Chess and cars in Ukraine – presentation by Mercedes

Chess and Cars in Ukraine

On 2 July, 2009 Avtokapital, Daimler Chrysler's exclusive representative for Mercedes cars in Ukraine, presented three new models in Kiev, the country's capital, Kyiv . The whole occasion was organised with a "chess" motif. Presented were the Mercedes-Benz S-Class 2009, S 400 HYBRID and E-Class Coupe.

The cars are under drapes on a giant chessboard

The second model, waiting to be presented to the guests and journalists

Unveiling one of the two models, with chess WGM Natalia Zhukova doing the necessary

This is the Mercedes S 400 HYBRID

Rollout of the new Mercedes HYBRID model in YouTube

... and then Natalia gets to feel the comfort and luxury of the new models

The star guest was Ukrainian WGM Natalia Zhukova, rated 2465. She and her husband, Russian GM Alexander Grischuk, live in Odessa, Ukraine (mainly in the summer) and Moscow, Russia. Kiev is located somewhere in between Odessa and Moscow.

During the presentation there was a simultaneous exhibition by Natalia Zhukova

There were also simuls by the Kiev players, WFM Evgeniya Berezjuk and Marina Pogrebinska, with Natalia helping some of the opponents.

• Official press release (in Russian language, with, mainly, technical details about new cars)
• Report at autocentre.ua

Postscript
A Ukraining friend sent us the following message: "I was amazed to see that the only outlets to report on the event and also mention of Natalia and others chess names were chess sites. Not a single mention of her name appeared in the official press release of Mercedes and in the follow-ups by auto journalists – just general "chess presentation" reports. This made me really sad. Nobody works harder at chess than Nataila, and for a long time she has been the brightest chess star in Ukraine female chess. Still zero interest from media. I wonder: who cares for chess in this country?"