{"id":40771,"date":"2025-11-17T21:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/?p=40771"},"modified":"2025-11-19T04:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T04:51:25","slug":"flamenco-speeches-and-chess-linares-hosts-2025-fide-womens-team-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/flamenco-speeches-and-chess-linares-hosts-2025-fide-womens-team-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Flamenco, speeches, and chess: Linares hosts 2025 FIDE Women’s Team Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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El P\u00f3sito<\/strong>, a fully restored 18th-century building, now serves as an exhibition space where visitors can explore the essence of Linares, in the province of Ja\u00e9n (Spain). The center brings together the city\u2019s history and cultural heritage, giving special prominence to mining and the art of flamenco.<\/p>

It was therefore fitting to enjoy a vibrant performance of Spanish flamenco, which delighted an audience of over two hundred players, officials, and guests, interwoven with inspiring speeches from dignitaries and chess leaders.<\/p>

Olivia Aranda<\/strong>, presenter of the opening ceremony, welcomed everyone promptly at 7 p.m., noting that Linares, with its rich history and heritage, provides the perfect setting for the 2025 FIDE World Women’s Team Chess Championship<\/strong>.<\/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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After the audience stood for the Spanish and FIDE anthems and enjoyed a promotional video about Linares, they were treated to a spectacular fifteen-minute flamenco performance featuring Jos\u00e9 Manuel Cuenca<\/strong> on piano, Nazareth Romero<\/strong> singing, and Rosa Gonz\u00e1lez<\/strong> dancing.<\/p>

Immediately afterward, Auxi del Olmo Ruiz<\/strong>, the Mayor of Linares, took the floor. In an inspiring three-minute speech, she greeted the authorities, players, and guests, reminding everyone of the city’s deep chess history \u2013 a tradition that began in 1978 with the first Linares Tournament.<\/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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She also highlighted that last year the Ibero-American Championship, along with several other Spanish national championships, was held in the city. In addition, she announced that Linares and the Spanish Chess Federation had signed a three-year sponsorship agreement to host numerous 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, Javier Ochoa de Echag\u00fcen, President of the Spanish Chess Federation, and Gorka Lerchundi Rebollo<\/strong>, Director General of Events and Sports Facilities for the Regional Government of Andalusia, gave uplifting speeches, emphasizing the city\u2019s strong commitment to chess.<\/p>

Arkady Dvorkovich<\/strong>, President of the International Chess Federation, then took the stage. He impressed everyone with his excellent command of Spanish during a two-minute speech, expressing his gratitude to the Government of Andalusia and the city of Linares for hosting the tournament in a city with such a remarkable chess tradition.<\/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 a moment of great tenderness, Dvorkovich shared that it was his first visit to Linares, but that his father had visited the city many times, serving the Linares Tournament in various capacities, leaving him with fond memories. He concluded by officially opening the championship.<\/p>

Following the speeches, the ceremony continued with the drawing of lots to determine the pairings for each round. Viswanathan Anand<\/strong>, Deputy President of the International Chess Federation, and Jes\u00fas Mena Sarasola<\/strong>, Chief Arbiter of the championship, invited the team captains onto the stage.<\/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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Anand greeted the audience and fondly recalled his first visit to Linares thirty-five years ago, sharing how meaningful it was to return. By selecting a bottle of olive oil numbered from one to six, each captain determined the starting number for their team in their respective pool<\/a><\/strong>, and the ceremony concluded with a group photo of each pool.<\/p>

With the drawing of lots complete, the Mayor of Linares and the FIDE President returned to the stage to exchange gifts, followed by a final group photo with all authorities. To close the ceremony, Olivia Aranda thanked everyone for attending, expressed her hope that the championship would run smoothly, and wished the chess players the best of luck.<\/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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Round 1 begins on November 18 at 1:30 PM local time.<\/p>

The action can be followed live on the\u00a0FIDE YouTube Channel<\/strong><\/a>, featuring expert commentary by GMs Antoaneta Stefanova and Ivan Cheparinov.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>

Official website: worldwomenteams2025.fide.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Written by<\/strong> IM Michael<\/strong> (Linares, Espa\u00f1a)<\/strong><\/p>

Photos:<\/strong> Ra\u00fal Mart\u00ednez<\/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":"

El P\u00f3sito, a fully restored 18th-century building, now serves as an exhibition space where visitors can explore the essence of Linares, in the province of Ja\u00e9n (Spain). The center brings together the city\u2019s history and cultural heritage, giving special prominence to mining and the art of flamenco. It was therefore fitting to enjoy a vibrant performance of Spanish flamenco, which delighted an audience of over two hundred players, officials, and guests, interwoven with inspiring speeches from dignitaries and chess leaders. Olivia Aranda, presenter of the opening ceremony, welcomed everyone promptly at 7 p.m., noting that Linares, with its rich history and heritage, provides the perfect setting for the 2025 FIDE World Women’s Team Chess Championship. After the audience stood for the Spanish and FIDE anthems and enjoyed a promotional video about Linares, they were treated to a spectacular fifteen-minute flamenco performance featuring Jos\u00e9 Manuel Cuenca on piano, Nazareth Romero singing, and Rosa Gonz\u00e1lez dancing. Immediately afterward, Auxi del Olmo Ruiz, the Mayor of Linares, took the floor. In an inspiring three-minute speech, she greeted the authorities, players, and guests, reminding everyone of the city’s deep chess history \u2013 a tradition that began in 1978 with the first Linares Tournament. She also highlighted that last year the Ibero-American Championship, along with several other Spanish national championships, was held in the city. In addition, she announced that Linares and the Spanish Chess Federation had signed a three-year sponsorship agreement to host numerous events. Next, Javier Ochoa de Echag\u00fcen, President of the Spanish Chess Federation, and Gorka Lerchundi Rebollo, Director General of Events and Sports Facilities for the Regional Government of Andalusia, gave uplifting speeches, emphasizing the city\u2019s strong commitment to chess. Arkady Dvorkovich, President of the International Chess Federation, then took the stage. He impressed everyone with his excellent command of Spanish during a two-minute speech, expressing his gratitude to the Government of Andalusia and the city of Linares for hosting the tournament in a city with such a remarkable chess tradition. In a moment of great tenderness, Dvorkovich shared that it was his first visit to Linares, but that his father had visited the city many times, serving the Linares Tournament in various capacities, leaving him with fond memories. He concluded by officially opening the championship. Following the speeches, the ceremony continued with the drawing of lots to determine the pairings for each round. Viswanathan Anand, Deputy President of the International Chess Federation, and Jes\u00fas Mena Sarasola, Chief Arbiter of the championship, invited the team captains onto the stage. Anand greeted the audience and fondly recalled his first visit to Linares thirty-five years ago, sharing how meaningful it was to return. By selecting a bottle of olive oil numbered from one to six, each captain determined the starting number for their team in their respective pool, and the ceremony concluded with a group photo of each pool. With the drawing of lots complete, the Mayor of Linares and the FIDE President returned to the stage to exchange gifts, followed by a final group photo with all authorities. To close the ceremony, Olivia Aranda thanked everyone for attending, expressed her hope that the championship would run smoothly, and wished the chess players the best of luck. Round 1 begins on November 18 at 1:30 PM local time. The action can be followed live on the\u00a0FIDE YouTube Channel, featuring expert commentary by GMs Antoaneta Stefanova and Ivan Cheparinov.\u00a0 Official website: worldwomenteams2025.fide.com\/ Written by IM Michael (Linares, Espa\u00f1a) Photos: Ra\u00fal Mart\u00ednez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[402],"regular":[361],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-40771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-world-womens-team-championship","regular-regular"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40771","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=40771"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40788,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40771\/revisions\/40788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40771"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=40771"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=40771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}