On March 31, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Moldovan President Igor Dodon opened the International Rapid Chess Tournament in Chisinau, which has been held annually since 1998 in memory of the famous chess player and coach Vyacheslav Chebanenko.
"Tomorrow, on April 1, together with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, we will award the winners of the "Chebanenko Memorial" tournament. The ceremony will be held at the Palace of the Republic at 16:00," the head of state said.
"11 strongest chess players from all over the world - Russia, Great Britain, Ukraine, Qatar, Serbia, Romania, Belarus, Poland, Israel and Azerbaijan came to the tournament. There will be a total of 35 chess players, including 13 grandmasters, 7 international grandmasters and 4 grandmasters of FIDE," said Dodon. He also noted that Moldova is represented by the strongest chess players of the Republic.