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Aeroflot Open chess tournament to be held in Moscow in March 2024

The event program includes an open tournament for players with an International Chess Federation rating above 2,300 and a stage of the Children's Cup of Russia, in which athletes under 15 years of age will compete

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The Aeroflot Open chess tournament will be held in early March 2024 in Moscow's Carlton hotel, the press service of the Russian Chess Federation said.

The event program includes an open tournament for players with an International Chess Federation rating above 2,300 and a stage of the Children's Cup of Russia, in which athletes under 15 years of age will compete.

"We have wonderful news to close out the year - Aeroflot has given a wonderful gift to our chess players of all ages, including children," said Andrey Filatov, the president of the Russian Chess Federation. "The famous international tournament, which is a tradition, is being resumed, thanks to our partners."

"Supporting sports is one of the priorities of our airline's social policy," said Aeroflot CEO Sergey Alexandrovsky. "This applies not only to external sponsorship projects, but also to corporate sports programs. The airline's employees have established a chess club and regularly participate in competitions of various levels. We are happy to revive the legendary chess festival under the auspices of Aeroflot and wish all participants successful games and new achievements!"

The opening ceremony is scheduled for March 2. Matches will take place from March 3-7. The prize fund of the main competition will amount to 15 million rubles ($162,538), of which the winner will receive 3 million rubles ($32,500). The prize fund for the children's tournament will amount to 1 million rubles ($11,800).

The tournament has been held since 2002. In 2004, it entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest mass chess tournament in the world. The tournament was suspended in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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