Holding the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku is of great importance, it is a great honor for Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev told the reporters covering the event Sept. 2.

“We are of course very pleased with holding the World Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan. It is pleasant that all the organizational issues have been resolved at a high level,” said the president.

“Yesterday, we together participated in the grand opening ceremony, and today the competitions have already started here,” Ilham Aliyev added.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan has once again presented itself to the world as a modern, developing country.

“I am sure all the guests will return home with the best impressions and the world chess community will have even more complete view of Azerbaijan,” the president added. “Therefore, this is of great importance.”

“Azerbaijan traditionally hosts prestigious international competitions,” he said, citing the Baku 2015 First European Games, the Chess Olympiad, the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe and the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games as examples of that.

“That is, Azerbaijan is turning into one of the global sports centers,” Ilham Aliyev added.