Organised in a short span of four months, the international chess event was held at the Four Points by Sheraton Mamallapuram Resort and Convention Centre near Chennai, Tamil Nadu since July 29 following a grand inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will end on August 10.
The event witnessed players from across the globe representing 187 countries competing on 700 boards.
The next edition of the FIDE Chess Olympiad will be held in Budapest in Hungary from 10 to 23 September 2024.
Here are the live updates:
FIDE flag handed over to Hungary
The flag of FIDE is handed over to Hungary, the host for the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad by India, the host for the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad. Later, the Principal Secretary to the Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Selvi Apoorva presents the vote of thanks.
CM Stalin presents medals
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin presents medals to the winners in open category, including India’s team B that bagged the bronze medal, in the presence of President of FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich who handed over the trophy to Uzbekistan, the winning team under open category (men).
Efforts for making TN a global destination for sports are on: CM Stalin
Making the keynote address during the closing ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said: “To identify and encourage medal winners at Olympics, Tamil Nadu government is to launch and implement the ‘Olympic Gold Quest’ programme at a cost of Rs. 25 crore. Boxing academies are to be set up at Gopalapuram and North Chennai and a dedicated arena is to be established for Tamil Nadu’s traditional bull-taming sport, jallikattu. We are taking steps to host Chennai Open Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) International Championship and also Asian Beach Games in Tamil Nadu. We will continue our efforts in making Tamil Nadu a global destination for sports. We are also focused on taking the traditional sports to the global forum. All the chess players should keeping coming to Chennai”
Stars of ‘American Idol’ dazzle on stage
The Mumbai-based dance crew V. Unbeatable that shot to fame after winning the reality show ‘America’s Got Talent’ in 2020, performed during the valedictory ceremony of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad.
Part 2 of performance on TN history
Following wide appreciation for the performance on the history of Tamil Nadu narrated in the voice of actor Kamal Haasan during the inaugural held on July 28, a sequel of the act was staged.
Presentation of awards
The winners of the 44th Chess Olympiad from various countries were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. Chess players from Chennai D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa were presented with medals on stage.
CM Stalin felicitates India’s first Grandmaster from Chennai
Manuel Aaron, the 86-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai who was India’s first International Master is felicitated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
TN Chief Secretary delivers welcome address
Welcoming the guests for the closing ceremony, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V irai Anbu says, “Chess can make a person immensely attentive. Chess prepares us for invisible battles we are going to fight in our lives. Chess heightens awareness, elevates creativity. I am sure that like in Armenia, chess would one day become compulsory in schools in Tamil Nadu in due course.”
Evolution of sports in TN
Artists perform a dance-drama on the evolution of sports in Tamil Nadu, featuring jallikattu, kannamoochi (hide and seek), udal vithai vilaiyattu (gymnastics), kabaddi, sathurangam (chess)
Musical evening
Soul-stirring music by percussionist Drums Sivamani, veena player Rajhesh Vaidhya, flautist Naveen Kumar and pianist Stephen Devassy fills the air. Piano performance of poems by Tamil poet Bharathiar enthrals the audience.
CM Stalin arrives
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K Stalin who arrived at the venue of the closing ceremony reached the dais along with the President of FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich, Grandmaster and Vice President of FIDE Viswanathan Anand, TN Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports S.V. Meyyanthan, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu
Stage is all set
India ‘B’ team wins bronze in Open section; India ‘A’ women also finish third
India ‘B’ team settled for a bronze medal in the Open section while the India ‘A’ women’s side also finished third in the 44th Chess Olympiad here on August 9, 2022.
Chess under the sea
The barracudas off the coast of Neelankarai were going about their Sunday as usual when they noticed something peculiar: three checkered square boards. And on them stood black-and-white pieces in the shape of pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, kings and queens. Soon, schools of bannerfish, angelfish, jackfish and a solitary turtle joined the barracudas, as they witnessed their first underwater game of chess — Priyadarshini Paitandy
For the taste of chess
As a tribute to the world’s biggest team chess championship that is underway in Mamallapuram, the Temple City group of Hotels in Madurai has created a chess board cake complete with 64 black-and-white squares and 32 chess pieces — Soma Basu
Explained | The Chess Olympiad: Where it all began and how India rose to the top
Founded in 1924 in Paris, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) organizes the biennial Chess Olympiad. The first official event was hosted in 1927 by the United Kingdom in London, with Hungary taking the gold medal.The Olympiad follows the 11-round Swiss format with two nations’ teams (four players and one reserve) competing against each other on four corresponding boards.
After gaining Independence from the British, India first participated in the FIDE Chess Olympiad held at Moscow in 1956 and finished 27th. Since then, India has bettered its game, winning bronze in 2014, gold in 2020, and bronze in 2021. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually in 2020 and 2021.
In 2020, India and Russia were jointly crowned champion because the result of two games in the second finals match was affected by a net outage in Cloudflare servers — Suchitra Karthikeyan
Chennai Chess Olympiad inaugural updates
A gala opening ceremony of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad took place at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on July 28, 2022. The international event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
