The solemn opening ceremony of the 2nd Yerevan Open International Chess Tournament took place at the Chess Academy of Armenia on September 18th, 2017.

The ceremony was honored by the presence of Yerevan Mayor, who doubles as the President of Yerevan Chess Federation Taron Margaryan, the first vice-president of the Armenian Chess Federation, the Founder and President of the Chess Academy of Armenia Smbat Lputian, the Executive Director of Yerevan Chess Federation and tournament director Norayr Kalantaryan, a number of state officials, legendary Armenian chess players Rafael Vaganian and Artashes Minasyan; the latter is also in the list of the tournament participants.

More than 150 chess players representing 13 countries are going to compete for the title of the winner of 2nd Yerevan Open. 25 GMs and 30 chess players with international titles are among the participants of this year’s event.

Mr. Margaryan and Mr. Lputian delivered speeches welcoming the chess players and congratulating all people present in the ceremony on the occasion of this great event. They wished good luck to all the participants and expressed hope for brilliant and exciting games.

A video telling about the 1st Yerevan Open International Chess Tournament was another fascinating part of the opening ceremony. Famous Armenian show ballets, opera singer and several jazz bands came up with beautiful performances which were mix of Armenian traditions and modern elements.

After the opening ceremony the drawing of lots took place where the top seed of the tournament member of Armenian national chess team, GM Hrant Melkumyan chose the black for himself for the first game.

The first match of the Tournament will be played tomorrow, on September 19th, at 3 pm local time. 12 games will be broadcast online on our website.