FIDE president regrets being unable to attend World Championship Match for first time in history
MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) - World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has greeted chess lovers on the occasion of the upcoming World Championship Match in New York and regretted that this seems to be the first time in history that a FIDE head is not going to attend the event.
"Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and Russian Sergey Karjakin are to give a press conference this afternoon, then there is going to be a draw in the evening, and the match itself, which promises to be very exciting, will begin at 3:00 p.m. local time tomorrow," Ilyumzhinov said at a press conference at the Interfax main office in Moscow on Thursday.
"In the entire history of world championships, this is the first time that the president is not going to attend the match," he said.
FIDE congratulated Donald Trump on being elected U.S. president and invited him to make the first move in the match on Wednesday, he said.
Reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin will play a 12-game World Championship Match in New York on November 11 to 30, 2016. The tournament's prize fund is $1 million.
