Explained | The Chess Olympiad: Where it all began and how India rose to the top
The Hindu
As India puts up a stellar performance at this year’s Chess Olympiad, a look at its journey through the years.
The story so far: India continues to shine on the ninth day of the 44th Chess Olympiad, despite the India 1 women’s team suffering a setback, losing to Poland. In the open category, India B has surpassed India—both are currently at rank 2 and rank 4 respectively. The top-seeded women’s team has now slipped to second place.
After Round 9, Uzbekistan leads the score table with 16 points, followed by India 2 (15), Armenia (also 15), India (14), and the Netherlands (also 14), as per FIDE’s official standings.
The 44th edition of the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 is currently being hosted by India for the first time. Kicking off on July 29, the event is being held at the Four Points by Sheraton Mamallapuram Resort and Convention Centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and will end on August 10. With Russia and China not participating in the event, India with its large contingent of thirty players aims to bag the event.
Founded in 1924 in Paris, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) organizes the biennial Chess Olympiad along with the host nation and several other sponsors. The first official event was hosted in 1927 by the United Kingdom in London, with Hungary taking the gold medal, followed by Denmark and England.
Since then, the event was mainly hosted by European countries till 1986 when United Arab Emirates hosted the 27th edition in Dubai. Other Asian countries to host the event are the Philippines (1992) and China (2021 – virtual), apart from Eurasian countries like Turkey/Turkiye (2000), Azerbaijan (2016) and Russia (1956, 1994, 1998, 2010). While Russia was scheduled to host the 2022 edition, FIDE shifted the event to Chennai after Moscow invaded its neighbour Ukraine.
The Olympiad follows the 11-round Swiss format with two nations’ teams (four players and one reserve) competing against each other on four corresponding boards. With ninety minutes per game, players are allowed thirty minutes after move 40. Each team gets one game point per win, 0.5 game points per draw and zero points for a loss. At the end of the game, the team with the most game points is awarded two match points for winning, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The standings of playing nations are calculated as per match points and the top spot is crowned champion.
The modern game of chess has evolved from the ancient Indian war game called ‘Chaturanga’ played in the 7 th century. Similar to the current game, different pieces in the ‘Chaturanga’ have different powers, and victory was based on the king. This game transformed into the ‘Shatranj’ which is popularly played in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and South-Central Asia since 600 AD.
Prarthana Prasad is a social media influencer, entrepreneur and a leading voice from the LGBTQ+ community. At a recent Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Conclave held in Bengaluru she opened up about how she is often a “token ticket” for the corporate world, increasingly contacted by brands for promotion during Pride Month.