On June 1st the FIDE President arrived to Dagomys, Sochi, where he participated in the opening ceremony of Belaya Ladya tournament which is celebrating its 45th anniversary. The history of Belaya Ladya goes back to 1968 when Pionerskaya Pravda newspaper published an article announcing the new school teams’ tournament. The idea to organize this unique tournament belonged to IA Anatoly Bykhovsky. The opening ceremony was also attended by Andrey Filatov, the President of Russian Chess Federation, Anatoly Karpov, the 12th World Champion.
The announcement about Belaya Ladya in Pionerskaya Pravda, 27 September 1968
Maria Morozova, General Director of the Timchenko Foundation, which is the tournament sponsor
On June 2 the final games of the tournament started. The first moves were made by the honorary guests - Anatoly Karpov and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
