Dear Champions, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Chess Lovers,
As Chairman of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich, I'm delighted to welcome you to our anniversary celebrations! It was exactly 200 years ago, here in this fair city of Zurich, that six gentlemen formed a chess society. The old city walls have long since gone, and the triumph of the railways has resulted in the construction of this grand, central station. The regal game itself, however, remains unchanged since 1809, and the Schachgesellschaft Zürich has also endured ever since. We are proud to be the oldest chess club in the world!
Though the Schachgesellschaft Zürich may be old, it is still full of life. This venerable society has been at the forefront of the chess world on several occasions: The famous World Championship Candidates tournament of 1953, won by subsequent world champion Smyslov, remains unforgettable, as does the 1959 Jubilee tournament with future champions Fischer and Tal, the 1984 Jubilee tournament with Spassky, and the 2001 Korchnoi Jubilee tournament featuring world champion Kasparov and his successor Kramnik.
Clearly, extending a welcome to world champion chess players has long been a tradition for the Schachgesellschaft Zürich: With the exceptions of Steinitz and Capablanca, all classic world champions have played here in this city. We are delighted that our invitation to the anniversary has been accepted by the greatest chess players of the past five decades. And we are especially pleased that all living world champion chess players – whether classic or FIDE world champions – are involved in our anniversary celebrations: from Vasily Smyslov, the 1957 world champion, who has sent us a welcoming address, through to 2009 world champion Vishy Anand, who will be participating in the simultaneous match and rapid chess tournament.
Our celebrations began with last week's Jubilee Open at the Kongresshaus, in which well over 500 players from all over the world took part – enthusing many chess lovers from Zurich, Switzerland, and around the globe. Today's simultaneous match and tomorrow's rapid chess tournament of the champions are sure to maintain this high level of excitement! These anniversary celebrations would not have been possible without our sponsors and partners – and at this point I would
like to express my profound gratitude to you all. We should like to thank our main sponsor, Credit Suisse, and co-sponsor, SwissRe, for their generous support. We are equally indebted to our partners: Chessbase, the Accentus foundation (Swiss Chess), the Alois Nagler foundation, as well as the City of Zurich.
Not only has the City of Zurich been a partner: It has also taken on the role of host for this event – in part, perhaps, because the post of city mayor was until recently filled by someone who has himself fallen for the lure of the regal game: I now hand you over to Elmar Ledergerber.
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