Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony of the Prague International Chess Festival was held today at Hotel Don Giovanni in Prague, with the attendence of the players, organizing team and tournament officials, as well as many distinguished guests, including Ambassador of India in Prague, H.E. Mrs. Narinder Chauhan and Ambassador of Hungary in Prague, H.E. Dr. Miklos Boros.
The present were greeted by Mr. Petr Boleslav, Tournament Director, Mr. Roman Muzik, President of Novy Bor Chess Club, Mr. Pavel Votruba, Chief Arbiter of the Festival, and H.E. Dr. Miklos Boros, Ambassador of Hungary in Prague.
The most awaited moment of the ceremony was of course drawing of lots. The players from both sections were invited to the stage, where they picked the bags with chess pieces, inside which the starting numbers were hidden.
The 1st round pairings are as follows:
Masters
| GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw – GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi |
| GM Rapport Richard – GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof |
| GM Láznička Viktor – GM Vitiugov Nikita |
| GM Harikrishna Pentala – GM Shankland Samuel |
| GM Navara David - GM Gelfand Boris |
Challengers
| GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van – GM Ju Wenjun |
| GM Paravyan David – GM Štoček Jiří |
| GM Praggnanandhaa R – GM Bartel Mateusz |
| GM Širov Alexei – GM Anton Guijarro David |
| GM Krejčí Jan – GM Michalík Peter |
After the official part of the ceremony, the guests were entertained by Czech magician Jan Komberc, who performed few magic tricks and amused especially the younger part of the audience.
Both events start on March 6, at 3.00 pm. Tune in for the live games on the official website of the Festival www.praguechessfestival.com, and follow the Festival updates on social media: facebook @PragueChessFestival, instagram @praguechessfestival and twitter @PragueChess.