Havana, June 20th, 2010

Press-Release


Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Jubilee 45th Capablanca Memorial in Havana, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced a US 500, 000 five-year prize fund from his personal funds for two new tournaments in the FIDE Calendar.

These competitions will be named - Caribbean Cup and Latin America Cup.

The first tournament is aimed primarily as support of the chess talents and countries of the Caribbean region which belong to the CACDEC list.

The second championship takes into the account the increased popularity of chess in the Latin American continent where there is a serious lack of top class international tournaments with generous prize funds.

The Continental President Jorge Vega is assigned with further detailed implementation and preparation of the respective regulations for the tournaments.

During his visit in Havana, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov visited the Colon Cemetery where he laid a wreath on the grave of the legendary Cuban chess player, the third World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca. The President also met the leadership of the National Institute of Sports, President of the Cuban Chess Federation, Mr. Silvino Garcia Martinez and the Head of the National Chess Commission Osvaldo Garcia Contreras to discuss matters of chess development.