Towards Chess Olympiad-2020

The delegation of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, led by the governor Natalia Komarova, visited the World Chess Olympiad, which is currently taking place in Batumi, Georgia. On a trip, the head of Ugra is accompanied by Deputy Governor Yuri Yuzhakov, President of the Ugra Chess Federation Vasily Filipenko, Director of UgraMegaSport Valery Radchenko and other members of the Organizing Committee of the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Upon arrival at the Sport Palace of Batumi, where the matches of the main chess tournament of the biennium take place, Natalia Komarova first went to the playing hall to watch the games of the world’s strongest chess players, including Russian men’s and women’s teams, that include two representatives of Ugra – Dmitry Jakovenko and Olga Girya.

After visiting the playing hall, the head of the region attended the exposition of Ugra – host of the next, 44th World Chess Olympiad. The stand of the region shows the history and traditions of the Ugra land, the high popularity of chess in Russia and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra. The expo panel of Ugra attracts much attention of the international chess community due to original decorations, colorful national costumes, use of modern multimedia equipment that allows to make a virtual trip through Khanty-Mansiysk.

“We are certainly grateful to FIDE for trusting us,” – the head of the region said. – “This is a worldwide organization that unites chess players around the world, which trusts Khanty-Mansiysk to conduct various competitions. We do not ponder why. I believe, because we love chess and create conditions for chess to love the whole Ugra people. You know that our teaching of chess is included in the compulsory educational program, and for the 2016-2017 school year more than 110,000 schoolchildren have passed through these programs. It is a universal understanding that chess is a platform where you can develop yourself, achieve success and the opportunity to tell the world about yourself, including the place where we live – about Khanty-Mansiysk, Ugra, about Russia. Of course, this motivates us to unite and offer our capabilities to FIDE so that various events and competitions are held in our country and in Ugra.”

The head of the region also had a chance to talk to the organizers of the Olympiad in Batumi, FIDE officials, representatives of chess federations of different countries, arbiters, commentators, players and journalists covering the tournament. Everyone wanted to know more about the region where the next Olympiad will take place. Thus, the sixth World Chess Champion Maia Chiburdanidze admitted that she had never been to Khanty-Mansiysk. The legendary chess player was surprised when Natalia Komarova informed her that it is possible to reach the capital of Ugra by plane from Moscow in just three hours, because in the eyes of many foreigners, Western Siberia is a remote and hard-to-reach land.

It should be noted that the World Chess Olympiad in Batumi has a record number of participating countries. Representatives of 189 countries from all over the world are fighting for victory in it.

The governor admitted that the rich experience of Ugra in conducting chess competitions of the highest level does not mean that the organizers do not need to adopt the experience of other organizing committees and host countries. “We have arrived to Batumi so that the experience that the organizers have developed here is used in Khanty-Mansiysk. This is a very useful meeting, because if you organize some kind of competition, you should definitely know what has already been done to move on. We know what needs to be done in Khanty-Mansiysk to move forward and to conduct the best possible event.”

It should be noted that, in addition to the 2020 Olympics, two more major tournaments will be held in the next two years in Khanty-Mansiysk: the FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship in November 2018, and the FIDE World Cup in 2019.