President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Karyakin, you became a grandmaster at 12, didn’t you?
Sergei Karyakin: Yes, I was the youngest.
Vladimir Putin: You have achieved great success since then, and I congratulate you on it. At the end of last year, you won the World Blitz Championship.
Sergei Karyakin: Yes, I became the World Blitz champion.
Vladimir Putin: My congratulations.
Sergei Karyakin: Thank you very much.
And thank you very much for inviting me, I am very happy to be here.
Vladimir Putin: I would like to thank you for what you have been doing to promote chess and discuss what else can be done. You know that we opened a chess section at the Sirius Centre for Children in Sochi. Have you been there?
Sergei Karyakin: Yes, I have been there. We actually saw each other briefly during the school opening. I also wanted to discuss this subject. There are several topics for us to discuss related to developing chess in the regions.
But first, I would like to invite you on behalf of the Russian Chess Federation. The Chess Club on Gogolevsky Boulevard recently opened after its renovation with Mr Sobyanin’s [Moscow Mayor] support. It has an absolutely unique chess museum and we invite you to visit it. It has some truly unique items on display and I think you would like it very much.
Vladimir Putin: Indeed, our school of chess is very good and, I should mention, both in St Petersburg and in Moscow. Therefore, I will be glad to visit. We will choose the best time for the visit.
Sergei Karyakin: Yes, of course.
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