The opening ceremony of the Women's World Cup in chess took place in Batumi, Georgia.
İdman.biz reports that the event was attended by state and government officials, the head of the Georgian Chess Federation Akaki Iashvili, the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Arkady Dvorkovich, the Vice President of FIDE and the President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov, as well as other guests.
At the ceremony, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said that the World Cup features the strongest female chess players.
FIDE Vice President and President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation Mahir Mammadov called Georgia's hosting of the prestigious chess competition an important event and expressed his belief that the competition would be organized at a high level.
Then, by lot, it was determined which pieces the chess players would compete with in the first round. It became known that chess players who chose an odd number would compete with black pieces.
Azerbaijan will be represented by 4 chess players in the World Cup. According to the results of the draw, in the first stage Govhar Beydullayeva will face Iranian representative Anahita Zahedifar, Ulviyya Fataliyeva will face Jiling Zhang from Australia, Khanim Balajayeva will face Elnaz Kaliahmet from Kazakhstan, and Gulnar Mammadova will face Yunshan Li from China.
The total prize fund of the World Cup is 691,250 US dollars. The winning chess player will win 50,000 dollars. In the end, the chess players who take the first three places will qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
It should be noted that a total of 107 chess players from 47 countries are participating in the competition.
İdman.biz