By the way, this initiative was put forward by the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who actively promoted the programme, "Chess in Schools". He recently visited Lviv at the invitation of the city authorities and the regional's chess federation, and later met with the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko and the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko.
From the new academic year all schools in Lviv will have a chess elective. Lviv's Mayor, Andrei Sadovyi, said this at a City Council session, reports news agency, 'Ukrinform':
"There is a direct correlation between the ability to play chess and academic performance. And we will contribute to the development of these skills in the younger generation." Next year, according to Sadovyi, the people’s elected will consider the necessary changes to the budget for this innovations implementation.
It is worth being reminded that the popularity of the ancient game increased significantly in Lviv after the April victory in Sochi of the Ukrainian, Maria Muzichuk, in the fight for the World Chess crown. As a result, Mr. Sadovyi has supported the idea of holding the tournament in Lviv.
