2023 Micronational World Chess Championship
 | This article or section documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
| 2023 | |
 Logo of the World Micronational Chess Federation | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Game | Chess |
| Location | TBD |
| Administrator | World Micronational Chess Federation |
| Format | TBD |
| Participants | 15 |
| Current champion | |
| Disputed: • Rigas Papadopoulos of | |
The 2023 Micronational World Chess Championship is an emergency tournament proposed by the World Micronational Chess Federation (WMCF), an intermicronational organisation that styles itself as the governing body of international chess in micronationalism, to decide a micronational world champion of chess. The WMCF claims that the position of world chess champion was vacated as a result of no micronational world championship taking place in 2014[1] at which incumbent champion Rigas Papadopoulos of St.Charlie would have defended his title, and that an emergency championship should be conducted in 2023 to resolve the lack of a champion.
No exact date has been confirmed, but the WMCF has suggested the current plan is for it to take place during the month of December 2023[2]. It is the second smallest instalment of the championship by player base, and is the third largest chess championship recorded by MicroWiki, with more players than the 2023 Austenasian Decennalia Chess Tournament, but fewer than the 2012 Micronational Chess Championship.
Background
Previous world chess championships
Main article: 2013 Micronational World Chess Championship and 2014 Micronational World Chess Championship
The last tournament identifiable as a world championship was the 2013 Micronational World Chess Championship, conducted by the Inter-Micronational Chess Federation (IMCF). At that tournament, Rigas Papadopoulos won 20.5 out of 21 points to win the tournament outright and be named champion of the 2013-14 cycle of the IMCF's chess season.
In December 2013, the IMCF announced there would be a 2014 cycle to determine the next world champion of chess, over four distinct tournaments taking place between January and December of 2014. There is no documentation that these competitions took place, and in any event the IMCF's website went offline at some point between 2014 and 2015. No Wayback Machine archive has been recovered to determine the organisation's activities, if any, over the course of 2014, and the only indication of further activity is a Facebook post about the first round of the IMCF Cup[3], the tournament representing the first round of the 2014 championship.
Formation of the WMCF
In October 2023, Damian Fortuna founded the World Micronational Chess Federation and issued Ordnance 001, acknowledging that Papadopoulos was world champion between 2013 and 2014, but that the lack of a world championship in 2014 to determine the next holder of the title meant the position of champion had been vacated. Further, given the lack of a global chess authority to choose a champion between 2014 and 2023, there was no incumbent world chess champion between those years, and that an emergency tournament should be conducted to select one.
The WMCF claims their 2023 competition is an official continuation of the chess season started by the IMCF and its predecessor/successor organisations in 2010[4].
Tournament registration opening
On 7 October 2023, the WMCF announced that registration for the Championship was open. It said registration would remain open until 21 November[5]. As of the closure of the registration period, fifteen players had registered from twelve different nations[6].
Players
| Name | Nation of origin |
|---|---|
| Damian Fortuna | Regne de Sant Andreu |
| Johann Kümmel | Lacuran Commonwealth |
| Cloe, Sovereign Princess of Sancratosia |  Principality of Sancratosia
|
| Christina I, Summi Imperatoria of Cycoldia |  Grand Republic of Cycoldia
|
| Jay Pab | Empire of Pabistan |
| Lucas of Satoshi |  Democratic Republic of Satoshi
|
| Julian E.B. | Norvendria |
| Pyro Milenkovic | Republic of Bukistan |
| Luci | Socialist Commonwealth of Malus |
| Christian Laudani | Italy |
| Lady Addison O'Halloran |  Empire of Austenasia
|
| Plamen Georgiev Iliev II | Grand Republic of Cycoldia
|
| Jules | Principality of Sancratosia
|
| Maxime I |  The Golliez
|
| PrinceofParthia |  Empire of Adammia
|
Format
On 29 October 2023, the WMCF published Ordnance 002, announcing the broad intended format of the event. The WMCF intends that the event begin as a single round-robin tournament in which "every player shall play every other player once"[7], and thereafter that the remaining players - eight or four, depending on uptake - would engage in a single-elimination tournament until one player remains, who would be named world champion[7].
Entry requirements are:
- That prospective players register on the WMCF's website;
- That prospective players have a MicroWiki article about themselves;
- That prospective players have a Lichess account in good standing[7].
References and further reading
- ↑ "World Micronational Chess Federation Ordnance 001: Regarding the current world champion". Published 27 October 2023. Accessed 27 October 2023.
- ↑ "2023 Micronational World Chess Championship event", World Micronational Chess Federation Discord server. Published 31 October 2023. Accessed 31 October 2023.
- ↑ Inter-Micronational Chess Federation post on 18 January, 2014 r.e. the first IMCF Grand Prix. Accessed 27 October 2023.
- ↑ See also: 2010 Intermicronational Chess Championship
- ↑ "#self-promotion", Damian Fortuna, MicroWiki Community. Published 7 October 2023. Accessed 7 October 2023.
- ↑ "Championship", World Micronational Chess Federation. Accessed 19 November 2023.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "World Micronational Chess Federation Ordnance 002: Announcing the proposed structure of the 2023 Micronational World Chess Championship", World Micronational Chess Federation. Published 29 October 2023. Accessed 29 October 2023.