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Press release [Click on all images to enlarge!]
NEW YORK, 9 August 2016: The FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2016 is to take place at the Seaport District in Manhattan, New York.
The three week long Championship Match, to be held from November 11th to 30th, will be contested by 25-year-old reigning champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and his challenger, 26-year-old Sergey Karjakin of Russia.
The Match arena will be built within the Fulton Market Building, a five minute walk from Wall Street, and will also feature dedicated spectator and VIP lounges with panoramic views of the Brooklyn Bridge as well as retail space, a restaurant, TV studios and much more.
Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of Agon Limited, owner of World Chess and the commercial rights holder to the FIDE Chess Championship cycle, said: “We are thrilled to hold the Championship in such a fantastic venue – a location that befits the status of chess as one of the world’s fastest growing sports both in terms of participation and commercial appeal.
“This is going to be the first Championship Match contested by two Grandmasters of the smartphone generation – a battle of two of the finest minds on the planet – and witnessed and enjoyed by countless chess fans who play the game online everyday.”
Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, said: “I and all New Yorkers welcome the World Chess Championship back to New York City. What better place to be than the city where parks are often populated by chess enthusiasts.”
Agon Limited today also announced a partnership with CAA Premium Experience, which will exclusively present and promote a range of stunning hospitality packages during the Championship.
The partnership of CAA Premium Experience will ensure the Match offers an unprecedented experience for VIPs and corporate brand partners. The Championship program will include VIP opening and closing galas as well as a number of other supporting events throughout New York.
Alan Baum of CAA Premium Experience said: "We are very much looking forward to being an integral part of bringing the World Chess Championship Match to New York City. The World Chess Championship provides us with a unique and exclusive platform through which we will be able to deliver our customers and fans of chess from all over the globe an unparalleled VIP hospitality experience.”
Celebrity fans of the sport include Jay Z, Kevin Spacey, Jude Law, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Obama. Tobey Maguire recently produced and starred in a Hollywood film “Pawn Sacrifice” about the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky Championship match.
“They are all invited to attend”, added Merenzon.
Tickets to the Championship Match go on sale on August 17. Details of ticket pricing and booking will be made available soon. Anyone interested in attending the Championship match can register their interest at nyc2016.fide.com.
The contest consists of 12 games, with every move avidly followed and analyzed by a global audience of hundreds of millions of chess fans.
The last World Championship match, held in Sochi in Russia in 2014, enjoyed record-breaking coverage with the total audience for the whole event topping 1.2 billion people.
FIDE and Agon Limited will provide a live broadcast of the Match through it’s worldchess.com website.
Chess is enjoying increased popularity around the world and is the only game that is pre-downloaded on nearly every new smartphone. Hundreds of millions of games are played over the internet every week and in the US more people play chess regularly than golf, according to YouGov, the respected polling organization.
The Championship Match will have a prize fund of over one million euros.
Profiles of the players are available at www.worldchess.com
The Seaport District, New York City’s oldest new neighborhood, is located on the East River in Lower Manhattan with unparalleled views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty and the city’s iconic skyline. The rich history as New York’s original commercial hub and its storied waterfront location make the Seaport District one of New York City’s most unique settings.
Travel+Leisure recently named the Seaport the 22nd most visited tourist attraction in the world. The Seaport District is being revitalized by The Howard Hughes Corporation into a top destination in New York City for unique culinary, fashion, entertainment and cultural experiences. An essential part of New York for over 300 years, the re-envisioned Seaport District will continue to function as a much-needed community anchor for the rapidly growing population of Lower Manhattan.
Formed in 2015, CAA Premium Experience is a best-in-class, full-service hospitality, event management, and marketing practice with more than 50 employees working with Fortune 500 companies across hundreds of global sports and entertainment events annually. The company combines the creativity, innovation, and state-of-the-art client service of the world’s most accomplished corporate hospitality executives and organizations with CAA’s unmatched resources and relationships within entertainment, sports, and pop culture to deliver full-service hospitality, event management, and world-class VIP experiences for customers globally.
Source: FIDE/World Chess
The last time a World Championship was held in New York City was in 1995, when Garry Kasparov played Viswanathan Anand on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. Though the venue has been announced, the sponsors have not. They are expected to roll out their announcements in the coming weeks.
A rendering of the VIP lounge, next to the water
In addition to announcing the venue, Agon also unveiled its plans for how it will use the site. It will occupy 3,000 square feet on the second floor of the market and build an enclosed, sound-proof area for the players. There will be ample room for spectators and also a VIP lounge with a view of the playing area. There will be an area for commentators and a coffee shop.
A rendering of the playing area for the players. They will be in a sound-proof glass enclosure
A rendering of the VIP lounge with a view of the playing area
The South Street Seaport is one of the oldest parts of New York City. Parts of its streets are still lined with cobblestones — ballast that was used in merchant ships crossing the ocean between Europe and the New World.
A view of the seaport, possibly from the late 19th century
The Fulton Market was for nearly 200 years the site of the city’s fish market. At its peak, the market was the second-largest in the world (after Tokyo), supplying 400,000 pounds of fish a day to restaurants and fish markets up-and-down the East Coast. In 2005, the market moved to Hunt’s Point in the Bronx and renovations began on changing the market into an upscale dining and entertainment complex.
More information about the match, including how to buy tickets, is on the official Web site.
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