LUANDA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Angolan national men's and women's chess teams cancelled their participation at the Beijing International Tournament due to financial reasons, a sports official said here on Wednesday.

    Manuel Pedro, permanent secretary of Angola's Chess Federation, told reporters that though Angola's absence in this experimental tournament has been confirmed, players should continue their training, taking into account their participation in the Chess Olympiads, in November.

    The national teams including international masters Aderito Pedro and Amorim Agnelo are receiving training for 15 days at the headquarters of the federation in the Angolan capital Luanda under the guidance of the national technical co-ordination.

    The Beijing tournament set to start on Friday is being organized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Chess Federation and aims at assessing the possibility of inserting chess in the Olympic Games.