In 2011, the closing ceremony of the women's world championship match took place in Tirana. One of the members, Hou Yifan, secured her victory over Koneru Humpy a week ago, and the organizers had time to prepare the end of the event and bring something new to it.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the first and last president of the USSR, flew to the ceremony. Of course, the invitation came from his friend, the head of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
When the world champion was born, there was no longer the country on the world map ruled by the one who presented her with the medal.
In his speech, the ex-president of the ex-USSR, in addition to congratulating the winner and sympathy for the loser, noted that first we should always think about children, about their education and opportunities. As a reminder, FIDE Chess in Schools programme is being implemented under the patronage of Gorbachev.
December 17, 2012 turned out to be eventful from the point of view of chess, or rather, near-chess events. Anna Ushenina received the award from Mikhail Gorbachev.
On May 10, 2012, the opening ceremony of the match for the title of world chess champion between Visvanathan Anand from India and Boris Gelfand, representing Israel, took place at the Tretyakov Gallery. Of course, Mikhail Gorbachev was also present at the ceremony!