On January 18, the President of the Republic of Moldova, President of Moldova Chess Federation, Igor Dodon visited the Botvinnik Central House of Chess in Moscow as part of his first foreign trip. Members of the Moldovan delegation, which included Moldova Ambassador to Russia Dumitru Braghis, Governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah, adviser to the president Vasile Sova, MP Andrei Neguta and others, met with the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, head of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov and the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov.The guests toured the reconstructed Central House of Chess, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in December 2016, as well as the exposition of the Museum of chess. Afterwards, Moldovan politicians answered the reporters’ questions.
"We have been able to achieve very significant progress in the development of chess in recent years. We have opened several dozen chess classes in the regions, villages and regions of the country. I would like to thank Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who helped us. Because of this, our young players achieved success," said the head of Moldova.
In addition, Igor Dodon invited the FIDE President to visit Chisinau on January 28 to, inter alia, discuss the holding of a major chess tournament in Tiraspol.
