page_title: 42nd Chess Olympiad
section_title: Opening ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: 42nd Chess Olympiad / The event / Opening ceremony
caption_attribution_description: English: Opening ceremony of 42nd Chess Olympiad
context_page_description: The 42nd Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournaments, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 1 to 14 September 2016. It was the first time that the Chess Olympiad had been hosted in Azerbaijan, the birthplace of former world champion Garry Kasparov; however, Azerbaijan had previously hosted strong tournaments, including the annual Shamkir Chess super-tournament in memory of Vugar Gashimov and the Chess World Cup 2015.
  The total number of participants was 1,587, with 894 in the Open and 693 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams was 180 from 175 countries in the Open section and 142 from 138 countries in the Women's section. Both sections set team participation records. Eritrea, Kosovo, and South Sudan competed in the tournament for the first time. The venue of the Chess Olympiad was the Baku Crystal Hall. The Chief Arbiter of the event was Azerbaijan's International Arbiter Faiq Hasanov.
context_section_description: The opening ceremony was held on 1 September in the National Gymnastics Arena. The central area of the stage was slightly elevated and turned into a chessboard by lights from above. The ceremony began with a performance presenting the theme "the sea: the source of life", which was followed by the anthems of Azerbaijan and FIDE. Thereafter, the Head of the organising committee and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yaqub Eyyubov gave a speech. Eyyubov spoke in Azeri and noted that the Chess Olympiad is the third-largest competition in the world. He mentioned the great contribution of the president Ilham Aliyev and his father Heydar Aliyev to the sport successes of the host country, and then pointed out the great efforts that were done during the preparations for the Chess Olympiad. Finally, Eyyubov confidently stated that everything was ready for a well-organised and enjoyable Olympiad that he promised to be one of the most memorable in chess history. The next to speak was FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhnov, who welcomed all participants from the record-number of countries and extolled the great preparatory work of the organising committee. He also expressed his belief in the success of the Chess Olympiad on the basis of Azerbaijan's experience in hosting important chess events combined with its remarkable infrastructure and beauty. After their speeches, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev declared the 42nd Chess Olympiad open.
  The ceremony continued with a welcoming video that featured famous chess players from around the world addressing the participants. Then, there was a performance focusing of the connection between people and chess players, which included a waltz choreography as the centrepiece of the show. It was followed by a graphical show at the elevated chessboard that combined folk and modern dance, and was supported by video art projected on the area around and behind the stage. The show featured traditional carpet patterns and designs, embracing a dance group replaying the game of chaturanga. The next part of the ceremony was the parade of nations with the presentation of flags. Each appearance of a new flag on the screen was accompanied by a percussionist who showed up on the stage playing on nagara with the same flag as his drumhead. The percussionists left the stage under the sound of an adaption of the song "We Are the World".
  The final part of the ceremony was marked with the drawing of lots. It was assisted by Vladimir Kramnik and Hou Yifan as the highest-rated players of the highest-ranked teams in the open and women's event, respectively, who joined the Chief Arbiter Faiq Hasanov for the drawing of colours. The draw resulted in Hou picking the White pieces, meaning that all players in the women's section with odd board numbers (1 or 3) will be White in the first round; and Kramnik picking the Black pieces, meaning that all players in the open section with odd board numbers (1 or 3) will have the Black pieces in the opening round.
  The opening ceremony ended with a song that was specially composed for the Chess Olympiad and was performed by popular Azerbaijani singers.
caption: Fragment from the Opening ceremony
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4928", "Image ImageLength": "3280", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D4S", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2016:09:01 22:38:49", "Image Artist": "VUGAR AMRULLAYEV", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "VUGAR AMRULLAYEV", "Image ExifOffset": "364", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1092", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1206", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5221", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "2500", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:09:01 18:05:30", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:09:01 18:05:30", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "415241/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "3/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "32", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2362", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1468", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1060", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "32", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}