This morning a meeting was held at the City Hall in Lviv, attended by Mayor Andrei Sadovy, Igor Zhdanov, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Yuriy Pidlisnyy, the Deputy Governor of the Lviv region, chess players, Maria and Anna Muzychuk and the FIDE delegation headed by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.The meeting of the two presidents was held in the famous Palace of Count Pototski, a grand piece of 19th century architecture, now a museum and art gallery.
The World Championship match is arranged for March next year. At the suggestion of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the tournament's organizing committee will be headed by Petr Poroshenko himself. The Ukrainian President commented on the high-level development of chess in the country, particularly in Lviv, where a lot of great chess masters and coaches were raised. The Head of State added that the holding of the match would contribute to the popularization of chess not only in Ukraine but also worldwide.
At the end of the meeting, Petr Poroshenko submitted the Ukrainian application, to organize the championship, to the head of FIDE. In return, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (the first Russian politician to visit Ukraine after recent events) presented a souvenir to the Ukrainian President: a traditional Kalmyk chess set which World Champion, Magnus Carlsen had used in a previous match.
