Greeting of Georgios Makropoulos
September 24, 2008
Dear participants and guests of the 2008 European Club Cup,
It is a great honour for our country to host again the European Club Cup in Greece and especially in Halkidiki, an exceptional and beautiful area with a great tradition in hosting successful chess events.
Chess has been developing rapidly in Greece during the last 20 years and today our country has 10 players with the highest title of International Grandmaster while the Greek National Team finished at 4th(!) place in the European Team Championship 2005. Our national federation has reached the level of 35,000 registered members, with a large percentage being young students under 12 years old. Furthermore, more than 300 chess clubs operate throughout Greece, a country with a population of 11 million people, making chess lessons and tournaments accessible to almost all residents of the country!
The Greek Chess Federation welcomes all the European Clubs and their players for this top tournament. I hope that you will have a pleasant stay in Halkidiki and I am fully aware that the organisers are putting a lot of effort for another great event!
Georgios Makropoulos
President of the Greek Chess Federation