Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will depart for Germany on March 9 to participate in the grand opening of the Berlin Chess Candidates Tournament due from March 10 to March 28.

As an honorary guest of the event, the Armenian President will make the symbolic first move of the game on March 10.

8 of the world’s top chess players will participate in the Berlin tournament – Levon Aronian from Armenia, Ding Liren from China, FIDE 1st and 2nd ranked Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan and Alexander Grishchuk from Russia, Fabiano Caruana from the US, Wesley So from the US, Sergey Karjakin from Russia and Vladimir Kramnik from Russia.

The Candidates Tournament 2018 is an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, from 10–28 March 2018. The winner earns the right to challenge the defending world champion Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2018 in London in November.