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Chess Paradise Ancient travelers, whose caravans passed along the Great Silk Route, would have called this scene a mirage. Amid the interminable Kalmyk steppe a city lies with cosy cottages. The most brilliant people from all over the world come together here to compete for the chess crown. A mirage embodied into a real city, the City Chess.
The City Chess is located in the suburb of Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia which lies in the Eastern Coast of the Caspian Sea, in the steppe zone lacking natural resources. The population of the republic is little more than 300 thousand people.
The author of the idea of the unique City Chess is the President of the Republic of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He has been governing the republic for over 13 years and for 11 years he has been heading the World Chess Federation, known as FIDE, for its acronym in French. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is a very well-educated leader full of energy; he knows how to implement the most challenging and unique projects. And on top of everything else he is very fond of chess.
We do not exaggerate if say that over the past years Kalmykia has become world famous primarily due to chess. The fame of the republic spread after the World Chess Olympiad was held in Kalmykia. Chess players and spectators from 120 countries of the world visited the republic during this event. The one of its kind City Chess was constructed specifically for the 33rd Chess Olympiad in 1998. The City Chess planning design was elaborated by Kalmyk architects, who combined European building traditions with Kalmyk folk and Buddhistic traditions.
These days the City Chess is the autonomy within the city of Elista. The chess theme is embodied in the architecture of the City Chess in a clever and uncommon way. Low-rise cottages, hotels and office buildings are lined up in neat straight streets. In the center of the city there is a magnificent glazed Chess Palace and a statue of Ostap Bender, the legendary ?great schemer? and a chess fan. In contrast with the surrounding steppes there is a water sport complex and boathouse, a skiing center complete with lifts, a safari center and an airfield and hangars for recreational aircrafts. There is plenty to see for tourists in the branch of the Regional Museum i.e. Buddhistic icons which were kept in Kalmyk khuruls. In 20s, after the Revolution the khuruls were destroyed and the icons were stored in the museum?s vaults. (Khurul is a Kalmyk or Mongolian church). The complex approach to the development of the City Chess makes it the perfect place to hold All-Republic, All-Russian and World Chess Competitions, business symposiums, business and cultural meetings. For example Dalai Lama stayed in one of the cottages next to the Chess Palace during his visit to Kalmykia in December 2004.
The City Chess development plan includes construction of government buildings, business centres and residences for any ambassadors who may be accredited to Kalmykia. The City Chess will be expanded across the landscape to give space to opera and ballet theaters, museums, a conservatory, an art school, religious academies, a centre of traditional medicine and a centre for children's art.
Therefore Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has managed to implement his dream of a chess city and made a small republic of Kalmykia the center of International chess events. These days the City Chess is the showplace of Kalmykia, tourists? Mecca and the center of business and culture. This is a prominent role for the small republic. There are hundreds of republics all over the world but there is only one City Chess, which is in the Republic of Kalmykia.
Julia Emm |
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