On 26 October the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov arrived in Tashkent where he took part in the closing ceremony of the 1st Central Asia Chess Cup. An idea to organize the tournament was raised during the President's previous visit to Uzbekistan; that is why the FIDE President became the initiator and main sponsor of the competition.

Entitled to participate were the chess players from the Central Asian countries – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. The main aim of the tournament is popularization and development of the mass chess in the countries of Central Asia. 

The FIDE President also participated in the award ceremony. The event was won by former FIDE World Champions Rustam Kasimdzhanov. The Cup is planned to be held regularly.

During his visit the FIDE President had a meeting with Mr. Malik Babaev, President of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan. Mr. Babaev handed to Mr. Ilyumzhinov an appeal to IOC President offering to change the Olympic Charter and to include chess to the Winter Olympic Games.