On June 27, 2025 the Ministry of Digital Development and Innovative Technologies of the Kyrgyz Republic puts into circulation a series of 2024 Kyrgyz Express Post postage stamps: "FIDE, 100th Anniversary".
One of the most renowned sports organizations in the world, the International Chess Federation (French: Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE), celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024.
FIDE is an international organization uniting national chess federations (more than 200 members). Its mission is to popularize chess, organize events such as the Candidates Tournaments, World Championship matches, Chess Olympiads and other international chess tournaments. The federation also awards sports titles, calculates and publishes official ratings of chess players worldwide. In 1999, FIDE was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as an international governing body for a sport that is not included in the Olympic program.
FIDE was founded on July 20, 1924, in Paris during the VIII Summer Olympic Games. Pierre Vincent (1878–1956), the General Secretary of the French Chess Federation, played a major role in the founding of FIDE.
Currently, chess is one of the most popular sports in the world. According to FIDE, tens of millions of players around the world play an average of over 60 million chess games every day.
KEP stamps feature portraits of outstanding world chess players. The 150 KGS stamp depicts Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900), the first World Chess Champion, and Vera Menchik (1906–1944), the first Women's World Chess Champion. The 300 KGS stamp features Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995) and Bobby Fischer (1943–2008), the sixth and eleventh World Champions, respectively. The coupons of the miniature sheet show a group photograph of the participants of the chess tournament in Paris (1924), which marked the founding of the International Chess Federation. KEP sincerely thanks FIDE for the opportunity to use this photo in the design of the stamp sheet.
Chess is a very popular sport in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Kyrgyz Chess Union (KCU) became a member of FIDE in 1992 and holds voting rights at the sessions of the General Assembly, which is the highest legislative and executive body of FIDE.
KEP expresses confidence that this new issue of postage stamps will contribute to the promotion and development of chess in Kyrgyzstan and around the world.
