Narva Chess Festival

by Ms Natalia Orava

The general idea and aim of the "Chess Festival" Project is to make Narva, a historical border-town, to become renowned for its cultural events and develop into a famous tourism centre on the Eastern border of the EU. Direct goals of the project is to promote Narva in the Baltic Sea countries, to increase the number of visitors, to make tourists stay longer in the city, and to prolong the summer season in Narva and, as a result, to influence the economicdevel-opment of the region. The city of Narva is the birthplace of a famous Estonian chess-master Paul Keres. The festival, which will take place from 7 to 13 October 2007, will be dedicated to Keres. Chessmen will revive in a show called "Live chess". Both citizens and guests will have a chance to see and play with real kings of the chess world - international grandmasters.

Serious battles will take place under the vaults of the medieval castle. The national teams of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia (St. Petersburg) and Estonia are invited to participate in the 3^rd International Youth Team Tournament of the Champions of the Baltic Sea Countries "Chess Stars of the Baltic Sea".

During the chess festival everyone will have an opportunity to visit and participate in different events such as a concert, an exhibition dedicated to Paul Keres and many others. The culmination of the festival will be a laser-show, devoted to the ancient game. The project "Chess festival" is supported by the foundation "Enterprise Estonia" in the framework of the programme "Developing Regional Competitiveness".