Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with members of the national chess team ahead of the 43rd Chess Olympiad, which kicks off on Sunday in Georgia’s Batumi, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

According to Peskov, the meeting between Putin and the Russian chess players took place on late Thursday night in the southern resort city of Sochi, where the players gathered for a training camp ahead of the international tournament.

"The president wished the chess players good luck at the Olympiad," Peskov said. "They had a brief talk about the popularization of the sport of chess in Russia as well as about the training of a new generation of chess players in the country."

The group of chess players from the national team during a meeting with President Putin included Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Dmitry Yakovenko and Nikita Vityugov, who represent men’s competitions. The women’s team was represented by Alexandra Kostenyuk, Alexandra Goryachkina, Natalia Pogonina, Valentina Gunina and Olga Girya.

The 43rd Chess Olympiad will be held in the Georgian city of Batumi between September 23 and October 31 bringing best chess players together from around the globe. The Russian national team of players is setting off for the tournament on September 22.