It is gratifying that besides the great organizational and administrative work in the International School Chess Union, you are actively participating in seminars on the "Chess in schools" topic.
You have made a huge contribution to the popularization and promotion of chess, opened the way to sports for many talented chess players – Sergey Karjakin, Ernesto Inarkiev, Jan Nepomnyashchiy, Valentina Gunina, Olga Girya and Alina Kashlinskaya.
Your anniversary is celebrated by your friends and just fans of chess, who are happy with your successes and are rooting for you!
I wish you, dear Alexander Nikolayevich, good health, prosperity, inexhaustible energy and achievement of the goals set!"
On March 23, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov sent a congratulatory letter to Alexander Kostiev. The letter reads as follows:
"Dear Alexander Nikolaevich! Please accept my warmest and most sincere congratulations on your 70th birthday.
Your chess biography deserves the highest recognition. You devoted your life to this noble game. You are one of the most successful chess organizers in Moscow. Your chess books and programmes for children and adults are very popular among chess players and lovers of the ancient game.
