On July 25th the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov arrived in Voronezh, Russia where met with the Governor of Voronezh oblast, Mr. Alexey Gordeev. President Ilyumzhinov visited the Voronezh Olympic Reserve sport school № 13. More than 500 boys and girls professionally play chess in this school. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov played the blitz game with 9-years-old Katya Shestakova.

“To be honest I'm dumbfounded, the girl played very well, I was counting on easy victory and I hardly finished it in draw”, shared FIDE President. He noted that the Voronezh school is well known in Russia. Alexey Gordeev and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov agreed that the Voronezh chess players will participate in the European and World Youth Championships. “In December the World Youth Championships 2013 will be held in Al Ain. We include the Voronezh chess player into the participant's list out of turn”, said FIDE President . Also Mssrs. Gordeev and Ilyumzhinov discussed the CiS programme and it's implementation in Voronezh oblast. FIDE President said that he is ready to construct the chess palace in Voronezh, which will be a branch of International Chess Academy, chess school, museum and hotel. Such projects are run already in Kazan, China, Georgia and others countries. Alexey Gordeev supported the FIDE President's idea.