Poti Chess Festival's 19th Edition: The Numbers Behind the Sponsorship
Bank of Georgia has reaffirmed its role as the main backer of the Poti Chess Club, the force behind the 19th edition of Poti's International Chess Festival, held under the name of two-time women's world championship contender Nana Alexandria. The tournament drew close to 530 players, more than 300 of them Georgian, and Georgian competitors finished with 25 victories across the event.
The festival, organised by the Poti Chess Club and the Georgian Chess Federation, ran about 25 separate tournaments over nine rounds under the Swiss system, with players competing in A, B, C, D and E open categories as well as children's events. Results count toward international ratings, and the top three finishers in each tournament were awarded prizes. The club itself dates to 1948 and has long served as a training base for young players in the western Georgian port city.
Bank of Georgia said its support for Georgian players at the festival continues a partnership through which it now serves as the club's main sponsor and a promoter of a new generation of chess players. Financial details of the sponsorship were not disclosed.
Why Bank of Georgia Backs a Regional Chess Club
On the surface this is a sponsorship announcement; the interesting part is the choice of asset. Bank of Georgia is attaching its brand to a regional institution — a chess club with a 78-year history — rather than to a high-profile international event. For a retail bank, that fits a familiar playbook: community-level engagement that reaches families, schools and local authorities in cities outside the capital, and that aligns naturally with the education and youth-development messaging the bank highlights. Chess also happens to be a low-cost sponsorship category compared with football or basketball, while still generating regular, photogenic news moments like this festival.
What the Festival Delivers for Georgian Chess
The practical value for players is the tournament's rating significance. With about 25 events, international rating points on offer and a field approaching 530 including foreign competitors, the festival gives Georgian players — especially younger ones — a chance to compete in a rated environment close to home. The Alexandria name adds legacy value: she remains one of the most recognisable figures in Georgian chess, and the annual event keeps that tradition visible. None of the partnership's financial terms were made public, so the scale of Bank of Georgia's commitment cannot be verified from this announcement alone.
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