Today, the Turkmen capital hosted the opening ceremony of the International Chess Tournament, in which athletes aged 8, 10 and 12 from 11 countries of Europe and Asia – Vietnam, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – are participating, the TDH reports.
A festive atmosphere has reigned since early morning at the building of the Specialized Chess and Checkers School. The long-awaited moment is approaching. The official part of the opening of the competition begins.
In a solemn atmosphere, the welcoming Address of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov is read out, in which it is noted that the game of chess is mentioned in ancient epics, in Turkmen folk tales: in a word, chess has been known since ancient times. It has not lost its popularity today.
The welcoming address of the President of Turkmenistan was heard with great enthusiasm and met with thunderous applause.
The culmination moment arrives: the International Chess Tournament is declared open! The National Anthem of Turkmenistan is performed.
Then the Chairman of the Chess Federation of Turkmenistan Vepa Myalikgulyev and the head of the Russian delegation Alexander Shkurikhin addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. Having expressed sincere gratitude to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people Hero Arkadag for their great attention to the development of sports and in particular chess, as well as for the opportunity to hold representative international competitions at a high level, the heads of sports organizations cordially congratulated the participants of the tournament on its beginning and wished them a successful performance.
A bright musical and dance performance took place at the end of the official part of the ceremony. Representatives of various sports also performed spectacular exhibition numbers. The tournament participants took a photo for memory and then got acquainted with the exhibition of our country's sports achievements that opened in the foyer of the school.
Over the course of three days, 12 sets of medals will be played for in three age categories for boys and girls in rapid and blitz competitions at the Ashgabat International Chess Tournament. In rapid, each player is given 15 minutes per game with an increment of 10 seconds for each move. And in blitz – a lightning-fast game in chess – 3 minutes per game with an increment of 2 seconds for each move. The first medalists of the competition will be known on June 17 after the completion of 9 rounds. And the final results will be announced on June 18 after the blitz games.
