43rd World Chess Olympiad kicks off in Black Sea town of Batumi

The 43rd Chess Olympiad has kicked off in Georgia’s Black Sea resort town of Batumi, which is gathering about 4,000 chess players from 180 countries together from September 23 - October 6.

The Olympiad opened yesterday with a spectacular show at the Black Sea Arena, a premier performing venue in the country.

The Olympiad opening ceremony was attended by famous Georgian sportsmen, honorary guests from abroad and President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili.

“Chess has always been very popular in our country. We are deservedly proud of Georgian legendary champions: Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze are both five-time world champions, Nana Alexandria is the two-time vice-world champion and six-time champion of the Chess Olympiad.

“Overall, the chess queen crown has been kept in Georgia for 30 years! I hope Georgia will celebrate the world championship once again in the nearest future”, said Margvelashvili.

Chess Olympiad was opened festively at Black Sea Arena yesterday. Photo: Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, today the first competition was held at 15pm in Batumi. But before the chess players met at the table, Georgia’s Education Minister Mikheil Batiashvili made the first move symbolically.

During the Olympiad, the World Chess Federation – FIDE and Continental Chess Association’s presidential elections will be held. FIDE has three presidential candidates: the Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos (Greece), Arkady Dvorkovich (Russia) and Nigel Short (England). FIDE’s presidential elections will be held on October 3.

After the Olympiad ends, the winner of the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup will be chosen. This award was established by FIDE in 1997. Since the 1998 Chess Olympiad, the Nona Cup is awarded to the federation of the country whose teams of both male and female players score the most points.

The closing ceremony of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad will be held at Batumi State Music Centre on October 5.