29.06.2017

Ilyumzhinov: "Russian chess players achieved a brilliant result in Khanty-Mansiysk"

For the first time in history, the women's national chess team of Russia won the World Team Championship held in Khanty-Mansiysk. The men's national team got silver medals. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided to hold the women's and men's championships simultaneously for the first time. As the president of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said, this idea proved to be right.

"Everything was splendidly organized in Khanty-Mansiysk. The women's national team of Russia was rightly the winner – it was a strong team led by Alexandra Kosteniuk. And so, I congratulate the girls with success. The most important thing for such championships is the team spirit. The women's national team of Russia shows harmonious combination of good play, composition and psychological state," Ilyumzhinov said.
"The second place is also a good result for the men's team, considering composition of the team. Sergei Karyakin, Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk didn’t play. The level of the tournament was very high and so was the struggle. Many fought for gold and there was a struggle in almost every game," he added.
"Now there are many joint tournaments. Women take part in men's competitions. Men claim discrimination because they cannot participate in women's tournaments. Historically it was believed that men are smarter. If you compare the ratings of female and male chess players, the latter’s rating is better and they play more. As is known, the left hemisphere of brain is involved with logic and calculation, while the right one (female) is responsible for creativity and imagination. Thus, logic takes precedence over creativity", concluded head of FIDE.