Message sent by the Minister of Education and National Culture, Mr. Evarist Bartolo to the participants of Chess Tournament being held in Malta

It is with great pleasure that I welcome to Malta and tothe New Dolmen Hotel the participants of the 1998 Grand Hotels InternationalChess Tournament.

My first welcome will be to Grand Master Dimitri Komarov from Kiev Ukraine.Mr. Komarov became a Chess Grand Master in the early nineties and he is listedby FIDE as the 71st in their list of the best 100 chess players in the world.Mr. Komarov has come to Maltaafter winning a close 12-member event in Reggio Emilia; it is clear that hewill have to carry on with his successes here.

From HungaryI welcome Dr. Erdelyi Tama's an International Chess Master member of Caissa KFTof Kecskemet.

From ItalyI welcome Enzo Minerva who has been playing correspondence chess with severalMaltese players for some time.

I mention these few players as a sample of all those who have beenready to accept the invitation of the organisers to play in this tournament andI extend my welcome to all the others present.

I welcome to this event also the Maltese participants among whomthere are household chess names like Harry Camilleri and Wilfrid Attard whoshared between them a quarter of a century of Malta chess championships. Thenthere are the younger promising names like David Cilia Vincenti and HoraceCassar in whom our future hopes of a continuing chess progress lie. To theseand the other Maltese resident players may I present my best wishes forfruitful participation in this tournament which brings them in close range offoreign big guns.

On behalf of the organisers I must thank the many persons who havemade this event possible; chief among these sponsors there is the New DolmenHotel who offered to host the whole tournament; it is their wish and that of myMinistry, which has lent a very helping hand too, that this event will be thefirst of a series which will feature in future calendars.

Chess is a challenging mental and physical activity which spursmen to use all their intellectual powers to eke out solutions in problematicsituations. As Minister of Education and National Culture, I would welcome moresimilar occupations for our student population because I am sure that thelessons learned over the board will prepare minds for many other problemsolving endeavours in the bigger sphere of life at large.