Nigel Short is an English chess Grandmaster and Vice President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He holds a wealth of international tournaments under his belt dating back to the 1970s. In 1984, Short was awarded the title of grandmaster, the youngest in the world at the time to receive such title. Furthermore, in 1993 he was also the first person to represent Britain as a candidate for the World Chess Championship. At present, he is the only chess player in the world to have won tournaments in six (6) different continents.
Upon interview with Emonews Ltd., Short was ecstatic to announce that a federation has been formed to introduce chess in Dominica. “There is an upsurge of interest in chess in the Caribbean at the moment and Dominica is no exception,” he expressed.
According to Short, Dominica is one of only two countries in the Caribbean and only three in the Americas that does not have a chess federation. “We are hoping to remedy that omission. Even Dominicans abroad are excited about this new venture,” he stated. He explained that while this is a new undertaking, he is optimistic that the Dominica Chess Federation will get significant recognition from FIDE.
Moreover, Short pointed out that the goal of the Federation is to develop a Chess team in Dominica which could represent the island in the Chess Olympiad in Moscow in 2022. Once registered as a FIDE recognized federation, the team would be eligible to enter and compete in the 2022 Olympiad.
In addition, the chess grandmaster explained that there have been few challenges in seeking to introduce this federation. He has spoken with various persons and have met with the President of the Dominica Olympic Committee, Billy Doctrove. According to him, there has been a pretty positive response thus far and most persons have proved to be very supportive.
Nevertheless, he noted that there are still a few things which are left to be completed such as the registration of the federation and the submission of an application to the International Chess Federation. Furthermore, he expressed that he is enthusiastic that Dominica will potentially join one of the largest supporting federations in the world which currently has a total of 195 national members.
