Borg elected to important posts

Following the FIDE (International Chess Federation) congress held late last year, Maltese delegate Geoffrey D. Borg was elected to a number of important posts.

The official posts that Mr Borg now holds are Auditor to the European Chess Union, General Secretary of the Small Nations Chess Association and council member of the Mediterranean Chess Association. This is the first time that a Maltese official has been elected to posts in these Chess Organisations.

The European Chess Union (ECU) encompasses 56 European countries including the most important chess-playing nations of the world like Russia. The Small Nations Chess Association (SNCA) is a worldwide organisation that caters for those countries that have a population of two million people or under, including renowned chess nations like Slovenia and Iceland.

The Mediterranean Chess Association (MCA) comprises 29 countries and include Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Turkey amongst others.

Geoffrey Borg was instrumental in the setting up of both the SNCA and MCA. He is the holder of the FIDE Master title and has been the top-rated local player for a number of years. He was captain of the Maltese team in the Bled Olympiads.

It is envisaged that this increased international involvement will yield direct benefits to Maltese Chess. In fact, it is already starting to pay off.

Malta has received an invitation to participate in an international tournament this February organised by Lebanon who have offered Malta a special concession of sending two players instead of one. Other international tournaments are being planned in Turkey and Libya that also include junior participation.

Sammut Briffa achieves international rating

Following the Olympiads in Bled, Slovenia, current Malta champion Peter Sammut Briffa has achieved the coveted international rating by FIDE. This rating is given to those players that have played the required number of games and whose performance is deemed to have reached international levels.

The number of Maltese players who have an international rating has now risen to 17. The January 2003 FIDE rating list shows that nine players are active, while the others haven't played internationally during the last two years.

Malta's active players are: Geoffrey D. Borg (2,355), Duncan Vella (2,198), Victor Cilia Vincenti (2,191), Joe J. Grech (2,170), Colin Pace (2,154), Harry Camilleri (2,139), Andrew Borg (2,123), Stefan Camilleri (2,100) and Peter Sammut Briffa (2,091).