Chess is hot!

Our meeting minutes page has been updated to include the reports of the last board meetings (March & May). We plan an Extraordinay General Meeting – on Saturday June 20th – to follow up on the statutory modifications proposed last General Assembly (point 7), but unable to be voted back then due to lack of representation.

Looking back

The National Interclub season has officialy come to an end. A sincere thank you is in place here for Timothé Scaillet, who has organized and coordinated this big national tournament till the end. Thank you Timothé! Big thanks also to all players, arbiters and supporters along the way. In the meantime, the Workgroup Interclub has been activated. The discussions were based on previous feedback gathered from the clubs, and resulted in a new questionnaire sent to the clubs as recent as yesterday. Modification proposals mainly touch on calendar & planning, the dealing with additional teams in 5th division (or 6th?), and specific tournament concepts like rate of play or series compositions. Clubs are asked to provide their feedback latest May 20th. Let your voice be heard, so we can take into account as much feedback as needed to improve on our national competition!

The 2025-2026 youth season has concluded following the Belgian Youth Championship (BYC) and the Belgian School Chess Championship (BSCC). Looking ahead, the 2027 BYC is assigned, but we are still seeking hosts for the 2027 BSCC (deadline: end of May).

Our social media crew attended the Chess party in Stockholm, while growing our social media presence (> 67 000 viewers last month). Chess is hot!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting the Luc Winants Memorial. The tournament featured a very strong player list, and was sold out. Player list and rankings available on Chesstide – yes, that is a new chess tournament manager program from the one and only Damien André. Playing venue was the nice 7th floor of the Van der Valk hotel in Diegem.

Coming up

Spring is in the air, and with it lots of ongoing and upcoming activities. A small selection of events that are on the RBCF’s radar

• On Sunday May 24th we are welcomed by the Royal Namur Chess Club for the first Club day. Those of you who like to do some workout while playing chess, the ChessRun activity can be of interest. I’ll happily welcome all club administrators in the afternoon for an informal discussion about the challenges and opportunities for the Belgian Chess community.
• That same weekend (May 22nd – 25th), Wachtebeke is the decor for the Nerdland Festival, including the Ultimate Chess Experience. A fun way to learn the game of chess and play with your friends.
• July 4th is the kick off of the Belgian Championship in Borgerhout. Registrations are open and the first 50 players already engaged! Several training sessions aimed to stimulate the participation of women in chess are being held, featuring Sim Maerevoet as trainer. In Antwerp there is also some more action coming later in the year, with Your Next Move in the KMSK.

Later this year, we’ll see the Blitz Championship, Rapid Championship and the (first since a while!) Fischer Random Championship as well!

Make sure to check out our calendar for all events and latest information for each of them. Did you know that this calendar is an initiative from Annelies Cuvelier, who is dedicating her free time to keep it up-to-date? Thank you Annelies!

Good to know

As regards to internal projects, we are progressing on the new membership system. The player view has been tested and updated already. Now, we are moving to the administration view for the club admins. A group of 9 people is currently testing out this functionality. Should you be interested in joining the test group, please let me know. We are currently preparing a go-live during summer holidays.

FIDE migration has taken a step in the boards decision to fix the last national ELO ranking on Monday June 22nd. This means that last national ELO submissions will be done Saturday June 20th. This gives your administrators +/- 1 week to work with FIDE to get the migration in place. From July 1st onwards, we are working in a FIDE ELO only ranking system.

I’d like to draw attention to the content creation support framework we have put in place earlier this year. This financial aid aims to recognize and support players who contribute to the visibility and development of Belgian chess specifically through the creation of valuable content for the community. Interested players can get hands on by registering and submitting valuable chess content on this blog. It suffices to submit your content and apply for compensation through info@frbe-kbsb-ksb.be.

As for the financial framework for chess activities, we did get a first batch of requests, for which Lukas is currently finalizing the distribution of the budget. Submitting organizers can expect to get more information on the estimated level of support (to be finalized after the activity) soon. Feedback on the framework, rules & way of working is very much welcome, as we are in the early stage with this initiative.

Something to share?

This blog is getting bigger and bigger, and we welcome all feedback from you. Take your pen and start writing. Or give your remarks through info@frbe-kbsb-ksb.be (whole RBCF group of administrators and volunteers) or steven.bellens@frbe-kbsb-ksb.be (right, that’s just me).