{"id":41658,"date":"2025-12-11T09:25:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=41658"},"modified":"2025-12-11T09:28:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:28:05","slug":"fide-director-for-chess-development-visits-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/fide-director-for-chess-development-visits-ethiopia\/","title":{"rendered":"FIDE Director for Chess Development visits Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In his ongoing efforts to promote chess across Africa, FIDE Director for Chess Development, Grandmaster Nigel Short<\/strong>, paid a three-day visit to Ethiopia. He held a series of strategic meetings with local sports authorities, marking a significant step in strengthening the growth of chess in the country.<\/p>

Upon arrival in Addis Ababa on December 5, Nigel Short was welcomed by Mekiyu Mohammed<\/strong>, Minister of Sport Development and Teshome Bekele Geleta<\/strong>, President of Ethiopian Chess Federation (ECF)<\/p>

During their meeting, Minister Mekiyu Mohammed reaffirmed the government’s full support for the newly elected ECF leadership and expressed a strong commitment to close cooperation to elevate chess development nationwide. He emphasized the government’s readiness to facilitate and support the establishment of a FIDE Africa Office and ACC (African Chess Confederation) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, citing the city’s global diplomatic significance as the seat of the African Union and numerous international organizations. He highlighted that hosting these offices would accelerate both local and regional chess development.<\/p>

Nigel Short underlined the global and educational importance of chess, reaffirming FIDE\u2019s readiness to support the Ethiopian Chess Federation across all development areas. He warmly welcomed the government\u2019s willingness to host FIDE and ACC offices in Addis Ababa, stressing the strategic importance such a move would bring to the continent.<\/p>

Teshome Bekele Geleta\u00a0expressed appreciation for the government\u2019s continuous support and FIDE\u2019s commitment. He noted that the Federation has ambitious plans to make chess an integral part of Ethiopian culture and highlighted that support from both the Ministry and FIDE is crucial to achieving this vision.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A second key meeting was held with Gezahagn<\/strong>, a Senior Official of the Ethiopian Olympic Committee (EOC), and Teshome Bekele Geleta. The FIDE Director emphasized the strategic importance of collaboration between the EOC and the Chess Federation, particularly in preparation for global events such as the Chess Olympiad.<\/p>

Gezahagn expressed the EOC\u2019s readiness to support the newly elected Federation leadership and to strengthen ongoing cooperation. Teshome Bekele Geleta conveyed his gratitude for the EOC\u2019s commitment and reiterated the Federation\u2019s readiness to work closely with the Olympic structure in all areas of mutual interest.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nigel Short also attended both the opening and closing ceremonies of the National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. He presided over the medal ceremony at the closing event, which served as a major motivation and source of inspiration for participating players and the chess community.<\/p>

As part of his visit, Nigel Short gave a simultaneous exhibition against 15 Ethiopian players, winning ten games, drawing three and losing two. Short remarked that this was one of the hardest simuls he had ever given and commended the high level and fighting spirit of the Ethiopian players.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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FIDE Director for Chess Development also held an in-depth consultation with senior leaders of the Ethiopian Chess Federation. The discussion focused on long-term pathways for chess development, capacity building, and FIDE-ECF partnership enhancement.<\/p>

Teshome Bekele Geleta expressed deep appreciation for GM Short\u2019s timely and impactful visit, noting that it brought renewed motivation to players and administrators alike.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For his part, Nigel Short reaffirmed FIDE\u2019s commitment to supporting Ethiopia in all aspects of chess development and expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality extended during his stay.<\/p>

Photos: Chess in Ethiopia<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his ongoing efforts to promote chess across Africa, FIDE Director for Chess Development, Grandmaster Nigel Short, paid a three-day visit to Ethiopia. He held a series of strategic meetings with local sports authorities, marking a significant step in strengthening the growth of chess in the country. Upon arrival in Addis Ababa on December 5, Nigel Short was welcomed by Mekiyu Mohammed, Minister of Sport Development and Teshome Bekele Geleta, President of Ethiopian Chess Federation (ECF) During their meeting, Minister Mekiyu Mohammed reaffirmed the government’s full support for the newly elected ECF leadership and expressed a strong commitment to close cooperation to elevate chess development nationwide. He emphasized the government’s readiness to facilitate and support the establishment of a FIDE Africa Office and ACC (African Chess Confederation) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, citing the city’s global diplomatic significance as the seat of the African Union and numerous international organizations. He highlighted that hosting these offices would accelerate both local and regional chess development. Nigel Short underlined the global and educational importance of chess, reaffirming FIDE\u2019s readiness to support the Ethiopian Chess Federation across all development areas. He warmly welcomed the government\u2019s willingness to host FIDE and ACC offices in Addis Ababa, stressing the strategic importance such a move would bring to the continent. Teshome Bekele Geleta\u00a0expressed appreciation for the government\u2019s continuous support and FIDE\u2019s commitment. He noted that the Federation has ambitious plans to make chess an integral part of Ethiopian culture and highlighted that support from both the Ministry and FIDE is crucial to achieving this vision. A second key meeting was held with Gezahagn, a Senior Official of the Ethiopian Olympic Committee (EOC), and Teshome Bekele Geleta. The FIDE Director emphasized the strategic importance of collaboration between the EOC and the Chess Federation, particularly in preparation for global events such as the Chess Olympiad. Gezahagn expressed the EOC\u2019s readiness to support the newly elected Federation leadership and to strengthen ongoing cooperation. Teshome Bekele Geleta conveyed his gratitude for the EOC\u2019s commitment and reiterated the Federation\u2019s readiness to work closely with the Olympic structure in all areas of mutual interest. Nigel Short also attended both the opening and closing ceremonies of the National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. He presided over the medal ceremony at the closing event, which served as a major motivation and source of inspiration for participating players and the chess community. As part of his visit, Nigel Short gave a simultaneous exhibition against 15 Ethiopian players, winning ten games, drawing three and losing two. Short remarked that this was one of the hardest simuls he had ever given and commended the high level and fighting spirit of the Ethiopian players. FIDE Director for Chess Development also held an in-depth consultation with senior leaders of the Ethiopian Chess Federation. The discussion focused on long-term pathways for chess development, capacity building, and FIDE-ECF partnership enhancement. Teshome Bekele Geleta expressed deep appreciation for GM Short\u2019s timely and impactful visit, noting that it brought renewed motivation to players and administrators alike. For his part, Nigel Short reaffirmed FIDE\u2019s commitment to supporting Ethiopia in all aspects of chess development and expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality extended during his stay. Photos: Chess in Ethiopia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[83],"regular":[],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-41658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fide-news","tag-fide-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41658"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41674,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41658\/revisions\/41674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41658"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=41658"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=41658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}