“Champions of the World” on Managua’s Screens

On July 20, in celebration of International Chess Day, our “Chess Diplomacy” project unfolded at full strength on the Latin American continent!

This festive day in Nicaragua kicked off with a thrilling morning online tournament between the team of the Moscow Region Chess Federation and our Nicaraguan colleagues. The intellectual battle was incredibly dynamic, but the Moscow Region chess players once again demonstrated their high mastery securing a convincing victory with a score of 127:98!

In the evening, the sporting celebration started to evolve into a grand cultural showcase. A festive screening of the famous Russian film Champion of the World was held at the National Cinematheque of Managua.

The event gathered high-profile guests, including:
• Daniel Sequeira, Co-director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Sports;
• Darling Hernández, Minister of Youth, and Oscar Pérez, Vice Minister;
• Idania Castillo and Adrián Carrasco, Co-directors of the National Cinematheque;
• Douglas Lara, Coordinator of the National Student Union of Nicaragua;
• Members of the Nicaraguan Chess Federation, representatives of the Sandinista Youth, Russian compatriots and leading local media outlets.

Sergey Karjakin, Senator of the Russian Federation, President of the MRCF, multiple world champion, sent a video message to the participants of the evening.

Grandmaster warmly congratulated his colleagues on International Chess Day and expressed firm confidence in the great future of the partnership between the MRCF and Nicaragua.

The official part of the event was opened by Daniel Sequeira. Followed by Sofya Kharbikh, Head of the Russian House in Nicaragua, holding a solemn ceremony presenting diplomas to the participants of the morning online tournament. Despite the MRCF victory, our Nicaraguan friends demonstrated outstanding skill with a character of steel, earning the highest praise from experts.

The evening concluded with the screening of the movie, which was met with great enthusiasm and delight by the audience.

The recently signed Memorandum of cooperation between the MRCF and the Nicaraguan Institute of Sports is already bearing its first magnificent fruits. Chess continues to build strong and sincere bridges of friendship between our nations!