KHANTY-MANSIYSK (Sputnik) — Yugra won the right to host the Olympiad at a meeting of the General Assembly of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), which took place in Baku on Tuesday. The tournament has been held every two years since 1931, and is the most popular and representative chess competition on the planet, involving most of the leading international grandmasters.
The 2020 Olympiad in Yugra is expected to bring together at least 2,000 players from 150 countries.
"Governor of the Autonomous Area Natalya Komarova submitted the bid to the Assembly members,” an official from the department said. “Our area outdid countries such as Argentina and Slovakia for the right to host the 2020 Olympiad. The Olympiad in Yugra will be held under the motto ‘Uniting the Universe.’
Speaking before the Assembly, the Governor of Yugra mentioned a number of innovations of the 2020 Olympiad. For the first time in the history of such tournaments, it will be held in collaboration with the United Rocket and Space Corporation.
"A blitz tournament between the grandmasters and the International Space Station crew will be held during the Olympiad in Yugra," the agency quoted Ms Komarova as saying.
In addition, before the start of the 2020 Olympiad, Yugra, in partnership with FIDE, will organize the first-ever Olympic chess relay. It will take place in the form of online tournaments, meetings and classes for young chess players from around the world held by leading international grandmasters. The relay will become the largest humanitarian effort to popularize chess.
"Our goal is to hold the 2020 World Chess Olympiad as the most open and accessible for each man and woman on planet Earth. The chess family is the family with the largest number of children in the world," a spokesman for the department quoted Komarova as saying.
