Chennai: In March, India was handed the seemingly impossible task of hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 — an event that usually takes years to plan — in just four months.
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the opening ceremony of the Olympiad at 7 pm in Chennai. The event is being hosted at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Mahabalipuram
From superstar Rajinikanth to iconic music composer A.R. Rahman, everyone has been involved in the event’s promotion. Chennai’s Napier Bridge has been painted black and white to look like a chess board, and the Olympiad’s mascot, Thambi the horseman, is omnipresent in the city. Every major Indian newspaper has carried a front-page welcome for players flying in from all over the world to the opening ceremony.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu government has pulled out all the stops to make sure the event — being hosted in India for the first time — impresses its international participants coming in from 187 countries.
“The Olympiad coming to India and Tamil Nadu is a big event for all of us. The arrangements have been excellent,” Ramesh R.B., a chess grandmaster and one of the six coaches to the men’s team, told ThePrint.
India has 30 chess champions participating in the tournament.
“The government and the International Chess Federation have done a great job. This will definitely create huge interest in chess — the games are beginning [today] and we are looking forward to it,” he said.
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Chess is changing
Chess holds a special place for Chennai. Of the 73 Indian grandmasters, the city has produced 24. Plus, it has a long history of chess culture.
But while the 44th Olympiad is bringing a lot of publicity to chess, there are still concerns over the sport’s accessibility — especially since chess was not traditionally a spectator sport.
“The Olympiad is a huge opportunity for these 30 Indian players and their communities,” said chess champion Manuel Aaron to ThePrint. “The effort and attention that Indian players have devoted to chess in the past decade is coming through.”
Aaron was the first Indian chess player to win an international master title in 1961, and is credited with popularising modern chess in India. A former two-time honorary secretary of the All India Chess Federation, he also opened the Tal Chess Club, Chennai’s first, in 1972.
According to Aaron, India needs to catch up and host more international tournaments. Players with titles need to travel abroad and compete, but, he added, ordinary people can’t always afford to do this. He also pointed to the Olympiad’s expensive tickets as a barrier to entry for the common man. The tickets for Indian nationals range from Rs 200 (for students, Tamil Nadu government staff and women) to Rs 3,000.
“Right now, we are handicapping ourselves by not holding any ‘round robin’ or league tournaments in India,” said Aaron.
The advent of online chess, said Tania Sachdev, who holds the titles of international master and woman grandmaster, has revolutionised the way chess is consumed. The Olympiad will also have fixed screens showing India’s top eight chess boards live, so viewers at home don’t miss out on the action.
“Chess today is a very different sport from what it used to be — it is changing so fast that it’s even different from what it was pre-pandemic,” she said.
“It’s definitely a sport that’s a lot more approachable today. It always had a serious image attached to it, but now people see it as fun and exciting,” she added. The coverage and commentary around chess has also improved, with players getting more platforms to showcase their skills and personality.
“The biggest change is that today chess has become a spectator sport,” added Sachdev.
Posters, politics, promotions
In the run-up to the inauguration, Tamil Nadu BJP workers alleged that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was trying to overshadow Modi by leaving his image out of promotional banners and hoardings, which carried only Stalin’s image.
BJP workers walked out of an event promoting the Olympiad in Coimbatore Wednesday, and responded by pasting Modi’s image on an advertisement for the event.
The DMK Thursday changed the banners to include a images of Modi to them.
Pakistan decided not to participate in the Olympiad to protest India’s decision to pass the torch relay through Srinagar on 21 June. However, the Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday that India was “surprised” — apparently Pakistan’s team reached Chennai.
The Tamil Nadu government has been planning several promotional activities, besides involving celebrities like Rajinikanth and musicians like Rahman.
The state government also organised chess competitions in government schools and gave 150 underprivileged children who won chess games the opportunity to play chess onboard an aircraft. Stalin also played a promotional game of chess in Mahabalipuram Wednesday.
Now, that is a game of #Chess I am going to have fond memories of for the rest of my life. Playing with Hon'ble Chief Minister of #TamilNadu, Thiru @MKStalin at the venue for the #ChessOlympiad at #Mahabalipuram.
. @FIDE_chess pic.twitter.com/ZgSXcXFmBo
— Dr. Sanjay Kapoor Chess AICF (@DrSK_AICF) July 27, 2022
The tournament will start on Friday, and continue until 9 August.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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