The world’s biggest chess event, the 44th International Chess Olympiad, is just days away as the event is scheduled to take place from 28 July to 10 August. The tournament will be hosted in Poonjeri Village in Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO heritage site, located about 50 kilometers from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The tournament was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August at the Nehru indoor stadium. The 44th Chess Olympiad held at Mahabalipuram will conclude with the 11th and final round and the closing ceremony later on Tuesday.
The event will see the highest participation as a record 187 countries are taking part with 188 Teams in the Open section and 162 in the Women’s section. A record total of 30 Indian Players across six teams (three in open and three women) will be participating at the Olympiad.
The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held hosted by the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort and Convention Center. The resort is located on the East Coast Road, Chennai.
What are the prizes for the 44th International Chess Olympiad?
The Olympiad presents team and individual non-monetary prizes:
1st place in the Open section: Hamilton-Russell Cup
1st place in the Women’s section: Vera Menchik Cup
1st place in combined classification: Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former captain of India's cricket team, will be present at the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad's closing ceremony at Chennai's Nehru Indoor Stadium. The event is set to start at 6 pm.
The Olympiad held in India for the first time ever saw a record number of teams taking part in the Open and women's sections
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin will preside over the closing ceremony. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich and recently elected deputy president and former World champion Viswanathan Anand will be attending the event.
The event was originally scheduled to be hosted by Ukraine but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Chess governing body FIDE decided to give India the hosting rights with Chennai being selected as the host city.
Talking about the tournament, the Open section saw Armenia and Uzbekistan emerge as joint leaders with 17 points each, whereas India A, India B, and the USA are placed together in second place with 16 points each.
With just two rounds remaining, the pressure was paramount on all teams and players. D. Gukesh had some great performances with a fantastic 8.5/9 but a bad day as he botched from very advantageous position, and missed many opportunities to equalize the end on the loser’s side against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a high-intensity game. Hence, India B Team had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan.
The second-seeded India A team had an incredible performance as they scored a 2.5-1.5 victory over Iran. Vidit Gujrathi and S. L. Narayanan won their games for India while Harikrishna lost his fixture. Arjun Erigaisi drew his encounter.
For India B, Praggnanandhaa had put up another impressive showing with his play and registered the only victory for his team, while Adhiban and Nihal Sarin drew their games. Whereas India C Team drew against the lower rated Slovakia 2-2 with Abhimanyu Puranik scoring the victory, Sethuraman lost his game and Ganguly and Karthikeyan registered draws.
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