The International Chess Federation (FIDE) bets today to support the development of the science game in Cuba, according to the president of that entity, the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich.
Havana, February 10 (RHC)-- The International Chess Federation (FIDE) bets today to support the development of the science game in Cuba, according to the president of that entity, the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich.
With this objective, FIDE, the National Federation of the discipline and the Cuban government established cooperation agreements to encourage the practice of the sport in the island and to strengthen the bonds of friendship, said the federation president in an exchange with the press.
Earlier, Dvorkovich, accompanied by several members of his work team, had a meeting with Osvaldo Vento, head of the National Sports Institute, and Roberto León Richards, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee.
The 49 year-old senior executive, a career economist, insisted on the need to develop chess at an early age in order to look for future champions.
According to the FIDE head, in a country like Cuba, with a strong chess tradition, the first step is to develop the sport in schools.
Then the young people should study so that they can have a professional career, and the third step is to have the necessary support so that these emerging figures can participate in international tournaments.
In particular, he stressed the importance of promoting the game of science among women and in prisons for the social insertion of people after serving their sentences, as well as among senior citizens, people with disabilities and children.
Dvorkovich praised the efforts of the Cuban authorities and the National Federation for taking chess to all the corners of the country, which is of vital importance for the cognitive and social development of its practitioners.
Accompanied by the Latvian vice-president of FIDE, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, and the Moldavian Viktor Bologan, executive director, the Russian federative was able to exchange with the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
He also visited the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, a home for the elderly and the specialized classroom of the Center for Chess Studies at the "Manuel Fajardo" University of Physical Culture and Sports Sciences.
According to the head of FIDE, the Capablanca Memorial is the most important one developed in Latin America and his entity will support it so that it has great players not only from the region. He also expressed his optimism about the future organization of international competitions in Cuba.
The Antillean nation has already received equipment from FIDE that included clocks, games, intelligent boards for the live transmission of elite competitions and bibliography to support the teaching of the discipline.
Likewise, Dvorkovich insisted on the need to develop more online events in view of the impact of Covid-19 and said that he will visit Panama, Ecuador and Mexico, in this last country he will participate in the Iberoamerican Chess Championship, from February 12 to 18.
The Russian federator took over as head of FIDE in October 2018, when he replaced his compatriot Kirsan Iliumzhinov, and will seek re-election during the Congress of the organization to be held as part of the World Chess Olympiad in Moscow, next July.
