Chess: Astana wants to host Chess Olympiad in 2018

Astana is bidding to host the 2018 Chess Olympiad, Vesti.kz reports, referring to Kirsan Illyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). “Today we have discussed this issue with (Vice-PM of Kazakhstan) Asset Issekeshev. We will consider Kazakhstan’s application and I think you have good chances,” the FIDE president said. The Chess Olympiad has been held since 1927. The trophy for the winning team is the Challenge Hamilton-Russell Cup and every participant of the winning team gets a gold medal. USSR teams have won the biggest number of awards over the history of the Olympiad. The Women's World Chess Team Championship 2013 kicked off in Astana on March 2. The best female chess players from all over the world came to the tournament. The current women’s world chess champion Anna Ushenina (Ukraine), former world chess champion Aleksandra Kostenyuk and other famous players are participating in the Championship. This is a round-robin tournament (all-play-all) and this will help define the winner very fairly.