Glittering Start to 4th SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 (including Chess)

Hello chess blog friends, the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 - including chess - opened with a glittering ceremony in Beijing Wednesday evening. 

The 4th edition of the annual event features 150 players from 37 countries, who will be competing in 5 sports, namely Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi. This year’s edition witnesses the introduction of American Checkers, which takes the total number of sub-disciplines to 14, with 24 medal rounds on offer. A total prize purse of $1.4 million is on offer for the winners at this year’s event, which is being hosted by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, and is being organised by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Board and Card Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.

Photos by Alina l'Ami via FIDE SportAccord website

Announcing his delight at the opening of the latest edition of the World Mind Games, SportAccord President Marius L. Vizer said, “The spirit of excellence, competition and friendship guides the 4th edition of the World Mind Games. Excellent organisation, superior competition and friendship between the players are the aims of this unique event. Our intention is to provide inspiration to millions of mind sports practitioners around the world to aspire to the highest standards. This intention has focused our efforts towards providing to millions of sportspersons across the world with the opportunities to compete in high-quality competitions through the multi-sports games under SportAccord's umbrella. The World Beach Games, World Combat games, World Mind Games and World Urban Games are the results of close cooperation with the international federations and give voice to the primary individuals- the players. At the World Mind Games 2014, I wish the players a lot of success and all participants at the event all the best for 2015."

The organisation of such an event on the desired scale of organisation and participation would not have been possible without the dedication and untiring efforts of the local organising committee. Speaking on behalf of the LOC, Mr. Chen Jie, secretary general of the LOC said, “As one of the highest level international sports events being held in Beijing this year, a successful World Mind Games will make a great contribution to the popularity and development of mind games, enhancing multi-cultural communication, pushing forward the healthy and harmonious development for the city of Beijing”.

Addressing the assembled media and the athletes, Mr. Vlad Marinescu, director general of SportAccord highlighted the value of working together to produce results by saying, “"The World Mind Games represent SportAccord's commitment to bringing the finest practitioners of mind sports under one roof to present an unparalleled spectacle to mind sports fans. We are thankful to the 5 international federations for providing us with the best athletes, services and officials to ensure that the quality of competition only improves each year. We are honoured to be hosted by the city of Beijing year after year and are thankful to the local organising committee for presenting the best face of World Mind Games 2014 in front of the world. Our production partners are essential for this purpose and their efforts will ensure that over 50 territories will be touched by the World Mind Games 2014. Our network of commercial partners for the event grows stronger due to the undying efforts of all those mentioned and the sponsors this year make the 4th edition of the World Mind Games the best supported edition yet."

The World Mind Games 2014 is the first multi-sports event to be organised in China with a fully certified integrity programme that has been distributed to the athletes before the competition for completion. 

Competition at the World Mind Games will begin on the 11th of December and the last round of action will be organised on the 17th of December, with the final medals being awarded in the evening. The entire event will be broadcast live or deferred by 23 TV channels, apart from being streamed live on 2 digital media channels.

Official website for live feed www.worldmindgames.net From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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