ETCC 2011 >>> Venue and Playing Hall

The games of the European Team Chess Championships 2011 will take place in the Olympic Hall Congress Center (1500 sq. m.), within the 5-star Porto Carras Grand Resort.

The luxury Porto Carras Grand Resort is situated in an enchantingly verdant landscape in Halkidiki, Greece. Set like a gem in 1763 hectares (17 million sq. m.) of incredibly beautiful grounds, it is a paradise of green, fringed by seemingly endless sandy beaches, in fact nine kilometers of them!

Located 110 km (75 minutes drive) south of the international airport of Thessaloniki, the Porto Carras Grand Resort also includes in its 1763 hectares three hotel divisions, each in a different style, a casino, an ultra-modern thalassotherapy centre and spa, an international-standard 18-hole golf course, a private 315-berth marina, a 5,000 seat convention centre and Greece’s largest organic vineyard.

For sport enthusiasts, there is also a wide range of choices:

• Golf (the international-standard 18-hole course is open year round)
• Tennis Academy
• Diving and Water Sports
• Riding School
• Football pitch
• Climbing wall
• Hiking trails
• Beach volleyball
• Fully equipped gym

Other chess events held in Porto Carras include the 2010 World Youth Chess Championships with almost 1400 participants (the largest FIDE event ever!), the Greek School Championships of 2008, 2009 and 2010 and the International Open “Summer Cup” tournaments of 2008, 2009 and 2010.

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