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International Chess Federation
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Wednesday, 21 Jul 2021 09:07
Young players from 40 countries to take part in Festival «Rudaga - Kaissa 2021»



FIDE endorsed tournament will be held in Jurmala, Latvia from July 23 – August 01.

Young chess players from about 40 countries will participate in the Rudaga - Kaissa 2021 Children and Youth Chess Festival, which will be held in the Latvian resort city of Jurmala with the support of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The pre-competition press conference with the organizers was held yesterday on International Chess Day. 

The festival will take place for the 13th time and will bring together chess players under the age of 20, representing 40 countries, including Latvia, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Ghana, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Tournaments will be held both over-the-board and online. 

“We are constantly looking for interesting ideas all over the world and we see Latvia is showing passion and creativity in hosting interesting events, primarily for children and young people. We also hope that at some point Latvia will be hosting a major tournament for professional players. In 2019 the Grand Prix leg was held in Riga, and a children's championship supported by FIDE was conducted as its side event. So, the tradition is already emerging, and we hope that it will expand in the future," - said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich

According to him, FIDE's support for children and youth chess tournaments is the basis for the further development of the sport. “We are thinking about future generations all the time. Involving new generations in chess has a huge potential. Moreover, there are countries where this is already a tradition - Russia, the Baltic countries, European and Asian countries, India, the USA, China, but in many parts of the world we still have a lot of work to do," he added. 

Tournament director Inessa Testelecs noted that the upcoming chess festival will include a large side-events program. “We will have chess master classes and simultaneous games with chess stars and grandmasters. It will be a great honor for children to play against famous opponents whose chess career was long and impressive,”  she said. 

In addition to standard prizes - commemorative cups, diplomas, medals and memorable gifts - the winner of the over-the-board tournament will receive accreditation for the World Chess Olympiad 2022, an entrance ticket for the Opening Ceremony and accommodation for two nights in the official hotel of the Olympiad, while top players of the online event will be awarded free online group lectures with Antoaneta Stefanova, Women's World Champion (2004-2006) and Ruslan Ponomariov, FIDE World Champion (FIDE World Chess Championship 2002).