Bokas forord

Dear reader!

When working on this book, I realized even more what phenomenon the festival in Pardubice has become. Nowadays only few can remember how this originally modest tournament started to make its way up to the top events of the chess world.

I was very lucky to have my chess career closely related to the tournament in Pardubice. In 1992 my father and I went to the then "Trimex Open". The festival deeply impressed me by its quality and huge number of participants.

In addition, I managed to end fairly well and meet the first standard of an international master. It was great encouragement for my further work and the tournament in Pardubice was to me as an entrance gateway to the world of "adult" chess.

In 1994 my family used the offer of the local chess club and moved to Pardubice. In 1995 I experienced a success which I value as one of the most important in my career - a triumph in the main tournament.

Definitely I did not consider myself as a favourite, but the tournament turned out well for me and this valuable victory undoubtedly served in my way to other chess peaks.

The festival in Pardubice has gradually developed in not only an important chess, but also a social event. Every year, lots of celebrities all over the world include Czech Open in their Top 10 of chess events in order not to miss it. A good move proved to be enlargement of the tournament content with other traditional and less traditional disciplines, such as go, bridge, but also Sudoku and Rubik's Cube. Every year Pardubice welcomes more and more fans of chess and other intellectual sports.

This festival is unique in its atmosphere and we hope that this book will allow you to visit the city of Pardubice not only in July, but whenever you like ...

Sergei Movsesjan