Chess rightfully returned to its birthplace as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first-ever torch relay for the Chess Olympiad in the national capital on 20th June 2022.
This is the first time the International Chess Federation has followed the Olympic tradition and initiated the Chess Olympiad Torch.
India will host the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mahabalipuram, Chennai from 28th July to 10th August. With 189 countries participating in the Olympiad, this is the first time the Indian soil plays host to an enormous congregation of nations for a sports event.
The torch – symbolic of movement and friendship - was handed over by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich to the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi who in turn gave it to India's chess legend Viswanathan Anand. The grant ceremony was held at the IG Stadium in New Delhi where players and chess fraternity from across the world came together to commemorate the first torch relay in a Chess Olympiad.
Chess Olympiad 2022: A glimpse
Arriving at Mahabalipuram, the torch will take rounds in 75 cities within 40 days, and will be received by the chess grandmasters of the respective states.
The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai from July 28 to August 10, 2022.
India is the first country to hold the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.
This is the first time the prestigious competition is being hosted in India. The event returns to Asia after 30 years. This will be the largest participation in any Chess Olympiad.
The first ever Chess Olympiad, was organized by FIDE in 1927 to promote chess and had also an open and women's tournament. The event took place in London, United Kingdom.
The 2022 Chess Olympiad was initially scheduled for Belarus, and later shifted to Russia. However, the outburst of the Russia-Ukraine war favoured India’s bid for the event. The mega event came to the Indian soil thanks to the joint efforts of the All India Chess Federation, the AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, the government of Tamil Nadu and the intervention of Chennai’s very own Vishy Anand who is the candidate for Deputy President of FIDE in the upcoming elections in August 2022.
The government of Tamil Nadu guaranteed $10 million funds to host the ginormous team event. This is the first Olympiad played over the board since 2018. While China won both the Open and the Women's event in 2018, Russia and India became joint winners in the first ever Online Olympiad in 2020.
Chess Olympiad 2022: The Indian Team
India, as the host nation, is entitled to have two teams each for both the men’s and women’s chess category while the rest of the participating countries can have only one team per category.
Viswanathan Anand, five-time former world champion, has decided not to participate as a player and will be handling the role of the chief mentor of the team. As Anand puts it, he intends to give way for the young talents.
As for the 20-member Indian team, the first men's team has talents like Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, SL Narayanan, P Harikrishna, and K Sasikiran. The second team has R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, B Adhiban, D Gukesh, and Raunak Sadhwani.
The women's team has Koneru Humpy as the captain with Tania Sachdev, Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, and Bhakti Kulkarni steering the show. The second team comprises Soumya Swaminathan, Divya Deshmukh, Mary Ann Gomes, Vantika Agrawal, and Padmini Rout.
Chess Olympiad 2022: Interesting facts
One of the exciting factors for chess fans is the return of the World Champion Magnus Carlsen to Chennai. It was in this city that he was first crowned the World Champion in 2013.
This time the 31-year-old Norwegian will make his first appearance – after a gap of six years - in a team event representing his country. The previous team event for Carlsen was in 2016, in Baku where his team was placed 5th.
The Olympiad also serves to turn the attention of the new generation to the sport. To quote K P Karthikeyan, Member Secretary, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, the schoolchildren who rank in the first three places in the ongoing district-level chess tournament in the state will stand the chance to witness the Olympiad at Mahabalipuram. “The opportunity to come to Chennai & see the event will be given to 500 school students''. He added that arrangements are getting done in coordination with the school education department.
Conclusion
As the Olympiad takes off in July and the whole nation gets into the vibe of the brain game, it is time to take your budding talents to the next level. If your child has the potential to make it in the world of chess, this is the time to inspire and mould them. At Mind Mentorz, we not only teach kids the foundation stones of the mind game, but we take them through effective cognitive development, mentoring their passion as well as personalities. To know more about our online and offline chess coaching classes in Bengaluru, call us at +91-960 68 47428.