Vasiliy Zhukov, the president of Moscow Chess Federation, rector of the Russian State Social University, member of the Russian Academy of Science, opened the press conference thanking all the partners of Moscow Open that had been supporting the tournament for six years now.  The MCF president said: “Moscow Open is the major tournament for the Moscow Chess Federation. And despite a difficult economic situation in the country, we managed to keep the prize fund and budget of the festival at the same level”. According to Zhukov, the festival will see approximately 1226 chess players from 30 countries including around 100 Grandmasters, Zhukov said. This year will see a new veteran tournament “Contemporaries of the Victory” run within the framework of the festival. And the women’s tournament will be a qualifying one for the women’s world blitz chess championship that will be held this September at the Russian State Social University. This event was initiated by Alexandra Kosteniuk, originally from Moscow, and supported by the Moscow Chess Federation. Apart from women’s chess, the Moscow Chess Federation gives priority to development of chess among veterans and disabled people. “Chess is the main social sport – a powerful source of creation and growth of the intellectual potential of the nation”, Zhukov added.

Alexander Bach, acting President of the Russian Chess Federation, said that Moscow Open is developing and becoming a more significant tournament despite difficult conditions. The Russian Chess Federation will continue supporting the festival. “The Moscow Chess Federation supported the tradition of holding world blitz chess championships taking responsibility for organising a women’s blitz chess event”, the RCF head added.

Alexander Polinskiy, the Head of Directorate for sports and entertainment events of Moscow Government, said that his organisation has been supporting Moscow Open for four years now. During this time they, together with the Moscow Chess Federation, Russian State Social University and the festival’s partners, have created a powerful team capable of fulfilling the most difficult tasks. There were no serious difficulties in organisation of the tournament. This year’s festival will also be organised at the highest level.

Alexander Kostyev, the Tournament Director, Vice-President of the Moscow Chess Federation, Head of RSSU’s Chess Department pointed out that the graduates of his Department have been actively involved in organisation of Moscow Open. And the past five years have seen 14 Grandmasters studying at the university including Sergey Karjakin and Valentina Gunina, members of the national chess team.

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