDE, as the governing international body of chess, has a unique opportunity and duty to make an important change in the lives of these people, showing the solidarity of the chess community towards those who dedicated their life to our beloved game

In the past you have personally helped several chess legends, but it is very important that this help becomes systematic and sustainable

At the same time, the ACP, that represents chess professionals and guards their rights, volunteers to play an important role in this process by acting as independent assessor for FIDE.

Dear Mr. President, on behalf of the ACP, I suggest that FIDE establish a special three-year program ensuring financial help to our noble veterans. I'd ask to allocate 50,000 USD per year for this purpose (150,000 USD for three years). The ACP is ready to take upon itself the burden and responsibility to carry out all the preparatory work and submit the list of veterans (ten different players every year, aged 65+) who will be entitled to receive a one-time payment of 5,000 USD each.

Dear Mr. President, on behalf of the ACP Board I trust that you will be sympathetic to the importance of our proposal and wholeheartedly adopt it with a view to helping to the chess legends who carried the chess heritage to the present day.

Respectfully yours,
Emil Sutovsky,
President of ACP

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