Today's Edition
Al Ain (Aletihad)
Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, the President of the Asian Chess Federation, visited Moscow's Central Chess Club and Museum, named after former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, while committing to sending a team from his local turf, Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club, for Russia's inter-school tournament, Belaya Ladya.
In a meeting before the visit, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa spoke with Russia President Vladimir Putin to assure the participation as desired by the country's premier. Putin awarded Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa with the Order of Friendship for his significant contribution to the promotion of chess both within Russia and on the international stage.
Welcomed by the President of the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) Andrey Filatov and his wife Elena, Sheikh Sultan was given a tour of the museum where he showed great interest and asked for more details about certain chess sets and their history. He was accompanied by Hesham Ali Al Taher, Secretary General of the Asian Chess Federation, and CEO of Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club.
Filatov expressed his pleasure at Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa's "willingness to send a team from the UAE to Belaya Ladya. Thus, the geography of our famous school tournament, which was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014, is expanding and attracting more countries".
Since 2015, Belaya Ladya started welcoming teams from foreign countries. More than 100 teams from 80 regions of Russia and nearly 20 countries of the world take part. Bulgaria, England, Greece, India, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia have been representing the international flavour and UAE could be added next. Belaya Ladya is organised by CFR and the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation.
