Welcome Message to the Players and Officials of the FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament
On behalf of IOM International Chess Limited, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all those players and officials that have already arrived in the Isle of Man. And to those participants that are still in transit, I wish you a safe and stress-free journey.
A reminder that the venue is the Villa Marina, on Douglas Promenade. The tournaments will be in the Royal Hall where we’re currently setting up the boards for all 164 players.
Throughout Monday and Tuesday, players are free to informally call into the Royal Hall to view the playing venue, ahead of the formal proceedings (to be attended by all players) which begin on Tuesday afternoon:
Schedule for Tuesday 24 October, Promenade Suite of the Villa Marina
4:30pm: Technical Meeting, led by Chief Arbiters IA Alex Holowczak and IA Ana Srebrnic.
6:15pm: Drinks Reception and Opening Ceremony, as follows:
- 6:15pm: Drinks served for all players and officials.
- 6:30pm: Arrival of Alfred Cannan, Chief Minister, Isle of Man Government.
- 6:45pm: Master of Ceremonies, Alex Brindley, will start the formal proceedings with short speeches by Alan Ormsby, Alfred Cannan and Emil Sutovsky.
- 7:00pm: Fabiano Caruana and Aleksandra Goryachkina will be invited to draw colours.
- 7:15pm: a finger buffet will be served.
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Play gets underway at 2:30pm on Wednesday 25 October. More information (including the timing for the first-round pairings) will be provided in Tuesday’s Technical Meeting.
I look forward to seeing you all in the coming days.
Alan Ormsby
Director – IOM International Chess Limited
Tournament Director – FIDE Grand Swiss & Women’s Grand Swiss
22/10/2023