The opening kickoff of the 2023 FIDE World School Chess Championships, within the framework of the 4th Rhodes Chess Festival, took placeon 14th of April in Rodos Palace* hotel.
The event is co-organized by the Chess Club “Ippotis Rodou”, the Southern Aegean Prefecture and the Municipality of Rhodes through the Municipal Organization of Culture and Sports (DOPAR), under the auspices of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Greek Chess Federation.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Regional Governor of the Southern Aegean, Mr. Giorgos Hatzimarkos, the Mayor of Rhodes, Mr. Antonis Kambourakis, the Vice-Regional Governor of the Dodecanese for Sports, Mr. Nikos Nikolis, the Secretary General of the European Chess Union (ECU), Mr. Theodoros Tzorbatzoglou, the Dean of Anthr. Sciences of the Aegean University , Mr. Ioannis Seimenis and the FIDE Technical Delegate Mr. Ozgur Solakoglu.
In his greeting, Mr. Hatzimarkos emphasized that the Southern Aegean Prefecture will continue to stand by the local club and its contributors, who with their passion and love have put Rhodes on the world chess map.
Mr. Kambourakis stated in his speech that the local government invests in actions and initiatives, such as chess events, in order to promote creativity, competitiveness and noble competition in children’s education, while Mr. Tzorbatzoglou underlined that Rhodes has become a permanent organizer – of both European and World events – due to its high level of hospitality and excellent hotel infrastructure.
Everyone was enchanted by the soloist – violinist Leinda, who set the stage on fire through classical and modern arrangements.
Let the numbers speak! 530 participants from 53 countries with over 1500 visitors in total.
The representative group of Greece leads the way with 105 athletes, 60 of whom are from the Southern Aegean Region.
Spectators can watch live the games of the first 5 boards of each category on chess24.com platform, while photographic material as well as all news about the event are posted daily on the official website wscc2023.ippotis.com and on social media accounts of the Ippotis Rodou club, facebook.com/cc.ippotis, Instagram @rhodes_chess_events & Youtube @rhodes_chess_events.
We sincerely express our gratitude to the sponsors who support our effort every year:
To facilitate the transports of the Executives and the organizing committee, Mr. Nikos Xenakis (Xenakis Cars) provided 3 modern cars (electric – hybrid).
We also thank Beekeeping of Dodecanese, J&D Rent a Car, Rodos Palace Hotel, Radio Taxi Diagoras, Accounting Office of Papadimitriou and Associates (Papadimitriou Panagiotis), AtHolidays, Cafe Auvergne & Restaurant Romaio, Tropaion, Odeion of Dodecanese.