Flera nyheter:
1 April 2017, Paris, France. (Agence France-Presse) Chess players were stunned
today when the World Chess Federation (FIDE) announced a major rules change for its sanctioned events, effective January 1, 2018.

Following the FIDE annual executive meeting this morning, a spokesman for the governing body addressed a throng of reporters in a press conference at the Hotel Prince De Galles with this statement:
“I am pleased to announce that, after much discussion, the FIDE Board of Directors has agreed to a rules change that should be beneficial to chess players and aficionados everywhere. As you well know, tournament chess is slow-paced. With the standard time control of 40 moves per player in two hours, a typical game lasts four hours, which is not only a burden on the players, but on the officiating staff and spectators as well.
We have long searched for a viable solution to this problem and now have one, thanks to the initiative of our fellow mind-game organization, the American Contract Bridge League. Chess and bridge have had an excellent relationship, through IMSA, the International Mind Sports Association, for many years, and it can now only get better.”
“To resolve its own time constraints, the ACBL has conjured up a masterful change in its most prestigious event, the Vanderbilt Cup. Held annually since 1928 and just completed for this year in Kansas City, Missouri, this knockout team contest typically lasts a week, with daily matches of 64 deals, subdivided into four segments of 16 deals each. One might consider 87 years of tradition to be an inviolable precept but, as of March, 2015, all Vanderbilt matches were cropped to 60 deals, with segments of 15 deals each. Absolutely brilliant! Players now have a little extra time to relax between segments, officials get longer dinner parties, and spectators, if nothing else, can enjoy a happy hour with 10 extra minutes! Hats off to this bold and beautiful decision, which FIDE has monitored closely for the past three years.”

“How does this relate to chess? Very simple. Chess, like bridge, has always endured the problem of complexity, which is the underlying cause of all slow play. Sixteen white pieces and 16 black pieces produce an estimated 4 tredecillion positions, which even the most powerful computers, let alone the human mind, cannot fathom.
Therefore, neatly in line with the ACBL’s ingenious ratio, each chess player will now begin with 15 pieces. Much of the debate this past week was over which piece to eliminate. Final consensus was the queen’s knight pawn, because it will have minimal impact on strategy, Larsen’s Opening notwithstanding, and greatly accelerate play by allowing an immediate fianchetto of the queen’s bishop. Discussions with the ACBL have resulted in that organisation’s agreement to make their 15-board segments consist of Boards 1-9 and 11-16, removing Board 10, in solidarity with FIDE.”
“We express our sincere gratitude to the American Contract Bridge League for
leading the way, brightening the future of both organizations for generations to
come. We also note that India, the birthplace of chess, has, for many years, routinely used 14-board segments in its major bridge championships. FIDE is not ruling out the possibility of further reducing the number of pieces in the future.”
“This ends the official announcement, and I will now take questions.”