{"id":40114,"date":"2025-11-05T20:20:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=40114"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:23:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:23:56","slug":"fide-world-amateur-chess-championship-2025-kicks-off-in-the-vrnjacka-banja-serbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/fide-world-amateur-chess-championship-2025-kicks-off-in-the-vrnjacka-banja-serbia\/","title":{"rendered":"FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2025 kicks off in the Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship was officially opened in Vrnja\u010dka Banja, Serbia. The event, held across three rating categories \u2013 U1700, U2000, and U2300 (both Open and Women\u2019s sections) \u2013 has brought together around 300 players from over 50 countries. All competitions are nine-round Swiss tournaments with a classical time control.<\/p>

The opening ceremony took place in the hall of the Zepter Hotel and began with the national anthem of the Republic of Serbia, performed by the city choir Abra\u0161evi\u0107<\/strong>. The audience was then welcomed by Jasmina Trifunovi\u0107<\/strong>, representing the Municipality of Vrnja\u010dka Banja; \u00d6zg\u00fcr Solako\u011flu<\/strong>, representative of FIDE; and Andrija Jorgi\u0107<\/strong>, President of the Chess Federation of Serbia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cWe are proud that Vrnja\u010dka Banja has become one of the centers of chess events by organizing the European Individual Championship, the European Club Cup, the European Club Cup for Women, and the FIDE World School Chess Championship. Chess has become part of our cultural identity. In our Central Park, in a symbolic space we call the Chess Corner, stands a statue of the chess queen, unveiled in honor of this ancient game and of Vrnja\u010dka Banja as the queen of continental tourism,\u201d said Jasmina Trifunovi\u0107 in her welcoming speech.<\/p>

She emphasized that by hosting the World Amateur Championship, Vrnja\u010dka Banja continues its tradition of chess and strengthens its reputation as a prestigious destination for top chess events.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Next, FIDE delegate \u00d6zg\u00fcr Solako\u011flu addressed the participants, noting that this championship celebrates the spirit of amateur chess \u2013 a reminder that the love of the game belongs to everyone, not only to grandmasters and professionals.<\/p>

\u201cHere, each move, each game, and each handshake reflect the very essence of what chess represents: respect, creativity, and the pursuit of excellence. This championship celebrates the heart of our sport \u2013 the passion and dedication of amateur players from all over the world. You come here not only to compete, but to share your love of chess, to make new friends, and to experience the joy and challenge that only this game can bring,\u201d said Solako\u011flu.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In his address, Andrija Jorgi\u0107, President of the Chess Federation of Serbia, expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Sports \u2013 the Federation\u2019s most important partner in building a stronger and more recognized chess scene in Serbia \u2013 as well as to the Municipality of Vrnja\u010dka Banja for its generous support.<\/p>

\u201cI would like to thank the International Chess Federation and its President, Arkady Dvorkovich, for their trust in us to organize this event. I believe we will justify that trust and that Serbia will host many similar competitions in the future. Although I have been leading the Chess Federation of Serbia for less than a year, I am proud of all the tournaments and successes we have achieved,\u201d said Jorgi\u0107, who also commended the Serbian national team for winning bronze at the recent European Chess Championship in Georgia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Following the ceremony, Jorgi\u0107 and Trifunovi\u0107 made the first symbolic move, marking the start of the first round.<\/p>

Photos: Savo Tufegszic<\/p>

Official website:\u00a0worldamateur2025.fide.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship was officially opened in Vrnja\u010dka Banja, Serbia. The event, held across three rating categories \u2013 U1700, U2000, and U2300 (both Open and Women\u2019s sections) \u2013 has brought together around 300 players from over 50 countries. All competitions are nine-round Swiss tournaments with a classical time control. The opening ceremony took place in the hall of the Zepter Hotel and began with the national anthem of the Republic of Serbia, performed by the city choir Abra\u0161evi\u0107. The audience was then welcomed by Jasmina Trifunovi\u0107, representing the Municipality of Vrnja\u010dka Banja; \u00d6zg\u00fcr Solako\u011flu, representative of FIDE; and Andrija Jorgi\u0107, President of the Chess Federation of Serbia. \u201cWe are proud that Vrnja\u010dka Banja has become one of the centers of chess events by organizing the European Individual Championship, the European Club Cup, the European Club Cup for Women, and the FIDE World School Chess Championship. Chess has become part of our cultural identity. In our Central Park, in a symbolic space we call the Chess Corner, stands a statue of the chess queen, unveiled in honor of this ancient game and of Vrnja\u010dka Banja as the queen of continental tourism,\u201d said Jasmina Trifunovi\u0107 in her welcoming speech. She emphasized that by hosting the World Amateur Championship, Vrnja\u010dka Banja continues its tradition of chess and strengthens its reputation as a prestigious destination for top chess events. Next, FIDE delegate \u00d6zg\u00fcr Solako\u011flu addressed the participants, noting that this championship celebrates the spirit of amateur chess \u2013 a reminder that the love of the game belongs to everyone, not only to grandmasters and professionals. \u201cHere, each move, each game, and each handshake reflect the very essence of what chess represents: respect, creativity, and the pursuit of excellence. This championship celebrates the heart of our sport \u2013 the passion and dedication of amateur players from all over the world. You come here not only to compete, but to share your love of chess, to make new friends, and to experience the joy and challenge that only this game can bring,\u201d said Solako\u011flu. In his address, Andrija Jorgi\u0107, President of the Chess Federation of Serbia, expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Sports \u2013 the Federation\u2019s most important partner in building a stronger and more recognized chess scene in Serbia \u2013 as well as to the Municipality of Vrnja\u010dka Banja for its generous support. \u201cI would like to thank the International Chess Federation and its President, Arkady Dvorkovich, for their trust in us to organize this event. I believe we will justify that trust and that Serbia will host many similar competitions in the future. Although I have been leading the Chess Federation of Serbia for less than a year, I am proud of all the tournaments and successes we have achieved,\u201d said Jorgi\u0107, who also commended the Serbian national team for winning bronze at the recent European Chess Championship in Georgia. Following the ceremony, Jorgi\u0107 and Trifunovi\u0107 made the first symbolic move, marking the start of the first round. Photos: Savo Tufegszic Official website:\u00a0worldamateur2025.fide.com\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[67,75],"regular":[],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-40114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-amateur-competitions","tag-fide-world-amateur-championship"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40114"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40125,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40114\/revisions\/40125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40114"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=40114"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=40114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}