Chess festival solemnly opens
The 42nd Chess Olympiad opened on September 1 with a solemn but highly entertaining ceremony at the Baku National Gymnastics Arena.
The impressive event was attended by President Ilham Aliyev, his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva, and family members, as well as President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and other delegates, world chess champions as well as a number of state and government officials.
Players, captains and delegates of the 176 participating federations filled the National Gymnastics Arena to enjoy a wonderful evening.
Last Thursday’s opening ceremony was all about putting on a show and wowing the participants already impressed by the welcome they’d received in Baku. The artistic part of the ceremony featured some remarkable visuals, paired with several dancing sequences that captivated the audience.
The 42nd Olympiad in Baku will come down in history with a record-breaking participation of teams representing 176 countries – a total of 181 men’s and 142 women’s teams will compete in this sporting event.
From Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifan downwards almost all of the world’s chess elite are in Baku.
The 11-round Olympiad of Swiss system will wrap up on September 13. About 500 volunteers have been involved for the organizing works.
Following the grandiose ceremony, President Aliyev, his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva and family members met with FIDE’s President, where they highlighted excellent organization of the event.
They hailed the successful cooperation between FIDE and Azerbaijan’s relevant authorities. The sides noted that Azerbaijan makes a vital contribution to the international cooperation in the field of sports.
They said all sports, including chess, are rapidly developing in Azerbaijan, and hailed the achievements of national chess players in various international competitions.
On the same day President Aliyev met with the members of the Azerbaijan national teams, noting that the national players have achieved a lot in chess and wished them good luck.
It is already a tradition for Azerbaijan to host prestigious international events, President Aliyev said, speaking at the event.
“As you know, Azerbaijan has successfully hosted European and world championships. Azerbaijan is already known in the world as a developed country. The vast majority of visitors to Azerbaijan return to their countries with pleasant impressions. I am sure that all the chess players competing at this Olympiad will have the chance to familiarize themselves with our city and country, will like Azerbaijan in the next two weeks and perhaps come back here as tourists in the future,” he said.
President Aliyev emphasized the fact that international sports events held in Azerbaijan shows the power of our country and international respect for Azerbaijan.
“Last year's first European Games were held very successfully. It is possible to say that they were held at the level of summer Olympic Games. This year, we have hosted the Formula-1 Grand Prix, which has an audience of 500 million people. Next year, we will host Islamic Solidarity Games,” the head of state said.
The President went on further noting that in this Olympiad, Azerbaijan will be represented by three men's and three women's teams. “You have successfully represented Azerbaijan in numerous international competitions. You have shown good results. Our men's team has been European champion twice. They have also performed well in a number of other international competitions. Our leading chess players are always rated among the world's top players. So we are hopeful that you will represent the country with dignity in this competition as well.”
The development of chess is a state policy in Azerbaijan, President Aliyev said, adding that there are chess schools in all our cities and regions.
The first round of the Olympiad kicked off at Baku Crystal Hall on September 2 with participation of President Aliyev, where the head of state made first move (D2-D4) of the game between member of Azerbaijan men’s team Shahriyar Mammadyarov and Zimbabwean player Rodwell Makoto.
President Aliyev also made first move (E2-E4) of the game between Russian female player Alexandra Kosteniuk and Scottish Arakhamia-Grant.
Holding the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku is of great importance, it is a great honor for Azerbaijan, the President told the reporters.
“We are of course very pleased with holding the World Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan. It is pleasant that all the organizational issues have been resolved at a high level,” said the president.
The head of state emphasized that Azerbaijan has once again presented itself to the world as a modern, developing country.
In the second round of the Baku Chess Olympiad the top rated teams continued scoring high victories and many guests came to watch their games.
The guest of the second day became the daughter of the President Arzu Aliyeva, who visited the Baku Crystal Hall with her family members.
FIDE’s President Ilyumzhinov said that the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku is the biggest tournament held in Azerbaijan to date.
Arzu Aliyeva had a conversation with Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan and had a picture taken together.
Then Arzu Aliyeva and her family members toured the exhibition hall of the Olympiad, which features rare chess-related items and posters of different historic tournaments. The virtual game zone is of great interest as well. Local residents and visitors to Baku can play a virtual game of chess with whoever they want here.
The fourth round of the Olympiad was attended by Chairman of the Chess Olympiad Organizing Committee, Yagub Eyyubov, who visited the Olympiad venue and watched some games and wished the national team good luck.