Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin in Novo-Ogarevo. The Russian leader congratulated Karjakin on sports achievements, and also thanked him for the development of chess.
“I want to thank you for what you are doing to develop chess,” Putin said.
Transcript of the part of the conversation:
Putin: Sergey Alexandrovich, you became a grandmaster at the age of 12?
Karjakin: Yes, the youngest.
Putin: You have achieved great success during this time, and I congratulate you on this. At the end of last year, you became a World Blitz Champion. Congratulations.
Karjakin: Thank you very much. And thank you very much for inviting me, I am very happy to meet you.
Putin: I want to thank you for what you are doing to develop chess, and to talk about what can be done additionally for chess to develop. You know that we, in the children’s center “Sirius” in Sochi, have also opened a chess section. Have you ever been there?
Karjakin: Yes, I was there. We met with you at the opening of the school. And I would also like to discuss several topics on the development of chess in the regions.
But first of all I would like to extend an invitation to you on behalf of the Russian Chess Federation. The Chess Club on Gogol Boulevard was opened recently, after renovation with the support of Sergei Semenovich Sobyanin. It hosts an absolutely unique chess museum and we invite you to visit it. There are absolutely unique exhibits, and I think you would have liked it very much.
Putin: Yes, we have a very good chess school, in St. Petersburg, and in Moscow. Therefore, I will be very pleased to come to the Chess Club. We will agree when it’s best done.