"One federation head sells sausages on weekends in order to fund their chess sets..." — Jan Henric Buettner

Jan Henric Buettner

Freestyle Chess Co-Founder

“FIDE has to be more commercial than before. Because the goal is to make more revenue in order to be able to distribute 20%. We’re going to distribute 10% anyway, but we have to make the pot much bigger so that we are able to fund all these things.

These federations, like the US federation for example, have enough funding. But the small federations really lack funding.

And when I talk to people, like for example the federation head from Solomon Islands. I remember a conversation where he said that he’s basically selling sausages on the weekend in order to fund their chess sets…

He has only about 40 chess sets, but he has to supply nine islands with 850,000 people inhabitants. So, the question is, how do we help these people?

And you can always go back and say: ‘We have a rich individual who riches in his pocket and gives them some money, maybe during elections, usually during elections.’

But the thing is that we need to commercialize the top end of FIDE, the international end, leveraging our best players in the world, players like Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and all the great players that we have as brand ambassadors. Similar to Formula 1, where drivers are the brand ambassadors for the motorsports.

And leveraging them with the big brands, creating a commercial revenue. And so, in that sense FIDE has to be on the commercial side in order to be able to fund all of these great educational and development programs in every different country.

But not as a gift, but as a right, the right of federations as shareholders of FIDE. They have a right to 20% of the revenues, and to be able to allocate that as they see fit for their own needs, for the development and the education.”