New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. This year, for the first time, the international chess body, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad torch which is part of the Olympic tradition but was never performed at the Chess Olympiad. India will be the first country to have the Chess Olympiad torch relay.
Notably, to take the Indian roots of chess to greater heights, this tradition of torch relay for Chess Olympiads will always start in India and travel across all continents before reaching the host country, an official release said. has gone.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovic will hand over the torch to the Prime Minister, who will in turn hand it over to Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.
The torch will be carried to 75 cities over a period of 40 days before its final finale at Mahabalipuram near Chennai.
Chess masters of the state will get torch at every place. The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held from 28 July to 10 August 2022 in Chennai. Held since 1927, the prestigious competition is being hosted for the first time in India and after 30 years in Asia.
With 189 countries participating, this would be the largest participation in any Chess Olympiad.
(with ANI inputs)