REG - World Chess PLC - Proposed Expansion of FIDE Partnership

World ChessAnnouncement

Today 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260610:nRSJ6427Ha&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6427H  World Chess PLC  10 June 2026

World Chess Plc

 

("World Chess" or the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Proposed Expansion of FIDE Partnership

 

Term Sheet signed with FIDE Pathway from online play to official FIDE rating.

 

World Chess PLC (LSE: CHSS), the official commercial partner of the
International Chess Federation ("FIDE"), is pleased to announce that it has
signed a Term Sheet with FIDE to renew and significantly expand the
partnership under which the Group operates FIDE's official online platform,
worldchess.com.

 

For the first time, qualifying online players will be able to convert their
online rating into an official FIDE over-the-board ("OTB") rating. This opens
the FIDE rating system, historically accessible only through OTB tournaments,
to the very large population of serious chess players worldwide who have no
realistic OTB pathway available to them, in particular in India, Latin
America, Africa and South-East Asia as well as other countries.

 

Highlights

●    A new commercial framework that makes World Chess the sole operator
of the only official route from online play to official FIDE OTB rating.

●    A new revenue line - conversion fees, set by World Chess in
consultation with FIDE - layered on top of the Group's existing subscription
revenue from worldchess.com.

●    Renewal of the FIDE Online Arena partnership for an initial two-year
term, with annual extension options through to August 2031, deepening and
extending the Group's exclusive position as FIDE's online rating operator.

●    Annual fee payable by World Chess to FIDE of EUR 500,000 in the
initial two-year term, an increase of EUR 100,000 on the current annual fee,
plus a revenue share applied on a tiered basis to sales above EUR 2 million
per annum, with incremental fee increases in any extension years.

●    A federation incentive of USD 1 per conversion, paid by World Chess
to the player's national federation, aligning national federations behind the
programme and supporting recruitment of members in markets where federation
activity is currently low.

●    Full FIDE regulatory oversight is retained throughout: ratings
remain capped, anti-cheating controls are operated jointly with FIDE, and FIDE
retains the right to terminate against agreed KPIs.

 

Why this matters?

 

The official OTB FIDE rating is the standard credential in for OTB chess
players. Of the hundreds of millions of people who play chess seriously online
today, only a small minority hold one - not because they aren't strong enough,
but because the OTB infrastructure required to earn one does not exist where
most of them live. This agreement creates, for the first time, an official
route into the FIDE rating system for that significant group of chess players,
with World Chess as its sole operator.

 

The Board expects the framework to expand the Group's addressable market
materially, to add a new revenue stream distinct from subscription and
advertising revenue, and to strengthen conversion of free users on
worldchess.com into paying users by making the commercial offer materially
more valuable.

 

Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer of World Chess PLC, commented:

 

"FIDE and World Chess are calling this the First Rating Experiment, and that
is what it is - the first time in the history of the game that an official
FIDE rating can be accessible to millions of players. I believe one of the
next world champions will come through this route, because this is an enormous
source of chess talent that has so far had no way in. For the millions of
players around the world who have been playing serious chess online for years
with no path into the official system, professional chess is about to open up.

 

For World Chess, this is a major step, and one we have spent years building
towards - investing in the platform, the infrastructure, and in particular the
anti-cheating capability that makes a programme of this kind credible in the
first place. We are proud to be the company building this route, under direct
FIDE supervision, and to be taking part in what we believe is a genuine
turning point for the sport."

 

Status and next steps

 

The Term Sheet is non-binding pending discussion with the community. The
Parties are working towards a definitive long-form agreement, targeted for
execution in Q2 of 2026. In the meantime, World Chess has agreed that it will
work with several chess federations under FIDE supervision to add them as
launch partners and get access to a substantial number of players.

 

Ahead of execution, World Chess and FIDE will conduct a public consultation on
the technical parameters of the conversion mechanism. Feedback from that
consultation may result in changes to those parameters before signing. The
Company will provide updates  on material milestones during the consultation
and on signature of the definitive agreement.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the UK Market Abuse Regulation. With the publication of this announcement,
this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

Enquiries:

World Chess PLC

Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer
 
merenzon@worldchess.com

 

AbrR Capital Limited - Financial Adviser

David Coffman / Dan
Harris
+44 (0) 7469 0930

 

 

 

About World Chess PLC

 

World Chess PLC (LSE: CHSS) is the official commercial partner of the
International Chess Federation (FIDE). The Group operates worldchess.com - the
single online platform where players earn ratings and titles recognised by
FIDE and compete in official tournaments. World Chess also produces The World
Chess Show, a chess broadcast property carried in 150 countries, and designs
and sells the official sets and boards of the World Championship. The
Company's shares are admitted to the Official List (Standard Listing) and
traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CHSS.

 

Forward-looking statements

 

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to the proposed
new agreement with FIDE, the expected timing and terms of that agreement, and
the expected commercial, operational and financial effects of the conversion
framework. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including,
but not limited to, the negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement on
terms consistent with the Term Sheet, the outcome of the public consultation,
and the operation of the conversion mechanism in practice. Actual outcomes may
differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these
statements except as required by applicable law, the UK Listing Rules or the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  AGRSSAFMUEMSESM



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved