"Belt and Road" Chengdu Global Chess Doubles Tournament 32 top chess players from 7 countries participated

The scene of the opening ceremony of the competition. Photo by He Shaoqing

Chengdu, December 17 (China News Service) -- The fourth "Belt and Road" Chengdu Global Chess Doubles Tournament in 2021 kicked off in Chengdu on the afternoon of the 17th. The tournament attracted 32 top chess players from 7 countries including China, Germany, Russia, Cambodia and Malaysia, including world champions and grandmasters such as Zheng Weitong, Lü Qin, Jiang Chuan, Zhao Xinxin, Hong Zhi, Wang Yang, Xie Jing and Meng Chen.

It is understood that the "Belt and Road" Chengdu Global Chess Doubles Tournament is hosted by the World Chess Federation and the Chengdu Municipal People's Government. Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the doubles competition was suspended last year, and this year, Chengdu actively innovated, which promoted a new model of "online + offline" linkage. The tournament is divided into Chinese domestic mixed doubles and overseas doubles, and the overseas doubles set up five sub-venues such as Germany, Belarus and Cambodia. Under the premise of doing a good job in epidemic prevention and control, 16 players in the mixed doubles group in China came to Rong to participate in the competition, and 16 overseas double players (8 Chinese players and 8 foreign players) all participated in the online form.

Huo Zhenting, president of the World Chess Federation, said in a video speech that in recent years, Chengdu has promoted the construction of a world famous event city with high quality, the quality of the event has continued to improve, and the event system has been continuously improved. The World Chess Federation looks forward to deepening cooperation with Chengdu, taking chess as a link and using the doubles tournament as a platform to promote communication among chess enthusiasts around the world, develop and inherit the sport of chess, and promote chess culture.

The World Chess Rules are implemented in this doubles tournament, which is divided into two stages, the first stage is divided into two groups for a single round robin, the second stage is divided into two groups for the first place to play the championship and runner-up final, and the second place in the group and beyond is the final place. The doubles competition not only tests the technical and tactical level of the individual, but also puts forward new requirements for the cooperation and tacit understanding of the partner teammates. Combining the final results of previous competitions, it is often not the strongest chess player who stands on the highest podium.

Zhu Guoping, director of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and chairman of the Chinese Chess Association, said that chess is an intellectual sport with profound cultural heritage, with hundreds of millions of enthusiasts around the world. This competition brings together the world's top chess players in the cloud, which is both competitive and ornamental, showing the world the new vitality of chess in the Internet era, and is a useful attempt to promote the global development of chess. (End)