So, it has finally been decided: the rematch between current World Chess Champion, Ukrainian Mariya Muzychuk and contender Hóu Yìfán from China to be held at Mariya’s home town of Lviv.
Frankly, this is a kind of political solution. Lviv was opposed by Běijīng, whose members not only filed their bid in good time under the rules, but also reinforced it with a bank guarantee for the transfer of part of the prize fund. The Ukrainian side has not complied with all the formalities. And yet, I insisted on making a decision in favor of the city. Why is that? In short, my visit to the city allowed me to see with my own eyes that this is a magnificent city, calm and friendly. There is a very strong chess tradition and chess school. The Lviv Chess Federation today has 20 grandmasters. It has such masters as Adrian Mikhalchishin, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Beliavsky, and it produced brought up Mariya Muzychuk. However, the last major competition held in Lvov was in 1984 – it was the USSR Chess Championship. Since then 31 (!) years have passed. In my opinion, this is too unfair on the city, whose residents so appreciate and love chess. [Read more]. |
- Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: “We Stand on the Transition Between Two Eras”, Chess-News.ru, July 29, 2015
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