THE CHESS OLYMPAID 2022
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. International Chess Federation (FIDE) organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and 2021, with a rapid time control that affected players online ratings.
The use of the name "Chess Olympiad" for FIDE's team championship is of historical origin and implies no connection with the Olympic Games.
The first Olympiad was unofficial. For the 1924 Olympics an attempt was made to include chess in the Olympic Games but this failed because of problems with distinguishing between amateur and professional players. While the 1924 Summer Olympics was taking place in Paris, the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad.
FIDE organised the first Official Olympiad in 1927 which took place in London. The Olympiads were occasionally held annually and at irregular intervals until World War II; since 1950 they have been held regularly every two years.
After traveling throughout the nation, the torch for the 44th Chess Olympiad, which will begin in Chennai on July 28th, arrived in Tamil Nadu on Monday. The relay of the Olympic torch, which started in Coimbatore, was received at CODISSIA on Monday.
The Chess Olympiad Torch was presented at Codissia to
· S. Muthusamy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development
· M.P. Saminathan, Minister for Information and Publicity
· V. Senthil Balaji, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise
· K. Ramachandran Minister for Forests.
Mr. Senthil Balaji remarked, "The
state takes pride in organizing the Chess Olympiad, which is taking place for
the first time in India," in his remarks to the crowd of more than 2000
high school and college students. He further emphasized how the Tamil Nadu
government, which is led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, has issued instructions
designating "silambam" as one of the sports to be considered for the
3% sports quota recruitment in government agencies and public sector
organizations (PSUs).
More than 2,000 players from 187 countries will be accommodated at a large 76,000 square foot venue in Mammallapuram for the Chess Olympiad, according to Mr. Muthusamy. He noted that the installation of 708 chess boards has been planned.
According to Mr. Saminathan, the State Government has been encouraging kids and teenagers to thrive in sports, and as a result, the State has produced 73 Grand Masters of Chess, 11 of them are female.
Grand Master Shyam Sundar and the Chess Federation representatives received the 44th Chess Olympiad torch from the Ministers. Additionally, they sent out model torches to the collectors of 16 other districts, including Erode, Tiruppur, and Nilgiris.
The coaches and athletes who have excelled in a variety of sports were honored by the ministers. An earlier rally in which the torch was carried from Avinashi road to Codissia was flagged off by Coimbatore Collector G.S. Sameeran. The Olympic relay arrived in Coimbatore from Puducherry, and on Monday night it will be transported to Madurai.
PROMOTIONAL ENDEAVORS:
The state administration has already begun making committed efforts to promote the huge event as much as possible. Additionally introduced were the official mascot "Thambi," a horse dressed in the Veshti-Sattai costume, and the logo.
Stalin signaled for buses displaying the advertising slogans "Namma Chess, Namma Pride" to move about the city.The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad is being hosted for the first time in India and that too in Tamil Nadu, the superstar Rajinikanth announced in a teaser video for the competition.
The British-era Napier Bridge at Marina Beach and the historic sites in Mamallapuram were the locations for the teaser, which was directed by Vignesh Sivan. Stalin and Oscar winner A R Rahman both appeared in the video, which had a chessboard-inspired background.
The Chennai bridge's mascot Thambi was given a facelift, and he was also installed at the Namma Chennai selfie point, at ECR, and other locations. Major bus stops have billboards with information about the event posted on them. Additionally, promotions were run at Chennai Metro stations.
The organizers have also launched a few contests to add interest to the program. Participants are invited to take photos with the mascot and upload them on social media to be entered to win tickets to the opening ceremony at Nehru Indoor Stadium.
TEAMS:
The 44th Chess Olympiad's competing teams have been revealed, and FIDE is delighted to do so. The largest chess tournament of the year will take place in Chennai, India, from July 28 to August 10 with 187 teams in the Open section and 162 in the Women's. Every edition of the Chess Olympiad draws more participants, and the 44th in Chennai will be the biggest yet.
