The event was conducted by sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev and international grandmaster Elmira Mirzoeva.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov gave an interview to TV reporters and made a welcoming speech to the participants and guests of honor. He noted that Russia always shows an example of how to develop chess and recalled his plan to bring the number of people playing chess up to one billion. "Chess knows no age," FIDE head summed up.
Later, Ilyumzhinov watched with interest the events in the gaming halls.