From the Chess archiv of Chess-Results.com: Article: 581 from 28.01.1998, Category International

Newsletter to all European Chess Federations (28.1.98 von Prof. K. Jungwirth)

FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DES ÉCHECS PROF. KURT JUNGWIRTH, CONTINENTAL PRESIDENT OF EUROPE

Graz, 28.01.1998

To the Chess Federations of Europe

Dear chess friends,

The World Championship is finished. It was an event of great interest with a strong impact in the international media. We do know about one weak point. FIDE wantet to facilitate Garry Kasparov's comeback. To this purpose special opportunities were created for him and Anatoli Karpov. When Kasparov announced that he was not prepared to play it was not possible to waive the extraordinary rights which had been accorded to Karpov, too. Now, hawever, the situation is clear. Anatoli Karpov is the World Champion and next time there will be no more privilages.

We saw very tough games. The quality was not always satisfactory, sometimes

bad luck was to blame - if human mistakes can be attrbuted to bad luck.

However there were a number of advantages. The whole world elite had a chance to participate. There were no disappointing quick draws, on the contrary, the audience and the media werde delighted to see merciless chess. I am not afraid for the quality of the game in the future, there will still be enough tournaments at a more thoughtful pace.

Chess peaple in Groningen and in Lausanne have to be thanked for excellent organisation. President Ilyumshinov and FIDE have kept their promises. Life is going on. Our main events this year will be the Chess Olympiad and the FIDE Congress in Elista.

For the time being I take this opportunity to give a first information on behalf ot the Austrian Chess Federation on the European Youth Chess Festival 1998.

This festival will be held in Mureck, Austria, from 7^th July (day of arrival) to 18^th (day of departure). It will consist of the championships involving boys and girls aged 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years. Girls may play in a male group if they prefer. There will be nine rounds and one free day.

Mureck is a town of about 1800 inhabitants situated on the banks of the river Mur in the province of Styria (in German: Steiermark), south estern part of Austria on the border with Slovenia. It can be reached by plane via Graz airport, about 40 kilometres away. It is a few kilometres off the motor highway Vianna (or Salzburg) - Graz - Slovenia. Mureck has also a railway station.

Board and lodging will be provided in the area of Mureck, shuttle buses will be available if necessary. 20 km from Mureck Bad Radkersburg is a renowed spa where this year an exhibition on youth cultures will be staged.

In order to ensure proper standards of the tournament we can accept only a limited number of additional players over the number of players entitled to participate according to FIDE regulations (FIDE handbook D.V.10).

This is only a first information. The detailed invitations will be sent out in April.

My best wishes for a good chess year 1998.

K. Jungwirth m.p.