Whether India wins medals or not, staging Chess Olympiad will give a boost to chess
Whether India wins medals or not, staging Chess Olympiad will give a boost to chess
a A nation brimming with chess talent is now ready to parade it on a stage that doesn’t get bigger. The 44th Chess Olympiad, with participants from 187 countries, opens with a grand ceremony at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Thursday and the 11-round on-board action begins the next day in Mamallapuram. With the usual medal winning nations – Russia and China – not in the mix, few first-timers could occupy the podium. The greatest of the current players, Magnus Carlsen, wants to lead Norway to its first medal. There will be other great performers in both sections of the biennial competition, but Wise will focus on how India performs at home. Being the hosts, India can field two teams in each category. As there were an odd number of entries, India added a third team to make it even. As a result, 30 players, including 15 women, will represent India in the Premier World Team Championship. Though Viswanathan Anand is the mentor of these teams, the Indian men are strong enough to be seeded second in the Open category. Indian women are given first preference in search of their first medal. Talented Kishore D. Gukesh, Arjun Erigasi, Nihal Sarin and R. Pragyananand earned his streaks on the biggest stage. It remains to be seen whether they play to their growing reputation.
On the organizational front, the Olympiad promises to be successful. Once Russia is out of the Olympiad as both host and participant, the Tamil Nadu government and the All India Chess Federation (AICF) have achieved what it takes to set up this mega event in just four months of getting the hosting rights. , that is difficult to understand. With the approval of Chief Minister MK Stalin, the bureaucracy took care of every logistical and turned a vision into reality. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) is already fine-tuning the system, which will include two sports halls that will accommodate around 1,400 players, with each round broadcasting games live from around 700 boards. Indian technicians are ready to take the bar to a new height. Elsewhere, no stone is being left unturned to focus on the home state to showcase the rich culture and heritage of the country. A team of over 500 volunteers has been trained to meet the various needs of the visiting team. Security personnel and health workers are there to deal with any emergency. But for those from AICF who have worked round the clock for four months after shifting base at Mamallapuram, all the effort will be worth it if the Indian teams come out with a medal-winning performance.