New Domain Application & Loan Agreement

World Chess PLC

01 September 2026

 

 September 1 2026

World Chess Plc

("World Chess" or the "Company")

World Chess Applies to ICANN for .chess - the First Top-Level Domain for Global Chess Community - in Cooperation with FIDE

€350,000 Loan Financing and Issue of Warrants

World Chess Plc (LSE: CHSS), the London-listed chess gaming and entertainment company, announces that it has applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") for .chess, a new generic top-level domain intended to become the internet domain extension for the game of chess (the "TLD"). The application was submitted through a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, on behalf of and in cooperation with FIDE, the chess governing body, with IT.com Domains as a technology partner.

.chess - the Top Level Domain for the game

Just as .com and .org serve the wider internet, .chess is intended to serve one game. If the application is successful, .chess will provide dedicated, verified internet identifiers for the global chess ecosystem: national federations, clubs, academies, tournaments, titled players, platforms, media and chess businesses worldwide. Registration policies developed with FIDE are intended to ensure that every .chess domain name is genuinely chess-related, creating a trusted, officially recognised domain extension for the sport. National chess federations are expected to receive dedicated .chess names, allocated in coordination with FIDE.

The new domain string  is intended to become part of chess's core digital infrastructure and, if delegated to the Company's subsidiary, is expected to generate recurring annual registration revenues for the Company as registry operator.

Definitive Agreement with FIDE

The application is made under an agreement concluded between the Company and FIDE (the "Agreement"), under which FIDE acts as the institutional sponsor of the TLD and World Chess, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, manages the application and funds all related costs. If the application is successful, World Chess will operate and manage the top-level domain on behalf of FIDE on an ongoing basis. Under the Agreement, FIDE receives a share of the revenues generated by the TLD, together with an allocation of domains within the extension, including dedicated names for national chess federations.

The initiative forms part of the Company's broader plan, to develop chess into a major global sport, with World Chess building and operating the sport's commercial and digital infrastructure. It follows the expanded ratings partnership announced by the Company on 10 June 2026, under which worldchess.com is expected to become the official online pathway to over-the-board FIDE ratings. Together, official ratings and a community domain string form the infrastructure layer of the sport - built and operated by World Chess. Further information about the domain application can be found on the Company's website at worldchess.com/domains.

There can be no certainty that the Company's application to ICANN will be successful. ICANN's evaluation of applications is expected to take a number of months, and further announcements will be made as appropriate. The application was submitted as a community one - this status provides it with potential leverage over any competing applications for the same string through ICANN's Community Priority Evaluation process.

€350,000 Loan Financing

To support the initiative, the Company has agreed a loan arrangement totalling €350,000 (the "Loan") from an existing shareholder of the Company (the "Lender"). The proceeds of the Loan will be applied primarily towards the costs of the ICANN application and the Company's planned marketing of the TLD project, together with general working capital.

The principal terms of the Loan are as follows:

•     Principal amount of €350,000;

•     Interest at a rate of 4 per cent per annum, payable at maturity together with the principal;

•     Repayable in full on the first anniversary of drawdown, with the Company entitled to prepay all or part of the Loan at any time without penalty;

•     In the event that any or all of the Loan remains unpaid on the due date, the interest rate on all outstanding amounts will increase to 17 per cent. per annum; and

•     The Loan is unsecured.

Terms of the Warrants

The Company has executed a warrant instrument granting the Lender the right to subscribe in cash for, in aggregate, 16,347,099 new ordinary shares of £0.0001 each in the Company at an exercise price of 0.325 pence per share (the "Warrants"). The Warrants represent approximately 1.5 per cent. of the Company's current issued ordinary share capital of 1,089,806,579 ordinary shares.

No new ordinary shares are being issued at this time. Application for admission of any new ordinary shares issued pursuant to an exercise of the Warrants will be made at the relevant time.

Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer of World Chess, commented:

"Chess has everything a major sport needs - ratings, titles, a global federation, a billion-strong audience - everything except its own territory on the internet. .chess is that territory. If our application succeeds, every federation, club, tournament and titled player will be able to carry a verified domain name in an extension  introduced for the game, operated by World Chess on behalf of FIDE. This is not a guaranteed outcome - ICANN's process is rigorous - but it is exactly the kind of infrastructure chess deserves and the kind World Chess exists to build.

FIDE - the international governing body for chess, recognised by the International Olympic Committee, with 200+ national federations - has endorsed the application as institutional sponsor. The Company's management believes the application is strongly positioned in the Community Priority Evaluation."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer.

Enquiries:

World Chess Plc

Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer

[e-mail]

AlbR Capital

David Coffman/Dan Harris

[phone]

[e-mail]

About World Chess

World Chess (LSE: CHSS) is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment company and FIDE's official commercial partner. World Chess organised the FIDE World Championship Matches in the USA and the UK and revolutionised the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in chess history. World Chess is the creator and operator of Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television, and operates FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform, where players can earn official FIDE-recognised ratings and titles online. For more information, visit worldchess.com.

 

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