The first deputy governor Alexei Orlov About announced this at a press conference on the opening of the chess festival EURASIA OPEN.“We decided to give this palace the status of an International Chess Academy under the auspices of FIDE,” said Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. “Not only children from Russia, but also from other countries will study here.”
A chessboard and message to future generations were put into a concrete cube. It was planned that the Chess Academy would be built in 2009 for the SCO summit in Yekaterinburg. But as it sometimes happens, plans have changed and the construction was postponed indefinitely.
This year, the regional government decided not to build a new one but to renovate an old building - a three-story stone mansion in the historical centre of Yekaterinburg. Half of the cost of reconstruction will be paid by the regional government and another half by Sverdlovsk region Chess Federation.
The Central House of Ural Chess Players will be located in the former “Profitable House” built before 1889. According to the director of the Ural Chess Academy Albert Stepanyan, a chess museum will be opened there as well. Besides, everyone would be able to come and play chess.
“Step by step, we are moving towards our goal “One billion chess players ”, said Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
The deadline for the reconstruction of the building is 2023 (the 300th anniversary of the city), but there is hope that the new home for the Yekaterinburg chess players will be opened earlier.
