On October 23 the FIDE President paid a short visit to Damascus where he met with the President of Syrian Chess Federation, Dr. Hani Al-Bitar. The presidents discussed the development of chess in Syria, the possibility to start the implementation of CIS programme with government’s support. It was noted that the Syrian CF paid a great attention to chess despite the difficulties at the present time. Mr. Ilyumzhinov thanked the federation for its work and underlined that FIDE will render an overall support to the local chess federation to popularize game in the country. The meeting was followed by the game played by FIDE President with the young Syrian chess players. On his Twitter page President Ilyumzhinov shared his impressions on the visit to Damascus. https://twitter.com/Ilyumzhinov
He said that he mostly enjoyed the communication with the young Syrian chess players. “The youngest girl is only 5! Some of them were complaining about their parents who do not let them participate in the tournaments in recent times,” the FIDE President shared on his Twitter page. The Syrian children presented to Mr. Ilyumzhinov a chess set made in the national style as well as the postcard with the wishes.