Some of the participants at the Overall Opening Ceremony

The 27th SEA Games are being held in the Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital of Myanmar. This is a biennial multisport games event hosted normally by rotation among the 11 nations of the ASEAN, Association of South East Asian Nations. A total of about 10,000 athletes and officials forms the participation list. Organising this edition for the first time since the last time in 1969, they scored excellently for the issuance of accreditation cards, visas and were efficient with airport transfers and accommodation.

The Games are held under the umbrella of the SEA Games Federation and the sport disciplines are decided by the SEAGF and the local organiser. Chess is being included for the fourth time; previously in 2003 Vietnam, 2005 Philippines, 2011 Indonesia.

In the current series, the organisers introduced Myanmar Traditional Chess, Chess 960 and Transfer Chess. Together with regular Chess and ASEAN Chess, a total of 18 events will be contested. 8 of the 11 ASEAN countries registered for Chess and their chess athletes look forward to attractive cash bonuses if they win Gold medals.

An elephant dance at the soft opening for the Chess Discipline