Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla and VIP guests attend Opening Ceremony of the 2017 FIDE Sharjah Grand Prix

Under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the eagerly anticipated FIDE 2017 Sharjah Grand Prix opening ceremony took place last night at the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club.

Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, Chairman of the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club welcomed VIP guests including H.E Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Saqr Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Sports Council, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Georgious Makropoulos, Deputy President of FIDE, Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of World Chess by Agon Limited, Amir Kanaan, General Manager of Kaspersky in MENA, alongside a number of local and international officials.

Georgious Makropoulos, Deputy President of FIDE, said: “I am delighted that Sharjah is hosting the first Grand Prix of 2017. Chess in the UAE is rapidly gaining popularity and the Grand Prix will only accelerate that trend.”

Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess by Agon said: “The Sharjah Grand Prix will elevate chess in UAE and be a fitting start to the 2017 FIDE Grand Prix series. The new Swiss format is an exciting innovation and one which will improve the spectator experience.”

The event will see 18 of the best players from around the world competing for a prize fund of 130,000 euros. Salem Saleh from Sharjah will become the first Grandmaster from UAE to take part in a World Championship event when he competes in the Sharjah Grand Prix.

The first round of the Sharjah Grand Prix starts at 3pm today. Chess fans can follow all the action, including every one of Salem Saleh’s games at www.worldchess.com

The 2017 Grand Prix series is sponsored by Kaspersky Lab, the global online security company.

Amir Kanaan, General Manager of Kaspersky in MENA said: “We are delighted to be associated with chess – a sport played by hundreds of millions of people online.  We are excited that Kaspersky Lab’s technology is to be used by the world’s top chess players and national chess federations.”

ENDS

About FIDE:

The World Chess Federation or Fédération Internationale des Echecs, (FIDE), is recognised by its members and the International Olympic Committee as the international federation in the domain of chess, the supreme body responsible for the sport of chess and its Championships. FIDE has the sole rights to organise the World Chess Championships and the Chess Olympiads.

About World Chess:

World Chess is owned by Agon Limited, the official partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and commercial rights holder to the World Chess Championship cycle. World Chess aims to develop and commercialize chess, create favorable environment for partners, players, and brands, and to significantly expand the broadcast coverage of the sport.

World Chess became the owner of the commercial rights in 2012. The company successfully managed the 2012-2013 Grand Prix cycle, the 2014 World Championship Match, and the 2015 Rapid and Blitz World Championships. The company operates the worldchess.com website, the official broadcasting platform of the Championship cycle.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky Lab’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky Lab technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

For more information, please contact:

World Chess:

Andrew Murray-Watson

Director of Communications

Mob: +44 7515 695232