The President of the Russian Olympic Committee and member of the International Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, supports the initiative of the President of the International Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, for the inclusion of chess in the Winter Olympic Games.
"Chess itself is very popular. A huge number of people take part in the Chess Olympic Games. Of course, I support their inclusion in the Olympic programme. I often mentioned it to the former president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge and do to the current- Thomas Bach, but still problems remain," said the head of the ROC.
It’s worth mentioning that in the middle of July, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made a sensational statement that chess, as an exhibition sport, will be played at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang (South Korea).
