Dear friends, today, while on my business trip to the United Kingdom of Great Britain, I have attended an extremely pleasant event organized by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle – a UK vs Ukraine solidarity chess match, with the UK number one, Michael Adams, taking on the Ukrainian champion Andrii Volokitin. Certainly, I have supported Ukraine and the talented Andrii Volokitin – a native of Lviv, honoured master of sports of Ukraine, international grandmaster, three-time champion of Ukraine in 2004, 2015 and 2021.

As the president of the Kyiv Chess Federation and the vice-president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation, I have been pleased to be present at the UK vs Ukraine Solidarity Match with the participation of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Vadym Volodymyrovych Prystaiko.

Solidarity Match is the best of eight games: games 1-4 at the Embassy of Ukraine and games 5-8 at the offices of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The prize fund amounts to 38,000 pounds sterling and is established by a private donor. The event is also supported by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine, consisting of 28 MPs and colleagues, which aims to promote and strengthen relations between the parliaments of Great Britain and Ukraine.

More details and the match programme can be found on the website of the organizers: https://en.chessbase.com/post/uk-ukraine-solidarity-match-2023 https://nxt.chessbomb.com/events/2023-uk-vs-ukraine-match/01/Volokitin_Andrei-Adams_Michael