It is also important that there were no admonitions from FIDE about the organisation of the Olympiad. "Let me remind you that at the 41st World Chess Olympiad in Tromsø there have been complaints about the huge distance of 90 km between the tournament hall and place of residence. In Baku both the judges and the players were in walking distance from the venue of the tournament. The Chess Federation of Azerbaijan and the organizing committee met all the requirements. The qualitative level of chess games was also very high," Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted.
"We are honored that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony, visited the Games and made the first move instead of the representative of the Russian women`s team, the world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk," the head of FIDE added.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also said that there was no doping scandal at the Olympiad in Baku.
According to him, Azerbaijan pays a lot of attention to the development of chess. "Ilham Aliyev was the first head of state who signed the state program of chess development. This program includes the national team training, the funding of the opening of a chess center in each town. I personally took part in the opening of several chess centers – in Nakhichevan and Shamkir. Azerbaijan introduced chess into the school curriculum, and during the Olympiad Ilham Aliyev said that it will become a compulsory subject in Baku and several other cities," the head of FIDE concluded.
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