The WCU Selection Committee will meet in April (a little after the Welsh Championships at Easter) to choose, for both the Open Section and Women’s Section, our team, its captain and reserves. The outcome of the meeting will be announced shortly afterwards.
It is expected that this Year’s Olympiad, to be held in an accessible city with a long chess tradition, will prove extremely popular and, as far as Wales is concerned, the WCU’s Easter Congress clearly represents the last chance prospective members of our teams may have of making an impression.
The organisers’ website is due to become functional shortly but the basic arrangements are governed by World Chess Federation statute. Both events take the form of an 11-round Swiss system tournament. Four players represent countries in each round, from a squad of five. The organisers pay the accommodation costs of up to five players per team plus those of a non-playing captain in two single and two twin rooms but not travel costs (the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai was an exception). The WCU is unlikely to be in a position to help with these costs, but travel to Budapest should not prove too expensive.
Howard Williams
Chairman of Selectors
