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Nanjing part of the Grand Slam?

Nanjing participants and details

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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!

Dresden 2008 Olympiad games start tomorrow

Only two weeks after Vishy Anand became World Champion in Bonn, we are going to witness another big chess event in Germany. The start of the 38th Chess Olympiad has been given at the opening ceremony in Dresden today. The hall looked impressive, full of representatives of a record number of participating nations and a crowd of journalists.

Very similar to the Beijing Olympics model, the Olympiad in Dresden started at 8:08. One after the other on the scene came singers, cheerleaders, ice skaters, drum bangers, and many more performances. Every country in the Dresden Olympiad was represented by German school children in the Opening Ceremony. All of the children who carried the flags and country names are chess players who qualified to be at the opening ceremony through a series of tournaments.

More details later tonight, join us tomorrow for live coverage of the 2008 Dresden Olympiad on Chessdom.com!

Kirsan Ilymzhinov could not attend the opening ceremony in Dresden

The FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov could not attend the opening ceremony. As many Russian sources informed his car was involved into a car accident on the way to the airport. The reports state that Mr. Ilymzhinov did not suffer important injuries. The Chessdom team wishes him a fast recovery.

Photos from the opening ceremony

All photos by our good friend Susan Polgar.

The press conference before the opening ceremony where all the details were explained

The Olympiad was opened by a cheerleaders show

Followed by “We will rock you” and “We are the Champions”

A smoking ice skating show for the audience

More songs followed in the opening ceremony

Why not a combination of all of the above!

FIDE Honorary President Campomanes welcoming the players on behalf of FIDE President Ilyumzhinov

Let the Olympiad begin!

The first round of the Chess Olympiad starts tomorrow in this fantastic playing hall

fresh information about the WWCC in Nalchik

Information about the World Women Chess Championship

Official website

Statements: Kirsan Ilymzhinov / Boris Kutin / Arsen Kanokov

General information / Pairings round 1

Venue

Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe
very near the WWCC

Today in Nalchik (Kabardino Balkaria) starts the World Women Chess Championship, of which Chessdom.com is official media partner. 53 players from 29 countries will participate. Among them will be the world champion Xu Yuhua, the ex world champion Antoaneta Stefanova, the women rating leader Humpy Koneru, and the leader of the Russian team Alexandra Kosteniuk. Pairings of round 1 are already known and the exciting clashes will start on August 29th.

Despite the difficult disputes around the political situation in the region, the Organizing Committee managed to meet all conditions by FIDE on time. The FIDE commission has inspected the site and has given the definite green light for the championship.

Today, August 28th, is the opening ceremony of the World Women Chess Championship. On one of the biggest concert stages in Russia, the Green Theater in Nalchik, will be the official part of the ceremony. There will be welcome messages by the vice President of Russia and President of the Russian Chess Federation Alexander Zhukov, by the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilymzhinov, and the President of Kabardino Balkaria Arsen Kanokov.

On the next day, August 29th, games will start at 15:00 local time (13:00 CET). The first moves will be by the official guests. Chessdom.com will have direct transmission from Nalchik with live chat, interviews, many photos, and information updated every hour. The live games will be on the official page and the later stages will be commented live on Chessdom as well. Games in Nalchik will be commented by GM Evgeny Vasiukov.

Everything at the hotel “Sindica” is reported to be ready for round 1. Banners with chess symbols and words of greeting meet the guests at the entrance to the town. The largest of them is hung on the facade of the Musical Theater. Intour hotel “Sindica” will become a chess club for the period of carrying out of the championship.

The square in front of the hotel is decorated with the flags of the participating countries; a large poster with the Championship symbols and greetings meets the guests in the foyer. The hall of the restaurant is refitted as a chess playing ground. According to the rules of FIDE the floor is covered with carpets, the tables have been changed and arranged in a certain order. Electronic chess boards and plates with the names of participants as well as camera-recorders for live broadcasting have been set there. The restaurant has been moved to the terrace. The Press-Center of the Championship has also been equipped according to the requirements of the FIDE. It is situated in the small conference hall of the hotel, from where we will be reporting.

The Women World Chess Champion for 2008 will be know on September 18th. The new chess queen will receive a crown with 46 diamonds and 3 large sapphires

Stay tuned for updates!

The logo and the talisman
high quality images of them in the Chessdom photo gallery