MK Stalin's right moves helped 44th Chess Olympiad come Tamil Nadu’s way

Chennai, Aug 01: The year 2022 has turned out to be a momentous year in the history of Indian chess. For the first time ever, the country is hosting the Chess Olympiad and Tamil Nadu is bestowed with the honour of organising this mega event. All thanks to the MK Stalin-led DMK government, which pulled off the unthinkable by clearing up all the hurdles and giving various approvals within hours to ensure that the state gets the opportunity to host the mega event.

Russia was scheduled to host the Chess Olympiad this year, when the war broke out with Ukraine, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) opted for a new host, India seized the opportunity and obtained the rights to host the chess event. Tamil Nadu was never the first choice to host the event, Delhi, Gujarat and Chennai were short-listed as possible venues.

Sensing a door half-open, the Tamil Nadu government knocked with a message that it is willing to host Chess Olympiad 2022. It took tremendous effort and coordination on part of all the officers involved in the Government of Tamil Nadu, the team at AICF and most importantly the keen personal interest of the Chief Minister MK Stalin to clinch the winning bid on behalf of India.

The Stalin government instantly approved, assured and endorsed his government's support for the event. "Initially, I was more inclined to host the event in Delhi but the very hot weather in July and lack of chess culture, along with wholehearted support extended by CM Stalin clinched it for Chennai," said All India Chess Federation (AICF) secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan.

With a promise of 1 billion rupees (€11.9 million, $13.1 million) budget, the Tamil Nadu state government announced that the event will be held in the historic town of Mahabalipuram on the outskirts of the state capital Chennai.

1200 rooms for the participants were booked in one day and the Convention Centre of Four Points Sheraton was decided as the venue.

Tamil Nadu has given rise to at least two dozen grandmasters, including the five-time world chess champion Viswanathan 'Vishy' Anand and the 16-year-old Rameshbabu "Pragg" Praggnanandhaa, who recently made international headlines by defeating Magnus Carlsen.

The DMK government has always been a very big supporter of Chess. From promoting chess in schools, providing the required infrastructure for chess tournaments, and by felicitating chess players with monetary prizes.

Last year, the Government of Tamil Nadu felicitated 14 players of the state who won Gold in FIDE Online Olympiad 2020, FIDE World Teams 2019, Bronze in FIDE Online Olympiad 2021, along with the newly minted Grandmaster, Woman Grandmaster and International Master with total cash awards to the tune of Rupees 1 crore 98 lakh. Such initiatives had given tremendous results with 24 of the 73 GMs of India such as GM Praggnanandha, GM Gukesh, GM Adhiban, GM Srinath and the world famous GM Vishwanathan Anand coming from Tamil Nadu.

How Government Prepared to Organise Chess Olympiad 2022

The state government is setting up a 24×7 control room to assist the participants, guests, and public. Five free of cost hop-on hop-off buses are being arranged for tourists to travel to and fro from Chennai to Mamallapuram.

In a bid to attract large section of audience, the government has roped in Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman to compose the official anthem of the Olympiad titled 'Vanakkam Chennai' that featured him alongside Stalin and dancers with the iconic Napier Bridge in the background. And Tamil superstar Rajinikanth released the teaser.

With 343 teams from 187 countries participating, this will be the largest participation in any Chess Olympiad. India is also fielding its biggest ever contingent in the competition comprising 30 players across 6 teams. Notably, 25 Indian players are taking part in the event under the mentorship of legendary Indian Chess Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand.