Corporate Championship, Corporate Responsibility

Last month, in the long running series on The Sociology of Chess (November 2016), I posted on two topics:-

• ChessTech2020 Online Conference
• FIDE's Social Commission 2020

This month I'll continue with FIDE, although the connection with its Social Commission is not clear. Mid-month the world chess organization signalled a new initiative:-

• 2021-02-15: Superb turnout for FIDE World Corporate Championship (fide.com) • 'We couldn't have dreamed of a better welcome for the inaugural edition of the FIDE Online World Corporate Chess Championship that will be played next weekend (February 19-21). With 284 teams registered from 78 different countries, the event will bring together 1,467 players.'

That FIDE announcement, illustrated by the following image, reads like a press release.

The announcement closed with a significant detail:-

There was no entry fee of any kind for this competition. However, FIDE is organizing a fund-raiser in cooperation with the platform Softgiving, and participant companies are encouraged to donate towards one of three social projects currently being developed by FIDE:
- Chess in Education, programs for underprivileged children,
- Chess for people with Disabilities, and the
- FIDE veterans support program.

Note the key phrase 'social projects'. A few days later FIDE issued a follow-up announcement:-

• 2021-02-17: FIDE Council approves CSR guidelines (fide.com) • 'The fund-raiser that is organized alongside the World Corporate Championship connects perfectly with a recent decision by FIDE. Last week, the FIDE Council approved our Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines, a document that has now been incorporated into the FIDE Handbook.

The next paragraph in the second announcement was nearly identical to the first paragraph of the FIDE document, FIDE Handbook E. Miscellaneous / 05. Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines: 'Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating operational model that incorporates social and environmental concerns into an organization's planning and operations. The goal is to ensure that all of its activities positively affect society as a whole.' Funding appears to be a key component of the initiative:-

• 2021-02-18: Fundraising for FIDE Social Projects (fide.com) • 'Chess in education, chess for people with disabilities, or the support fund for distinguished chess seniors? Which social project would you like to support? In connection with the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship, we have organized a fundraiser. All participant companies have been asked to make a donation towards one of these 3 social projects. But you can also contribute, and your help would be more valuable now than ever before.'

Which came first -- the tournament or the social funding? The tournament and related news was handled by Chess.com:-

• 2021-02-20: Carlsen To Play In FIDE Online World Corporate Chess Championship (chess.com; Peter Doggers)

For the official site, see World Corporate Chess Championship (fide.com). In this same long running series on 'The Sociology of Chess', I'll continue to track the new initiative.