44th Chess Olympiad ends in Chennai

The 44th Chess Olympiad inaugurated by Prime minister Narendra Modi in Chennai on the 28th of July ended on Tuesday i.e; 9th July 2022. India competed in the tournament with three teams in the Men's Section and three teams in the Women’s section.

India 'B' team comprising D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwaniand and Adhiban won the bronze medal beating Germany.

In women's section, India 'A'  team have won the bronze medal. The team comprising Vaishali and Koneru Humphy, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkari were headed for a gold medal on the final day but a defeat to USA by 1-3 dented their chances as they eventually finished third.

The Uzbekistan team, which was seeded 14th in the tournament, won the gold medal in the men's section. Armenia clinched the silver medal.

It was the first time that the Chess Olympiad was held in India, the place where the game



began.

The 2022 edition was historic as the tournament was contested between 188 teams from about 187 nations. The games, which were arranged in a short span of four months, drew the attention of the Chess World to the port capital of Tamilnadu. International players were provided with all the facilities. The game was familiarised among all.

Alongside the Chess Olympiad was also the election of the President of the World Chess Federation. 

India's five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand was elected as the Vice President of the Federation. Yesterday the players were presented with colourful books containing the pictures of the artefacts of Keezhadi and also a translation of Thirukkural in English, French and  Spanish. 

Similar events to celebrate the Olympiad were held for tribal school children and differently abled students to promote the age-old game of Chess.