The Irish Chess Union

The Galway Chess Club Committee has refused an ICU member entry to the Galway Rapid Play event without providing specific reasons to the member concerned. This member appealed the decision and sought the assistance of the ICU in his dealings with the Galway Organising Committee after waiting for a considerable time for a response to his appeal of their decision.

As no specific reason was advanced in support of the organiser’s decision, the ICU decided to take action in support of its member’s rights to fair procedures. Proposals were put forward by the ICU as means of resolving the issue, but unfortunately, the Organising Committee responded by making unreasonable demands that would have significantly infringed the rights of the member involved and was completely unacceptable to the ICU.

Accordingly, the Organising Committee was advised that the ICU would not be meeting the costs of facilitating the FIDE rating of the event.

It is noted from a recent post on the Galway Chess Club’s Website that the Organising Committee has chosen to seek FIDE’s intervention in the matter. The ICU will be happy to engage with FIDE on this issue. The relevant FIDE Officials will be provided with the full facts surrounding this case so that they can make an informed decision about the rating of the event and any other matters that may emerge during the course of our anticipated engagement with FIDE.

It is also noted that regrettably a second ICU member has just been refused entry to the Galway Rapid Play event without being given due process and it is expected that this latest case will also be the subject of engagement with FIDE in due course.