The event held in Batumi, Georgia, on October 11, 2025, was the gala marking the 40th anniversary of the European Chess Union (ECU). It was part of the programme of the ECU Congress 2025 / General Assembly, held in Batumi alongside the European Team Chess Championship.
According to the official programme, the gala took place on the evening of October 11 at 8:00 PM, and the events of the ECU Congress were held at the Courtyard by Marriott Batumi. (Source: ECU Magazine, August 2025)
The opening speech of the evening was given by ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili. According to the ECU's own magazine, he welcomed the guests and presented a number of 40th anniversary awards to the federations, officials, sponsors and organizations that have contributed to the development of European chess.
Evren Ucok also delivered a speech that night. You can watch it below, followed by the full text.
Evren Ucok's Speech
ECU 40th Anniversary Gala · October 11, 2025, Batumi, Georgia
Speech text
I'm very happy to be in a room with so many people who love chess the way I do. By way of introduction, I'm a self-made tech billionaire and supporter of chess.
Chess improves concentration skills and logical reasoning in children, and therefore it should be taught for at least one semester in elementary or primary schools across the world. Similar to grammar, mathematics, and ethics, we know that everything is tied to the brain, and chess is the only mental sport which is played globally.
But unfortunately, the global chess economy is 1,000 times smaller than physical sports such as soccer, basketball, and so on, which add up to more than $600 billion per year. We also have to find young and photogenic stars like other sports. In the last two years, we invested nearly $2 million to support many young prodigies such as Yagiz Erdogmus and Ediz Gurel, who are respectively number one and two under 18 in the world, Brewington Hardaway, Marc Llari who is the U-10 champion, and Luca Protopopescu who was the youngest person ever to break the 2,200.
But we also have to prevent and discourage cheating in professional chess because it's getting really out of control. And if this is not stopped, it will demotivate and alienate best professional players and ruin professional chess, maybe not today, but in 3 to 5 years.
We also have to regularly test and calibrate the Elo system like people do with all mathematical systems. We need to simplify the world championship cycle so that chess fans can actually understand what's going on.
We will continue to support the ECU and other chess organizations that share our values and objectives.
Many thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. Nice to meet everyone again.
Summary: Minimum Success Criteria
- Chess is taught in all primary schools in the world, at least in countries that care.
- The chess economy grows to >> $1bn per year, which requires us to shift the format to chess960 over time, increase the chess audience by 10x to 100x and increase audience engagement too, which is not possible with the current format.
- Then sponsors will follow, once there is a strong audience.
- Fix the Elo system and avoid OTB cheating so the game is more fair, etc.
