Léo Battesti

Léo Battesti was born on 6 November 1953 in Bastia (Corsica, France) Married, two children, Saveriu and Marc’Andria, aged 16 and 21.

Master of Law (Université Paris-Sorbonne).

Boss of Corsica Flash www.corsicaflash.fr, numerical impression and communication.

General Secretary of Corsican Students (CSC), 1976-78, Nizza.

Political prisoner from 1978 to 1981, following his commitment to the nationalistic movement.

Amnestied in 1981 by President François Mitterrand.

Journalist from 1981 to 1992, chief Editor of a Corsican weekly.

Elected at the “Assemblée de Corse” from 1986 to 1992, vice-president of the Culture and Sports Commission from 1990 to 1992. Bastia town council member from 1988 to 1992.

Organizer of the Corsican Circuit, largest international rapid chess tournament in the world www.opencorsica.com, with a prize fund of €.175.000 and 140 companies sponsoring.

Founder of the “Ligue Corse des Échecs”, which has 4060 registered players for 260.000 inhabitants in Corsica. Thus, the island of Corsica is the place in the world where chess is the most played. Chess is taught on school time in almost every Corsican primary school.

Vice-President of French Chess Federation since January 2005, in charge of communication and thus, chief-editor of the quarterly “Échec & Mat”.

External links

Leo Battesti, organizer of Corsica Chess, with Susan Polgar