On May 16, FIDE head Kirsan Ilyumzhinov paid a visit to Chisinau, where he met with Moldovan President Igor Dodon. The parties discussed the development of chess in the country as well as possibility of holding the 2022 World Chess Olympiad in the capital of the Republic of Moldova."Moldova is proud for winning such a prestigious prize and I will consider the possibility of awarding the young man with state honours," Dodon said. He wished the chess player further sporting successes and assured him of his full support.
In turn, Ilyumzhinov conveyed to the Champion congratulations on behalf of 188 countries of the world — members of FIDE. He noted that such achievement was made possible by the efforts to popularize chess in Moldova, especially in schools.
Additionally, Ilyumzhinov said that following the agreements reached earlier, FIDE will allow Makovey to take part in the World Junior Championship for participants up to 20 years of age. It will be held in Italy this autumn.
Incidentally, during the previous visit, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov discussed the implementation of the "Chess in families" programme at the Ministry of Sport of Moldova. As a result, chess championship has already been held in Balti with a winning family. This time, the head of FIDE and the President of the Republic of Moldova examined the prospects of promoting the programme "Chess in villages". Igor Dodon promised to personally control this issue.
