KATOWICE – The opening ceremony of the 13th World University Chess Championship took place on Monday 18 August at the Silesian Philharmonic. All the participants marched down the Philharmonic aisle presenting their flags. What’s more, the audience could see a colourful parade because each of them wore their national colours. Thanks to Akademia Szachowa Gliwice, the local chess club, the participants obtained a little help from juniors of the club. Admiring their older friends from abroad they led them to the stage. Later, the guests from the FISU Family gave speeches and welcomed the participants. Among them were Mr. Leopold Senghor, FISU Executive Committee member, Mr. Macrin Krupa, Katowice Deputy President and Mr. Boguslaw Oleksy, President of the Katowice University Sport Association.
All the guests had the pleasure to see an extraordinary ‘dance étude’ performed by a group of dancers. The dancers showed a dance full of emotions which depicted a chess game.
The ceremony ended at about 12 o’clock, leaving the players 3 hours to prepare for the first round.
Katowice hosts 72 participants from 16 countries. There are 46 men and 26 women chess players present. The first round started at 3 pm with live coverage by Lawrence Trent, British International Master, and Marcin Tazbir, Polish Grand Master.
You can follow the live broadcast here.
RESULTS DAY 1
(Source: WUC Chess)