On 11 March 2007, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov attended the Closing Ceremony of the Morelia/Linares tournament held from 17 February to 11 March 2007 and presented an award to the the winner of the tournament GM Viswanathan Anand of India. He also met the Mayor of Linares Juan Fernandez Guttierez.

First of all, Mr. Ilyumzhinov congratulated the Organizers on the wise initiative to hold such prestigious event in two continents. The Morelia part drew much interest of mass media and chess lovers. He pointed out that now we have one more chess spot on the globe.

He supported the idea to invite all winners of the Linares tournament for participation in the 25th edition of the tournament the next year.

FIDE President discussed establishing of the Grand Slam tournaments and informed the Mayor of Linares that this issue had been included into Agenda of the next Presidential Board Meeting.

The Mayor of Linares, Organizers of the Morelia/Linares, Bilbao tournaments, the Chief Arbiter and Deputy Chief Arbiter of the Linares tournament have moved the motion to apply sanctions as far as declare the game lost by the player who has refused to shake hands with his opponent. The FIDE President replied that he will include the respective proposal for consideration by the next Presidential Board meeting. He also mentioned that the increasing frequency of similar cases has had a negative impact on chess in general and sell short the chess image from the side of sponsors, chess lovers and spectators.

Mr. Ilyumzhinov invited Mr. Fernandez to visit Kalmykia during the Candidate Matches to be held from 26 May to 14 June 2007 in Elista.

Today, 12 March 2007 FIDE President has met the President of the World Bridge Federation Jose Damiani. They have exchanged the information on the latest developments in their respective Federations. Mr. Ilyumzhinov informed Mr. Damiani on the results of the 1st quarter Presidential Board meeting held in Antalya, Turkey from 27 to 29 January 2007. They also discussed the organization of the World Mind Games 2008 in Beijing, China under the aegis of the IOC and the Agenda of the GAISF and ARISF General Assembly to be held in Beijing, China in April this year. Mr. Ilyumzhinov has informed Mr. Damiani on his recent meeting with the IOC President Jacques Rogge.