Safer Play Initiative

Chess should be a safe and inclusive place for everyone. To work further towards this goal, our commission has paired up with the Women In Chess Foundation, a non-profit organization.

We will cooperate with the Women in Chess Foundation on two projects: the Advocates Initiative and the in the creation of a Safer Play Policy.

The Advocates Initiative
The Advocates Initiative of the Women In Chess Foundation aims to provide independent advocates at chess tournaments to create a safer environment and support any players who may need it. Advocates are trained to identify and respond to potential safety issues, as well as provide emotional support and resources to players who may be experiencing harassment, discrimination, or other forms of mistreatment. The idea of having advocates on-site is to foster a more inclusive and supportive community for all players, and promote the values of respect and fair play in the game of chess. More information on advocates and the initiative can be found here.

Safer Play Policy 
The ECU Women’s Commission is working towards a Safer Play policy that shall be integrated into the current ECU Fair Play policy. The policies aim to protect those who attend our events, and ensure there are transparent pathways in place, in case of sexual harassment.

Cooperation with the ECU Federations in 2024
The Advocates Initiative of the Women In Chess Foundation aims to provide independent advocates at chess tournaments to create a safer environment and support any players who may need it. Advocates are trained to identify and respond to potential safety issues, as well as provide emotional support and resources to players who may be experiencing harassment, discrimination, or other forms of mistreatment. The idea of having advocates on- site is to foster a more inclusive and supportive community for all players, and promote the values of respect and fair play in the game of chess.

We as ECU women commission, offer each federation the possibility to to train advocates for free (funding will be done by the ECU). For this, we are offering 4 training session over the course of 2024. To date, we have trained over 25 advocates from across just under 20 different federations.

List of ECU acknowledge advocates 

Name                                                    Federation

Mane Adamyan                                   Armenia

Denise Trippold                                   Austria

Sophie Maquoi                                     Austria

Geert Bailleul                                       Belgium

Maria Anna Stefanidi                          Cyprus

Mark Bryan                                          Cyprus

Venuše Souralová                               Czech  

Triin Narva                                           Estonia

Johanna Paasikangas                         Finland 

Anna Savilov                                        France 

Lilli Hahn                                              Germany

Emmilie König                                     Germany

Lars Drygajlo                                       Germany

Tatiana Flores                                     Germany

Tania Karali                                         Greece

Jon Hill                                                 Gurnsey

Tamas Gyomber                                Hungary

Marco Biagioli                                    Italy

Dominique Dervieux                        Monaco

Mariana Silva                                     Portugal 

Margarida Coimbra                          Portugal

Liana-Nicoleta Szabó                       Romania

Cosma Elena Luminita                    Romania

Marija Lukic                                       Serbia

Zuzana Paverova                             Slovakia

Eva Repkova                                     Slovakia

Zilgme Eglite                                     Sweden

Finding an advocate

Would you like to talk to someone about something you experienced at a chess tournament or related event? To get partnered with an advocate feel free to reach out to us at womenecu@gmail.com

All information given to provided will be treated strictly confidential and is never shared with anyone outside of our organisation.