Chennai to host FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 from July 26 to August 8

Chennai will host the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 tentatively between July 26 and August 8 after it was decided to pull the event from Russia due to the ongoing event.

The Tamil Nadu government made the announcement late on Tuesday night. “The Government of Tamil Nadu along with the All India Chess Federation is pleased to announce that India has won the bid to host FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai. The tentative dates for FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 are 26th July 2022 to 8th August 2022,” an official statement from the government said.

There was a scramble to host the event after the FIDE declared that it is pulling the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 out of Russia. The government said it took “tremendous effort and coordination” on part of all the officers involved in the Government of Tamil Nadu, the team at AICF and the personal interest of Chief Minister M K Stalin for India to come up with the winning bid.

“In the previous 43 times that the official FIDE Chess Olympiad has been organised since 1927 India has not once been able to be the host nation. We are delighted to have won the bid for the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 and will be working towards making it the best ever organised chess event,” the statement said.

The event will witness 2000 participants from over 200 countries to compete for the top prize. India being the host nation will also get an opportunity to send in multiple teams thereby increasing our probability to have a podium finish.

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