Opening Ceremony of 15 ICSC World Individual Deaf Championships

Saturday, 29 September 2012 11:01

On September 28 the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov opened the 15th I.C.S.C World Individual Deaf Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In his welcome speech Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted that this event is significant for the entire chess world, it shows to the world that chess is important in the social life of the society. He underlined that chess opens opportunities for all who seek the creative self-realization, even inspite of the most adverse life circumstances. The fact that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov spoke to the participants in sign language stirred up the enthusiastic and warm welcome.

After the opening ceremony a dinner for the participants was organized. The FIDE President answered the numerous questions of the players during the dinner. The Assistant to the FIDE President Berik Balgabaev said that most of the participants are active Internet users and are well aware of the Republic of Kalmykia, City-Chess, the largest Buddhist temple in Europe and even the Kalmyk marbled beef.

Of course, a lot of questions were about the development of chess. In particular, everybody wanted to know in what way chess for the deaf will be supported. This question also arose at the meeting with the leadership of the International Committee of Silent Chess (ICSC). As a result of the conversation it was decided that leadership of ICSC will prepare their proposals which will be considered at the next meeting of the FIDE Presidential Board in January 2013 in Yerevan.

The ICSC World Individual Deaf Chess Championship is being held for the fifteenth time. It is organized under the auspices of FIDE. 175 participants from 30 countries are taking part in the event. The dates of the Championships are 28 September - 7 October 2012.

Later Kisran Ilyumzhinov had a working meeting with Akim of Almaty Akhmetzhan Yessimov. They discussed the issues of chess development and organization of international chess tournaments in the largest city of Kazakhstan. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov thanked the government of Almaty for the attention paid to chess, including the organization of the important international chess events. In his turn, Akim of Almaty thanked Mr. Ilyumzhinov for the attention paid by the International Chess Federation to chess development in Kazakhstan and noted that owing to this fact Almaty is becoming one of the biggest chess centers in Asia.

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