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2008 Pearl Spring Tournament, Nanjing, China, will kicked off on December 10th evening in Nanjing Culture and Art Center. The ceremony featured many famous guests. The chief Chinese leaders attending the ceremony are as follows: Xu Jialu, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; Xiao Min, Assistant Director of General Administration of Sports of China and Vice Chairman of Chinese Olympic Committee; Ding Jiemin, the deputy director of Jiangsu People’s Representative Standing Committee; Jiang Hongkun, mayor of Nanjing; Jin Shi, deputy director of Nanjing People’s Representative Standing Committee. The honorable foreign guests present in the ceremony will be Liang Zhirong, Secretary-general of FIDE; Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, President of Asian Chess Federation; Boris Kutin, President of the European Chess Union. Besides, many other distinguished guests are also present, such as the leaders concerning the General Administration of Sports of China, Jiangsu province and Nanjing city; honored guests from FIDE, the European Chess Union, the Asian Chess Federation and social organizations – in total about 1000 people.
In tonight’s opening ceremony speaches were given by Jiang Hongkun, mayor of Nanjing; Xiao Min, Assistant Director of General Administration of Sports of China and Vice Chairman of Chinese Olympic Committee and Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, President of Asian Chess Federation. The chess grandmasters also made their attending speeches and were welcomed by the guests.
The draw of colors and pairings took place as well. Casto Abundo, the superior judge of this tournament and the Vice President of Asian Chess Federation presided the draw and announced the results. Round 1 will see Levon Aronian – Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk – Peter Svidler, and Sergei Movsesian – Bu Xiangzhi.
Centering on the theme “Play Chess in Nanjing, Spread Friendship World Wide”, the theatrical performance consisted of ten programs: Children’s Folk Dance (the Lion Dance, and Fashion Show), Fragrant Jasmine and Beautiful Brocade (Symphony of Chinese Folk Musical Instruments), Reflections of Red Mansion (Children’s Song and Dance), Chessboard with 64 Squares (Girls’ Quartet) Pearl Welcomes Guests, a Beijing Opera excerpt (Farewell My Concubine), Ring Dances from the south of the Yangtze River, Dance, Martial Arts, and Acrobatics. The ceremony finished with a song by Riverside Pearl: Green Homeland. The opening ceremony and the theatrical performances aim to enhance international cultural exchanges, show Nanjing’s profound cultural deposits and rich humanity resources as a famous historical and cultural city, express Nanjing citizen’s warm welcome and sincere hope of meeting friends and knowing each other through chess playing, announced the hosts from the city of Nanjing.
Expect more details!