WTCC in Astana: Pre-tournament press conference
Pre-tournament press conference in Astana International Financial Centre
The organizers of the World Team Chess Championships 2019 held a press conference on the eve of the tournament. Several personalities like Head of Kazakhstan sports Serik Sapiyev or former vice-World champion GM Sergej Karjakin answered the questions of around 50 journalists.
The World Team Championships for men and women are taking place from March 4 – 15 in Astana. The Kazakhstan capital is used to staging events of such magnitude, but Tournament Director and Vice-President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation Zhandos Abishev admits that “organizing everything in only 5 weeks was a real challenge, but all is ready just in time. We would never have been able to make it without the support from our partners, namely our general sponsor ERG, our general partner Samruk-Kazyna, our social partner Samruk-Kazyna Trust and our partner AIFC”. Serik Sapiyev adds that “the popularity of chess has been continuously increasing in the past years. Prestigious events like this World Championship contribute to the further promotion of chess in Kazakhstan”.
Ten teams will face each other in both sections. The leader of the Kazakh women’s team Zhansaya Abdumalik believes that “Kazakhstan can achieve something very special here. Russia, China and the Ukraine are certainly favourite, but the gap with other teams is quite small, so that anything can happen”. Sergej Karjakin has fond memories of Astana. “It is a lucky place for me, as I became the World Champion in rapid chess here in 2012 and took bronze in the blitz. We have a very compact team and I hope that we will all be in good shape”.
The opening ceremony with the drawing of lots is taking place on March 4 at 7 pm at the Hilton Astana Hotel. On March 5 at 3 pm, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich will launch the tournament and the pieces will start moving on the battlefields.