The participants and guests of the tournament were greeted by the Deputy Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Sergey Kosilov, sixth FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, prefect of the Northeast Okrug of Moscow Alexey Belyaev, first Vice-President of the Moscow Chess Federation Nikita Kim, and the rector of the RSSU Natalya Pochinok.

Sergey Kosilov wished success to the participants of the tournament. "I am sure that the competitions will be held at a high organizational level, and the participants will show decent results."
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov addressed the organizers and partners of the festival with words of gratitude. “More than a generation of chess players of Russia and the world received the baptism of fire at this festival,” Kirsan Nikolayevich noted. He wished all the participants good luck and a good game.
Natalia Pochinok noted that every year the festival is becoming bigger and breaking new records. This year, the competitions among children will gather largest number of participants. Natalia Borisovna noted the importance of chess as a sport. “Within the framework of the festival, we will pay great attention to the introduction of chess in the education system. Therefore, let's talk about how to develop the chess movement, because chess is the pride of our country!” In conclusion, the words “The International RSSU Moscow Open Chess Cup is declared open” were spoken on the stage for the 15th time!
We add that the first games of the main tournaments will be played on Saturday, 26 January.