The [World Chess Federation](http://www.fide.com) recently announced that national chess federations can organize rated team matches online using the [FIDE Online Arena](https://arena.myfide.net). Although the stated reason is to give poorer federations opportunities to compete in expensive team events, it is evident that this is a strategic move to place FIDE in line with the evolution of chess. Chess has always been an interest of computer programmers and scientists. Many of the first programs built to demonstrate processing power were chess engines. [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com) and its competitors such as [Playchess](http://www.playchess.com) and [Chess24](http://www.chess24.com) have trailblazed an exodus of players from tournament boards to online arenas.
In fact, *Chess.com* did this recently with the addition of its rated [US Chess](http://www.uschess.com) tournaments. I think this is a good move by *FIDE*. It will be interesting to see how many federations take advantage of new opportunities opened up by evolving technologies.
Read more on [Susan Polgar’s website](https://chessdailynews.com/chess-federations-to-hold-team-events-on-fide-online-arena/) and from the official [FIDE Press Release](http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/9175-online-commission-announcement.html).