ICF = International Canoe Federation, or did you mean the International Cremation Federation. Other possibilities include: Irish Cycling Federation, International Carrom Federation, and the International Cable Federation. Wikipedia lists some other possibilities as well, but none seem frightfully relevant to chess. What is the ICF?
I think ICF should have been FSI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chess_Federation
I was very surprised when Caruana decided to play for Italy rather than the USA when he first appeared on the scene and it became clear he was destined to become one of the world's best. Italy has no recent history of a strong or well supported chess culture.
The USA is going to have an incredibly strong team in the next Olympiad, assuming that their top four all play.
Originally posted by Data FlyPretty sure he went there just for access to European tourneys, even if none took place in Italy proper.
I think ICF should have been FSI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chess_Federation
I was very surprised when Caruana decided to play for Italy rather than the USA when he first appeared on the scene and it became clear he was destined to become one of the world's best. Italy has no recent history of a strong or well supported chess culture.
The ...[text shortened]... g to have an incredibly strong team in the next Olympiad, assuming that their top four all play.