RATM Holding Partners With Chess Department at Sirius

Andrey Filatov and Eduard Taran signed the agreement.

On March 28, RCF President, FIDE Vice-President Andrey Filatov and RATM Holding President Eduard Taran signed a partnership agreement. The industrial holding will support the chess studies at the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi. The students are talented young chessplayers, winners of regional and national competitions.

RCF President Andrey Filatov thanked RATM Holding and Mr. Taran for their commitment to supporting chess movement.

“A very significant event took place today: from now on the RATM Holding will be funding coaches, who will train our future chess elite. We already have strong results, as some of the Sirius students became World Junior Champions, like Ilya Makoveev”, said Mr. Filatov.

Eduard Taran: “We appreciate the work of the RCF leadership in the last three years. We can see growth of chess popularity all over Russia, from small settlements to Moscow. Many projects are being successfully implemented, such as Belaya Ladya and Superfinals. I am thankful for the opportunity to join the RCF Board of Trustees, and consider the Sirius chess project to be very promising. I find it important to support the coaching staff, as Vladimir Kramnik is a strong leader, highly experienced sportsman and champion, and with our help he should be able to create a coaching team that will grow future champions.”

15 grandmaster sessions are planned for 2017 in Sirius, with four coaches participating in each session.

Chess department was introduced in Sirius in May, 2016, under the guidance of Vladimir Kramnik. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony.

In 2016, young Russian players won ten World Junior Championship medals, and for the first time since 2012 won the unofficial team ranking. At the European Junior Championships, Russian players won five gold medals out of 12, and brought home 15 medals total. Russian players also dominated the team rankings at the World Schools Championship in Sochi, winning 13 medals, including four gold medals.

Sirius Educational Center

RATM Holding

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili