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Opening Ceremony - Dresden Olympiad.

The 38th Olympiad started with a magnificent opening ceremony held in a large ice skating arena. The show featured skaters, singers, bands and a troupe of very athletic young ladies.

The ceremony was overseen by FIDE Honorary Life President Florencio Campomas in the absence of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who was involved in a car accident on the way to Moscow airport. According to reports he did not sustain any serious injuries but may have suffered whiplash and concussion.

 

An interesting feature of the opening ceremony was that the young flag bearers of each participating nation were selected from players in regional chess tournaments. The involvement and marketing of Chess throughout Germany has been a stand-out feature of the lead-up to this tournament. The organizing committee has created a similar scenario to the movement of the Olympic Torch through the host country by staging various tournaments, simultaneous exhibitions, lectures and photo opportunities throughout Germany, thereby increasing the exposure and interest of Chess.

 

The trophy for winning the men's team is the Hamilton-Russell Cup,which was offered by the English magnate Frederick Hamilton-Russell as a prize for the 1st Olympiad (London 1927). The cup is kept by the winning team until the next event, when it will be awarded to the next winner. The trophy for the winning women's team is known as the Vera Menchik Cup after the first Women's World Chess Champion. Source Wikipedia.