Yesterday, the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, held a press conference at TASS, which was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the FIDE leadership. On the sidelines of the press conference, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza talked with him about the state and prospects of the development of chess in the North Caucasus and the countries of the South Caucasus.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that from September 10 to October 5, the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, hosted the 2015 World Chess Cup, where the 128 strongest chess players of the world competed for the right to participate in the draw for the world championship.
"I believe that the World Cup, which was held in Baku, can be called the best World Cup on several parameters. Firstly, the organization, accommodation, food, room, technical conditions were at the highest level, all of our inspectors pointed this out. But the most important part, of course, is the athletic, creative part. None of the chess competition was more dramatic than the World Cup finals in Baku. Two leading chess players, Peter Svidler and Sergey Karjakin, played the last ten rounds of the final match without a single draw. And just 30 years ago the draw chess success was predicted, the draws, and there was not a single draw, we might say, the two greatest grandmasters were competing to the bare kings, there were such conditions. And we hope that next year, in September 2016, the World Chess Olympiad in Baku will be held at the highest level," he expressed confidence.
Speaking about the development of chess in Azerbaijan, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted that the process is actively promoted by the government, in the person of President Ilham Aliyev.
"I am grateful to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Heydarovich, my friend, both of us MGIMO graduates. Heydar Aliyev, like his father, supports chess, develops chess. Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev was the first president of the state who signed the state program for chess development. The state program for chess development appeared in 2008. By the way, I always cite the example of Ilham Heydarovich, Azerbaijani President, for this program. According to this program, chess schools and clubs are built and opened in many towns and villages of Azerbaijan. Chess is being introduced into the school curriculum due to the fact that President Ilham Aliyev, the government, the Ministry of Sport, and of course, the Chess Federation pay great attention to the development of chess," he noted.
"In general, all chess events that take place in Azerbaijan deserve great respect, and the Chess Federation of Azerbaijan is an example of how to organize them so that everything was associated and there were such beautiful results as at the World Cup," Ilyumzhinov concluded.
