CONFEDERATION OF CHESS FOR AMERICA`S BOARD MEETING January 25-28, 2008

In the city of San Salvador in El Salvador, the members of the Continental Bureau of the CCA conducted their annual meeting according to the requirement in the bylaws.

Present at the meeting was Continental President and member of the FIDE Presidential Board, Mr. Jorge Vega; General Secretary Beatriz Marinello, USA; Treasurer of CCA and Chairman of the FIDE CACDEC Commission Allan Herbert, Barbados; Member of the FIDE Executive Board and Chairman of the FIDE Chess in the Schools Commission, Uvencio Blanco, Venezuela; 2.3 Zonal President and President of the EL Salvador Chess Federation, Erick Hernandez; President and Chairman of the Guatemalan Chess Federation, President of the Bolivian Chess Federation and Vice-Presidents of the Costa Rica and Panama Chess Federations.

We also welcomed a special guest Mr. Manuel Arriaga, Vice President of the EL Salvador Olympic Committee, who spoke on behalf of national authorities. Later Mr. Hernandez gave the official welcome on behalf of the EL Salvador Chess Federation.

The President gave an extensive report on the activities during the year 2007, explaining the achievements of America in this period, worldwide, especially securing the headquarters of the Men`s World Championship held in Mexico, the Women`s World Championship to be held in Argentina this year, the World Under 20 2009, and , the adoption of the rotation of the sites for the World Youth Championships into a four-year cycle, which ensures that the World Youth Championship will take place in our continent in the year 2011.

This, he said, is a result of the respect the Americas has earned in FIDE because of the support provided by the national federations and the unity, which ensures promoting the interests of the Continent.

Mr. Vega explained the projections and work that needs to be accomplished in 2008, as well as the plan leading up to 2012.

Highlights included, the progress and importance of the Regional Youth Festivals in the North, Central and South America, which, were designed to promote regional chess.

Another important event is the School Championship which will be held in Brazil.
The success of the Central and South American U-20 allows obtaining international titles and Grand Master norms.

These events created by the CCA, are not being hosted in other continents and are a result of collaborative efforts.

In connection with the website, the President provided a great deal of information, saying that the CCA site got about 1,300,000 hits in 2007, leading to the conclusion that CCA has a substantial Internet presence.

Mr. Vega presented the statistics for the site in a ``monthly basis`` format. He reported that during the month of January 2008, the website reached 150,000 hits which forecast a good year for the website.

He said that all these accomplishments could not be achieved without the support and contributions of the people who work together as a team.

Since CCA is a confederation of national federations, any feedback, comments and suggestions must be channeled through the national federations according to our official regulations.

The President concluded his report by thanking the national federations and the members of the Board for their support and efforts.

We have many more successes ahead of us.

Following this discussion, the delegate from Panama intervened to say that they were receiving e-mails which contain a series of fabrications, assumptions, and, in some cases personal attacks, aiming to poison the confidence in CCA.

The representatives of the Costa Rican Chess Federation made clear that their federation has no association, nor, do they support the contents of these e-mails, another member of the Costa Rican Chess federation, who participated in these comments, expressed his personal opinion.

In response to the delegate from Panama, Mr.Vega reiterated that the CCA was open to all Member Federations, but, it should not give importance to such comments, or be drawn to discussions of fallacies or assumptions of demagogic character which are products of people`s imagination.

Mr. Vega believes that it is best not to respond to such personal insults because the truth and the work done for the Continent speaks for itself.

The President`s report was approved unanimously with applause.

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The next item in the agenda was a report from Mr. Uvencio Blanco, Chairman of the FIDE Chess in the School Commission.

Mr. Blanco gave a presentation on the work with short and long terms goals, as well as the long term tasks. Mr. Blanco was unanimously approved.

In relation to the FIDE Chess in the Schools commission, the Board approved the creation of the Americas Chess in the Schools Commission. The Board appointed Mr. Blanco as the Chairman of this commission, therefore, authorizing him to appoint the members of this commission to coordinate the work in this area.

Mr. Herbert , the CCA Treasurer, gave a comprehensive report of the Treasury, with a careful balance of the revenues and expenditures, as well as the budget for the current year based on statistics from previous years. The report was handed to all people present at the meeting and will be sent to the national federations for their information.

Mr. Herbert also presented the budget for CACDEC and gave a progress report about what was done in 2007. In view of this progress, FIDE increased the budget substantially for the CACDEC Federations.

The Treasurer said that the FIDE acknowledged the CCA for submitting reports and receipts faster than any other Continent.

Due to the lack of knowledge that has affected organizers and federations in the way they submit reports of tournaments and events, Mr. Herbert announced a CACDEC seminar.

This seminar will focus on the program Swiss Manager and the methodology for reporting FIDE events for validation and ratings. It will take place in San Salvador in conjunction with the Pan American Women's Championship.

Speaking in his capacity as chairman of CACDEC, Mr. Herbert announced that the Committee would support players from CACDEC federations, with a bonus of US$500.

This bonus will be awarded to the top CACDEC player in each category at the Pan American Youth Festival.

These players need to be placed among the top 20 in each category, and the assistance is aiming to help them participate in the World Youth Championships. This bonus is personal and non-transferable and applies only to players who participate in the World Youth Championships.

Mr. Herbert explained that this project has been in discussion since 2006 and has finally been realized. The Treasurer`'s report was unanimously approved and received a round of applause.
The President thanked Mr. Erick Hernandez, President of the Salvadoran Chess Federation and Zone 2.3, for hosting the meeting and for his continued support of the CCA.
He concluded the meeting with an expression of gratitude for the support received by Engineer Isuzi, Chairman of Indes, who has been instrumental to the chess activities in Zone 2.3 and CCA.

The meeting ended at 12:00 noon.