complete video of the situation

The ECU rules about players are strict and generally followed without exception. However, a very interesting case arose at the captains meeting before the start of the European Club Cup in Kallithea. The situation affected directly last year’s champion Linex Magic and their youngest player GM Fabiano Caruana.

According to the rules a player participating in the European Club Cup should have played at least 2 games in the national or regional club competitions. GM Fabiano Caruana has not completed this condition. The chief arbiter Mr. Dirk De Ridder had been trying to contact the Spanish Chess Federation about the situation for several months, however, he did not receive an answer to his emails.

After the case was explained several times by Mr. De Ridder and Mr. Kutin, the captains were asked to vote whether they would accept Caruana playing. There were 3 votes against and that was enough to cancel the overrule procedure and not let Caruana participate for Linex Magic.

Here is a complete video footage of the event.

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