International Chess Festival “IASI OPEN”, started in Iasi on Saturday, May 10th, with total prizes up to EUR 25,000. The event offers a lot of surprises to all chess players, the most remarkable: City Hall of Iasi will have the honor to welcome his Excellency Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of FIDE - World Chess Federation and Mr. Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE deputy-president.

The blitz contest that was scheduled on the second day of the tournament, was broadcast LIVE for 2.5 hours on the Romanian national public television on the TVR3 channel. It was a dynamic transmission with 6 video-cameras, interviews immediately after the games, two tv studios, one fixed and one mobile, in the largest and most fashionable Shopping Center of the City of Iasi. All the 134 participants enjoyed the show that could be watched from every corner of Romania. The winner was GM Alexander Fier from Brazil, followed by GM Vladislav Nevednichy from Romania and GM Axel Bachmann from Paraguay on the third place.

The live broadcast was an excellent propaganda for chess, the TV station and the organizers received a huge positive feedback from the public.

The City of Iasi is proud to support and to promote chess, here were organized in the last years several European or World chess events: European Youth Team Chess Championships 2011, World School Chess Championships 2012 (with a record of participation), World Amateur Chess Championships in 2013 and soon, in July 2014, will take place the European Youth Team Chess Championships and so it is gained the attention of many mass media partners as Romanian National Television, public radio station Radio Romania and other commercial mass media as well.

This broadcast is a great achievement and an impressive example of how to promote chess, proving the great potential of chess in Romania.

The organizing team from Iasi: the Romanian Chess Federation President and member of the Romanian Parliament, Sorin Iacoban, the Vice-President of RCF, prof. Vasile Manole, the General Secretary, Vladimir Danilov, the Chairman of CIS Commission, Vlad Ungureanu – thanks to all the supporters of the Romanian chess and especially to Mr. Ion Serban Dobronauteanu, vice-president of ECU, for their contribution to organizing various international events and to promoting chess in schools as an educational tool.

The live transmission was follow by a discussion dedicated to IASI OPEN in another TV sport magazine: http://www.tvrplus.ro//editie-arena-219693