Renault Russia Continues its Partnership with Russian Chess Federation

Russian champions will receive Renault ARKANA cars.

Renault Russia has signed a new agreement to maintain its strategic cooperation with the Russian Chess Federation. As part of the agreement, the crossover coupe Renault ARKANA will become the official automobile of the Russian Chess Federation. The agreement was signed by President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov and Director General of Renault Russia Andrey Pankov.

Renault supports sports and cultural projects around the world. Considering the successful history of the partnership, Renault Russia and the Russian Chess Federation will maintain their partnership, which began in 2016. It envisages collective work to increase the popularity of chess as an intellectual sport among as many people as possible. 

Under the agreement, the Russian Chess Federation will adopt the Renault ARKANA crossover coupe as its official car, which was made for the Russian market with the active participants of Russian engineers. This car will be the main prize of the future winners of the 2019 Russian Chess Championships Supefinal.

“The International Chess Federation views such partnerships as playing a very significant role in increasing the prestige of chess,” said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. “When commercial companies enter chess projects governed by corporate interests, it conveys an important signal for everybody that chess is an attractive sport. I am delighted that the partnership between Renault Russia and the RCF continues, and the Russian chess players have even a greater incentive to win important events. I also hope that the Renault cars will become even more recognizable and popular thanks to the cooperation with the RCF. On behalf of FIDE, I welcome this new agreement”.

“We are happy to continue our productive partnership, whereby Renault Russia remains the first and only car company to become a strategic partner of a chess federation. We are proud that our new Renault ARKANA will become the official car of the Russian Chess Federation, since it combined all the engineering innovations of our company with an innovative design. It is a new automobile, developed with the guidance of our Russian engineering centre, that has a lot of export potential, which will make us proud of its success abroad, just like with Russian grandmasters” said the Director General of Renault Russia A. Pankov. 

 “We are glad that Renault Russia has remained our trusted partner for many years,” said President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov. “Our chess players will have even more motivation in the Superfinals, since the prize fund will also include a high-quality car. It is a worthy bonus to a gold medal. We are hoping for a productive partnership and we are happy that such a famous car brand supports our intellectual sport”.

Renault ARKANA is the first Renault car to be made specifically for Russia after a thorough analysis of client preferences. The ARKANA was mainly designed by the Russian specialists, from conception to test drives and from optimising electronics to starting the conveyor line. Russia will become the first country where the new Renault model will be produced and sold. The first production line will be launched in the Moscow factory of Renault, which was selected due its commitment to quality and its level of robotic innovation. 

Since 2016, Renault Russia and the Russian Chess Federation has organised a number of joint projects, like “The Chess Collection of Renault”- a unique archive of 1000 rare publications, including books, periodicals, dissertation on chess written in different European languages. All this was open to anyone. The Renault Kaptur was the official car of the Russian Chess Federation, which was used in all charitable projects organised by the Federation. The partnership between Renault and the Russian Chess Federation envisaged joint efforts to make chess popular among orphans and children living in far-flung parts of our country. 

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili