India to hold 44th Chess Olympiad at Chennai in July

The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, on Tuesday awarded hosting rights to the All India Chess Federation (AICF) for the tournament that will be held in July this year.

The event, known as the prime chess spectacle in the world, will be the biggest ever sporting event held in India. Leading players’ participation from over 150 countries is expected in the tournament.

The AICF, along with the Tamil Nadu Government, has decided to host the event near Mahabalipuram in Chennai to ensure a picturesque site and great facilities for the participating countries.

The Tamil Nadu Government, under the leadership of Chief Minister MK Stalin, has graciously agreed to hold this mega event at such short notice.

Chess Olympiad shifted to India from Russia due to the current political situation

The Olympiad, originally scheduled to be held in Moscow, had to be shifted by FIDE due to the current political situation. As FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich started looking for possible venues, India was amongst the first to propose hosting the event. The tournament was granted to India at a special meeting held by FIDE on Tuesday evening.

The Chess Olympiad is an event like none other. In the last edition at Batumi in Georgia in 2018, there were 185 participating countries. FIDE has increased membership since then and there is every chance that India will beat the Batumi record. It may be recalled that the biennial event could not be held physically in 2020 due to Covid-19 and it was organized online.

“It’s a matter of great pride and responsibility that we are entrusted with (this tournament) and we are committed to making it a grand success. The entire chess fraternity in the country is ready to come together for this. This event is here because of our chess family. Let’s celebrate this together,” said Dr Sanjay Kapoor, AICF president.

AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan was obviously overjoyed. “I cannot complain about anything in life now. Every country in the world now has this great opportunity to come under one roof in the country where chess was born. My thanks to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin for making this dream come true,” he said.

The event is held over 11 rounds in both the open and women's categories, with likely participation of over 2000 players. This is a team event with five players and one trainer allowed per team in both sections.

Participants in the Chess Olympiad are a virtual who’s who of the chess world. World champion Magnus Carlsen has often turned out to play for Norway and almost every top player in the world is present at this event to represent their country. To sum it up, it’s a galaxy of chess stars of the world under one roof.

Team India was the joint winner of the last Olympiad that was organized online. This time, the team will be led by Viswanathan Anand, who will have the support of Pentala Harikrishna and Vidit Gujarathi for sure. The other two members are still unclear, but young guns like Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and some truly special players like Adhiban Baskaran, Krishnan Sasikiran and a few others have a strong case. The final decision on team selection for the open category will be taken on May 1, as per AICF rules.

Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and R Vaishali are nearly confirmed as participants in the women’s section. Tania Sachdev is a strong contender for one of the other two places up for grabs, while Bhakti Kulkarni and a few others will try to be part of the team.

As the host, India is entitled to field an additional team and this could likely go to Indian juniors or the India ‘B’ team in both sections. A final decision on this will also be taken by the AICF on May 1.