Baku awaits World Chess Cup

Today, in anticipation of the World Chess Cup, which starts tomorrow in the capital of Azerbaijan, a press conference was held, attended by the Minister of Sport and the head of the Chess Federation of the Republic, Azad Rahimov and Elman Rustamov, as well as FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

While opening it, the head of the Ministry of Sports of Azerbaijan reminded that Turkey recently hosted a presentation of the Chess Olympiad which will take place next year in Baku, which proved that the country can successfully host this prestigious tournament.

He also expressed confidence that at the upcoming events we will see the highest level of the game. "Most high-ranking chess players of the world will compete for prizes of the tournament during the month," Azad Rahimov noted.

Then the stage passed to Elman Rustamov, who spoke about the chess achievements of Azerbaijan. "In recent years the successes of Azerbaijani chess players have been obvious. At the recent Chess Olympiad we took second and fifth places," he said with pride.

While starting his speech, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulated Azerbaijan on this major sporting event. "The Cup will be broadcast online, which means that the attention of tens of millions of viewers will be drawn to Azerbaijan," he noted.

"It brought together the strongest players in the world. The World Cup is one of the strongest tournaments of FIDE. This year it is attended by two world champions – Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov – as well as world number one among women Hou Yifan," Ilyumzhinov noted.

"The uniqueness of this tournament is that the World Cup provides the last chance for those who want to fight for the chess crown. Many people are set take it in Baku," he added.