The Women’s World Chess Championship Match between Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) and Hou Yifan (China) is being held from 1-19th March, 2016, at the Potocki Palace in Lviv, Ukraine.
The opening ceremony and drawing of lots took place last night at the Lviv Opera House. Hou Yifan was the first to pick the colour and she got black pieces. Muzychuk will play with white in the first game of the match.
Zhytta ballet, violin virtuoso Olexandr Bozhyk, quartet Tenors Bel’canto, Holos Krainy Show star Khrystyna Soloviy, and street performance of Voskresinnya Theatre have performed during the ceremony.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, President of Ukrainian Chess Federation Olexandr Kapustin and FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos delivered the opening speeches.
The first of ten games is set to take place on 2nd March from 15:00 local time. Follow it live with analysis here.
Photos by Vitaliy Hrabar. Official website
