25 May 2015
Chess Day Held at Russian Olympic Committee
Stars play chess doubles.
On Monday, May 25, the Russian Olympic Committee held a major festive event: the Chess Day at the ROC. It was attended by ROC President Alexander Zhukov, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian President's Aide Igor Levitin, two-time Olympic Hockey Champion Vyacheslav Fetisov, IOC Member Shamil Tarpishchev, grandmasters Alexander Morozevich and Ian Nepomniachtchi, chess professionals and amateurs, famous politicians, and young chess players who participated in a simultaneous exhibition.
One of the event's highlights was the presentation of a unique system for playing doubles chess. The members of each team are separated by a screen and cannot consult each other. The first players to test the system were the team of Alexander Zhukov and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who played versus Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Alexander Morozevich.
A simultaneous exhibition was also held, involving around 40 children from Moscow sports schools such as Yunost Moskvy, DYUSSH 54 and DYUSSH 3 Vorobyovy Gory. In a hard-fought battle, the kids managed to score two points against each of the grandmasters. Mikhail Khmelev defeated Nepomniachtchi, while Stefan Pogosyan and Nikita Afanasyev drew with Ian. Morozevich had draws with Alexandr Tarasov, Janis Payanidi, Vasily Gagarin and Ekaterina Borisova. All the simul participants received souvenirs from the Russian Olympic Committee.
The Chess Day's guests showed great interest in a blitz tournament with participation of several special guests. The winner was Evgeni Vasiukov, Chairman of the RCF Commission of Veterans, while head of the Maestro chess club Vyacheslav Kalyaev came up second. Nikita Kim, First Vice President of the Moscow Chess Federation, took the bronze.
"A significant event happened today. We presented a new discipline: doubles chess. It has a democratic format allowing for all sorts of competitions. For example, mixed doubles, like in tennis, where a man and a woman play in each team. And why not launch a project called something like 'Playing Chess with the Stars', in which grandmasters would be paired up with celebrities from the world of the art?! According to the latest polls, 60 percent of Russians play chess. In 1999, this game was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a sport, and now our common objective is to include chess in the program of the Winter or Summer Olympic Games," said Alexander Zhukov.
Summing up the highlights of the event, Zhukov promised that the Chess Day at the Russian Olympic Committee would become a tradition.
