Baku Chess Olympiad names first Celebrity Ambassadors

/By Azernews/

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku Chess Olympiad Operating Committee has named first Celebrity Ambassador of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad, Azertac reports.

Producer of the “Bu Seherde” theatre Mushvig Abbasov, and the theatre’s actors Joshgun Rahimov and Rafael Isgandarov were chosen to be the Celebrity Ambassadors of the World Chess Olympiad.

The Celebrity Ambassadors thanked the Operating Committee, saying they will try to justify the committee’s confidence.

The first World Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan will be held from September 1 to 14 at the Crystal Hall, an indoor arena once hosting Eurovision Song Contest (2012).

The FIDE General Assembly has awarded the 2016 World Chess Olympiad to Baku back in July 2012. FIDE received three bids for hosting the 2016 Olympiad: from Tallinn (Estonia), Albena (Bulgaria) and Baku (Azerbaijan). At the General Assembly it became clear that Tallinn had withdrawn its bid, and that Albena had not included the organization of the 2015 World Cup in their bid.

The chess tournament will host about 2,000 chess masters from 175 countries, while the number of guests is expected to reach up to 3,000.

The budget for the Olympiad is 13.3 million euros. Some 6.8 million euros are set aside for first-class accommodation for the players and delegates. Another 1 million euros will go to the FIDE Commission for World Championships & Olympiads and intellectual rights.