‘Mind Games huge step towards Olympic recognition of chess’

Russian Chess World Champion Aleksandra Kostenyuk believes that the World Mind Games could become a platform for her sport to gain more exposure and maybe even become an Olympic discipline.

“I love chess very much,” Kostenyuk said. “And I’ve been playing chess for the biggest part of my life, since the age of five. And I’ve been dreaming of seeing chess as a big part of the Olympic movement.”  

Beijing – the city which hosted the 2008 Olympics – is trading brawn for brains this time around with the  SportAccord World Mind Games opening ceremony taking place there on Friday.

Chess, Go, bridge, draughts and Xiangqi are the five disciplines being pursued, with the Games to be televised, which will certainly add to the pressure.