The World Chess Federation recently announced that national chess federations can organize rated team matches online using the FIDE Online Arena. 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 and its competitors such as Playchess and Chess24 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 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 and from the official FIDE Press Release.