On November 3, the opening ceremony of the international Tashir chess tournament in memory of Tigran Petrosian was held. The organisers of the tournament are Tashir Group and the Russian Chess Federation.

The colourful ceremony was attended by well-known businessmen, sportsmen, cultural figures and many others.

The ceremony was hosted by the film director, actor and TV anchor Tigran Keosaian.During the opening ceremony, the film 'The Iron Tigran' about Tigran Petrosian was shown; this was followed by the legend of Armenian chess, the grandmaster Rafael Vaganian, who informed the audience of Tigran Petrosian’s 'Chess Lectures' that had been reprinted by Tashir Group in honour of the present tournament.
The President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov greeted the audience and awarded the Tigran Petrosian Medal to the Chief Arbiter of the tournament Boris Postovsky (USA) for his outstanding coaching achievements in the past.

The guests were then invited to watch a video in which sculptor Georgiy Frangulian talked about the grand prize to be awarded to the competition winner – a bronze figurine of Nike holdings a laurel wreath in her hands.