The opening ceremony of the "Baku Open-2025" International Chess Festival, organized with the support of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has been held.

According to "Report", the event was attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov, Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee Azer Aliyev, President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the Azerbaijan Chess Federation (ACF) Mahir Mammadov, FIDE official, two-time world champion, winner of the World Chess Olympiad Zhu Chen, and President of the Turkish Chess Federation Fethi Apaydın.

After the national anthem was played, a promotional video of the tournament was presented.

Mahir Mammadov greeted the participants of the event in his speech:

"Azerbaijan is known as a chess country in the world. We are proud of the successes of our representatives in all age categories. Chess is under the care of the state. I express my deep gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev."

The head of the ACF said that chess players from the regions also participate in international tournaments:

"I wish everyone a fair game and interesting matches. May the strong win."

It is worth mentioning that the prize fund of the festival is 55 thousand US dollars. More than 700 chess players from 16 countries are participating in the competition. The tournament also includes the Azerbaijan Championship among veteran chess players.

The festival is also part of the "Chess Tour Azerbaijan" project.