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Opening ceremony press release |
 World's best women players get together in Geneva for the Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix
Geneva, 3 May 2013 - Fondation Neva, in partnership with the International Chess Federation (FIDE), is organizing the first leg of the official Women's Grand Prix series for the first time in Geneva. From May 3 to 15, twelve of the best women players - featuring current women world champion Anna Ushenina from Ukraine - will confront each other at the Hotel N'vY. The competitions are open to the public (information on http://geneva2013.fide.com). "This tournament is a unique opportunity to discover this very popular sport in Russia", rejoices Mrs Timtchenko, President of Fondation Neva.
Competitive sport with multiple benefits for the youth
The opening ceremony attended by Mrs Isabel Rochat, Geneva State Chancellor, Mr Sami Kanaan, Administrative Chancellor of the City of Geneva, and a public of chess amateurs
kicked off the Championship bringing together the leading women players. Among the legends present for the occasion, the famous Grand Master Nona Gaprindashvili, who dominated the Championship for a long time in the Soviet era. "We are happy to be in Geneva and we thank Fondation Neva for making it possible", said Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE President. "Introducing chess lessons at schools is undoubtedly beneficial for young people in many respects. Fondation Neva wishes to encourage the discovery of this highly strategic sport, by creating opportunities for cross-cultural interactions", added Mrs Elena Timtchenko.
Geneva audience associated to this event
In order to give chess aficionados from Geneva an opportunity to follow every single day of the competition, the games will be open to the public from 2 pm and will be commented live by a specialist seating in front of the Nolita room at Hotel N'vY. The tournament is also broadcast on the FIDE official website (www.fide.com).
On Sunday May 12 - one of the two free days granted to the players - around thirty young passionate players, members of the Geneva Chess Federation, will play simultaneous games against a couple of the Grand Masters.
La tribune de Genève, Léman bleu and One FM are media partners of the Grand Prix.
Fondation Neva and Chess game
The Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix is a reflection of Fondation Neva’s desire to raise awareness on this discipline considered a national sport in Russia, as well as of its involvement in popularizing it abroad. In April 2013, Fondation Neva partnered in the Alekhine Memorial tournament which took place at the Louvre Museum in Paris and brought together the world’s best chess players. More broadly, Fondation Neva is dedicated to encouraging closer links between Switzerland and Russia. This ambitious aim is given concrete expression in a number of initiatives in the sphere of sports, culture and science.
Fondation Neva: For over fifteen years, Elena and Gennady Timtchenko have been actively and personally engaged in philanthropic activities. In order to better manage the growing complexity of these projects, they created three foundations, among which Fondation Neva established in Geneva in 2008. Its core mission is to strengthen historical ties between Switzerland and Russia, two nations which share many common values and the same classical culture. By supporting projects promoting excellence in the field of culture, science and sports, Fondation Neva is helping to promote the Russian cultural diversity in Switzerland, to multiply exchanges between the two countries and to encourage their closeness. Since 2013 Fondation Neva extends its partnerships to France.
www.neva-fondation.org
For further information on the Fondation Neva Women’s Grand Prix:
http://geneva2013.fide.com www.fide.com
Geoffrey Borg, CEO FIDE – +41 79 761 82 53
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Fondation Neva:
Philippe Eberhard – +41 22 321 45 40 Delphine Rappaz – +41 22 735 59 77
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