Chennai: The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai this year after Russia was stripped of its host due to the attack on Ukraine. This is the second major global chess tournament to be held in India after the World Championships in 2013. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced this on Twitter on Tuesday night.
Stalin tweeted, “Extremely delighted that the Chess Capital of India is going to host the 44th Chess Olympiad. Proud moment for Tamil Nadu. Chennai warmly welcomes kings and queens from all over the world. Chess Olympiad 2022.” The All India Chess Federation (AICF) wrote on its Twitter handle, “It is now official… India will host the 44th World Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai.”
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The AICF has handed over a guaranteed amount of $10 million to the global governing body of chess to host the tournament. The country was stripped of its hosting of the Olympiad on February 24 following Russia’s attack on neighboring Ukraine. The Chess Olympiad is a team competition held every two years in which teams from around 190 countries participate in a two-week tournament.
Earlier it was to be held in Moscow from July 26 to August 8. Apart from this, Russia has also been stripped of hosting the first Chess Olympiad for the Disabled and the 93rd FIDE Congress. The last time India hosted a tournament of such a large scale was in 2013 in the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and current world number one Magnus Carlsen. (agency)