European Draughts Confederation’s Headquarters officially in Tallinn

The headquarters of European Draughts Confederation were opened with a festive ceremony the Tallinn House of Chess at Vene Street 29.

On April 23rd, the headquarters of European Draughts Confederation were opened with a festive ceremony the Tallinn House of Chess at Vene Street 29. The cover from the plaque with the EDC logo on the façade of Tallinn House of Chess, which has become a centre for mind sports for Tallinn and Estonia, was removed by Estonian Minister of Culture Laine Jänes, the mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar, the Secretary-General of the Estonian Olympic Committee Toomas Tõnise and head of Tallinn Youth and Sports Department Rein Ilves.

“It is remarkable for Estonia that the headquarters of a European sports federation is located in Estonia, and in Tallinn,“ noted the Minister of Culture Laine Jänes. ”Estonians have always desired to be great in spirit, and it is therefore symbolic for the headquarters of mind sports – draughts – to be located here.  As a witness of what is happening here today, I hope that the House of Chess will become a center of mind sports not only for Estonia, but to a certain extent for Europe as well.”

“The headquarters of European Draughts Confederation is one of the first headquarters of international sports federations in Tallinn,“ said Mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar. “Last year Tallinn hosted the most important title tournaments of European Draughts Confederation – the jubilee flavored European Championships.  The headquarters of an international sports federation makes it possible to inspire young people to be more involved in mind sports and will provide Tallinn with a unique place on the cultural map of Europe – especially considering the perspective of ‘Tallinn – European Capital of Culture 2011’”

The headquarters of European Draughts Confederation will be located in Tallinn till the end of 2011, when the term of office of Janek Mäggi, elected President of EDC in 2007, will expire. “The first year in office was very busy,“ remarked Janek Mäggi. “The European Championship for both men and women, held in Tallinn last summer, can surely be counted a great accomplishment. When it comes to organizational development, we created a new face for EDC, and a new logo; we also opened a new official website of the European Draughts Confederation www.europedraughts.org. The new website has, by today, developed into the central information portal of European draughts; this and the next year we will endeavor to diligently develop it and make it more interactive.” 

“This year we organized the first international draughts tournament in Scandinavia, in the city of Stockholm,” explained Janek Mäggi. “The main task for EDC in near future is to popularize draughts as sports in Europe and enlisting new membership countries. The entering of the Scandinavian countries unto the European draughts landscape is a great achievement for the federation.“