(Minutes of the 28th IPCA Congress in Ashdod on 12 May 2022.pdf)

28th IPCA Congress
Ashdod, Israel
May 12, 2022

The 28th IPCA Congress is meeting in Ashdod, Israel at the Leonardo Hotel (with a Zoom connection) during the 21st IPCA World Chess Championship 2022 on May 12, 2022 from 21:00 to 23:00 local time.

There were 14 people with the right to vote:
Eugenio Campos (Angola)
Valentova Eva Maria (Czech Republic)
Klein Dijmmy (France)
Mekus Manuela (Germany)
Zilberman Yacoov (Israel)
Pilimon Zbigniew (Poland) – Honorary IPCA President
Obodchuk Andrey (Russia)
Mikheev Stanislav (Serbia)
Nazarov Aleksandr (Spain) – IPCA Treasurer
Gurina Galyna (Ukraine)
Gerasimova Svetlana (Russia) – IPCA President
Gurbanov Andrei (Israel) – 1st Vice President IPCA
Glazar Domagoj (Croatia) – Zoom
Olexandr Prohorov (Ukraine) (Zoom) – General Secretary IPCA
Nazarov Aleksandr (Spain) – Zoom – IPCA Treasurer

1. Svetlana Gerasimova spoke on the first question and spoke about the emergence of a new Federation (Angola). He also played the first Grandmaster from Israel (Zilberman Yaccov) in the tournament of the 21st World Championship. Of course, all this has a positive effect on the development of our IPCA organization. 1.1. Ukraine, Czech Republic, Serbia, Poland, Russia, Israel – we thank the athletes of these countries for many years of experience in participating in our championships.

2. Elections of the chairman and secretary of the Congress (voted by list, see further on the agenda).

3. Report of the IPCA President on the work done for the period 2018- 2022. Gerasimova Svetlana made a report on the work done:

3.1. The legal registration of our organization is made in Spain, there is an official Charter. 3.2. A working website of the IPCA organization has been made. 3.3. For 4 years, our organization has participated in the following tournaments: men’s and women’s teams in the World Chess Olympiad in Batumi (Georgia, 2018), in the 2nd and 3rd world championships among juniors (USA), in the 19th World Championship in Ružomberok (Slovakia) , 2019), in the 1st World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Torrevieja (Spain, 2021). The IPCA team participated in the Confederations Cup in Ankara (Turkey, 2019) and took 1st place. 3.4. These 4 years of my presidency were difficult, as the Covid pandemic began in 2020. It was possible to hold chess tournaments online. 120 people participated in 1 online World Championship. And in 2022, about 30 countries participated in the same format of the competition. We held the World Cup online. In 2021, the first ever online Olympiad took place. 3.5. New tournaments have appeared: World Blitz and Rapid Championship (held in Torrevieja, Spain). Also in 2018 and 2019 Ilya Lipilin at the World Championships in the USA (among juniors) took 1st place. Maxim Petrov also performed successfully (2-3 places)

3.6 50000 euros were attracted and spent on the registration of our organization, holding tournaments, as well as to help the chess player from Ukraine Ihor Yarmonov and his wife Galyna Gurina. 3.7. G. Gurina thanked the IPCA President S. Gerasimova for the official letter, thanks to which it was possible to organize the evacuation of the Yarmonov family from Mariupol, as well as to take part in the 21st World Championship in Ashdod. Words of gratitude were also expressed to FIDE, the Israeli Chess Federation, Ashdod Mayor’s Office, IPCA 1st Vice-President A. Gurbanov, all caring people, for their help. 4. There was an active discussion on the issue of the election of the President of the IPCA. 4.1. Svetlana Gerasimova proposed to re-elect herself for a second term. Zbigniew Pylimon proposed to nominate Andrei Gurbanov. Because it solves a lot of problems due to the political situation. The world protests against Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. Serious sanctions apply. Further, it will be difficult to attract funding and hold tournaments if Svetlana Gerasimova is re-elected as IPCA President. Zbigniew Pilimon
proposed to elect S. Gerasimova as the 1st vice-president of IPCA. 4.2. Svetlana Gerasimova emphasized in her program that the most important thing is to achieve the inclusion of such a discipline as chess in the program of the Paralympic Games. IPCA Presidential Candidate Andrei Gurbanov in his program focused on the development of children’s chess and the expansion of the geography of IPCA tournaments. A. Gurbanov proposes a new interesting project: Integration Tournaments. The point is that Andrei wants people with disabilities to participate in many tournaments on preferential terms, with other funding. In turn, A. Gurbanov will be able to attract sponsorship money for the development of our organization.

4.3. Svetlana Gerasimova proposed the composition of the Presidential Council:

1) Gerasimova Svetlana – President of IPCA,
2) Gurbanov Andrei – 1
st Vice-president,
3) Glazar Domagoj – 2
nd Vice-president,
4) Olexandr Prohorov – General Secretary,
5) Nazarov Aleksandr – Treasurer,
6) Pilimon Zbigniew – Honorary President. Andrey Gurbanov proposes the composition of the Presidential Council:
1) Gurbanov Andrey – President of IPCA,
2) Gerasimova Svetlana – 1st Vice President,
3) Glazar Domagoj – 2nd Vice-President,
4) Olexandr Prohorov – General Secretary,
5) Nazarov A. – Treasurer,
6) Pilimon Zbigniew – Honorary President.

Further, the secretary of the Congress, Galyna Gurina, suggested that all participants proceed to voting. S. Gerasimova took the floor. She informed all those present that she had received a letter from L. Zhiltsova. And she read the following text:

“Good afternoon, Madam President!
We are outraged that despite the ban of the Federation, the athlete Igor Yarmonov takes part in the World Cup. I draw your attention to the fact that he does not represent our state, Ukraine, at this competition, but simply performs individually. I ask you to remove the flag of our state in front of the name of Ihor Yarmonov. I inform you that the athlete Yarmonov Igor violated the terms of the contract. Hope for understanding. sincerely yours,

Liubov Zhyltsova
President of Sport Federation of Blind of Ukraine”

The first to take the floor was Stanislav Mikheev (Serbia), who asked for clarification: this letter was sent on an official letterhead, with an outgoing number, and signed by which official Ukrainian official? And he said that this letter is unofficial. Zbigniew Pylimon spoke and stressed: Igor Yarmonov has the title of Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine, has been participating in the IPCA Championships since 2002, and as a FIDE member has the right to represent his country. 4.4. Secretary of the Congress Galyna Gurina (Ukraine) proposed to proceed directly to voting. Svetlana Gerasimova took the floor and said:

In order for representatives of countries to vote in elections, it is necessary to have permission from the Chess Federation of their country that an athlete has the right to represent his country. And she cited the case with Yarmonov as an example, that he does not have the right to vote from Ukraine. This caused general indignation among those present. Andrey Gurbanov spoke: The permission of the Federation to vote of its representative can be obtained. But why does S. Gerasimova announce this only now?

A discussion broke out, after which Zbigniew Pylimon took the floor. He stressed that the Charter of our organization (IPCA) does not mention this. He was supported by Galina Gurina and said that in 2019 we all filled out the Declaration of Individual Membership in IPCA. Each member of the organization is obliged to comply with the Charter. At the end we moved on to voting. For the candidacy of Andrey Gurbanov, 7 people voted in favor, 0 against, 2 abstained. As a result: a new President of the IPCA organization was elected for the period 2022-2026. Andrey Gurbanov (Israel). Svetlana Gerasimova (Russia) – 1st Vice President of IPCA. Glazar Domagoj (Croatia) – 2nd Vice President of IPCA. Olexandr Prohorov (Ukraine) – General Secretary of IPCA. Alexander Nazarov (Spain) – Treasurer of IPCA. Zbigniew Pilimon (Poland) – Honorary President of IPCA. 5. Domagoj Glazar spoke via video link. And he proposed to hold the 22nd IPCA Individual World Championship in Croatia, Dubrovnik (or Makarska Porridge or Porec) in 2023. Glazar Domagoj asked for 1 month to check the conditions of living and movement for people with disabilities. Andrei Gurbanov suggested a fallback: Spain. These options were voted unanimously.

Head
Svetlana Gerasimova

Secretary
Galina Gurina (Ukraine)