44th Chess Olympiad

The 44th Chess Olympiad was an international team chess event organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Chennai, India, from 28 July to 10 August 2022. It consisted of two main tournaments—an Open event, enabling participation of players from all genders, and a Women's event, enabling participation of female players only—as well as several events to promote chess. The Olympiad was initially supposed to take place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the host of the Chess World Cup 2019, in August 2020, but it was later moved to Moscow. However, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then relocated to Chennai following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in India.

The total number of participants was 1,737: 937 in the Open and 800 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams was 188 from 186 nations in the Open section and 162 from 160 nations in the Women's section; being the host nation, India had three teams participating in each section. Both sections set team participation records. The main venue of the Chess Olympiad was the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton, while the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Chief Arbiter of the event was France's Laurent Freyd.

A total of 11 rounds were played in both the Open and Women's events, and each featured four players from one team facing four players from another team. Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, which was their second medal at the Chess Olympiad after having previously won a silver medal at the 1992, while Ukraine claimed their second gold in the Women's event after having previously won the 2006. English player David Howell had the highest performance for an individual player in the Open event with a performance rating of 2898 (he scored 7½ out of a possible 8 points). Polish player Oliwia Kiołbasa had the highest individual performance in the Women's event with a performance rating of 2565 (she scored 9½ of a possible 11 points).

The 93rd FIDE Congress also took place during the Olympiad, at which Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected as FIDE President and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand was elected as FIDE Deputy President.

Background

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations compete in an Olympic-style event. The first unofficial edition, labelled as the "Chess Olympic Games", was held in Paris in 1924, and coincided with the Summer Olympic Games that took place in the city in the same year. Despite the fact that the event was not officially part of the Olympic Games and the winners were not awarded official Olympic medals, the rules of the Olympic Games applied. The organisers of the Summer Olympics defined chess as a sport, but demanded that only amateurs be allowed to participate, which posed a problem because it was difficult to draw a line between amateurs and professionals. The first official edition of the Chess Olympiad was held in London in 1927. Up until 1950 the tournament was organised at irregular intervals. From then on it has been held once every two years. The first Women's Chess Olympiad took place in Emmen, Netherlands in 1957; since 1976, the Women's tournament has been held simultaneously with an Open tournament at the Chess Olympiads. The former Soviet Union has historically been the most successful nation with 18 gold medals won.

The 44th Chess Olympiad was supposed to take place in 2020. Bidding for the Olympiad and the simultaneous FIDE Congress opened in December 2015; bids could be made in connection with those for the Chess World Cup 2019. Each city bid had to be submitted to the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) by 31 March 2016, including details of the organising committee, finances, provision of amenities and stipends. The city of Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) submitted the only original bid for the event, although the national federations of Argentina and Slovakia had previously also expressed interest. The bid was approved at the 87th FIDE Congress in September 2016.

In November 2019, in the opening ceremony of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced that the Chess Olympiad would be relocated from Khanty-Mansiysk to Moscow. The president of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, explained that the decision was driven by technical problems because of the enlarged number of participants due to the inaugural Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, as well as the growing demands from amateur chess players following the 2018 FIFA World Cup who would like to attend the event. Ultimately, it was decided that Khanty-Mansiysk would host the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities from 29 July to 4 August 2020, whereas Moscow was supposed to host the tournaments of the Chess Olympiad from 5 to 17 August 2020.

In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIDE decided to move the Chess Olympiad, FIDE Congress and Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities away from Russia. Shortly after this announcement, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) expressed interest in hosting the events, in either Delhi, Gujarat or Tamil Nadu. Politicians in Tamil Nadu agreed to host the Chess Olympiad and provided around . On 15 March 2022, FIDE announced that Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, would be the new host of the event. It meant that the Chess Olympiad would be hosted in India for the first time.

Preparations

The total budget for the Olympiad was . The event was hosted and managed in India by the AICF. Sanjay Kapoor, who later became president of AICF, was the president of the organising committee for the 44th Chess Olympiad, and AICF's secretary, Bharat Singh Chauhan, was the tournament director. The coordinating committee was headed by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin and included A. Raja ( MP from Nilgiris), Udhayanidhi Stalin ( MLA from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni) three representatives of the AICF, the president of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and other representatives of the local authorities. France's International Arbiter Laurent Freyd was named Chief Arbiter of the Olympiad.

Venue and transport

The venue was the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton in Mahabalipuram near Chennai. This consisted of an existing banquet hall (Hall 1) and a newly constructed hall (Hall 2), which cost . Hall 1 had a usable area of , while Hall 2 was double the size at . Hall 1 hosted games played between the best-ranking teams in the standings on the top 28 boards in the Open section and the top board in the Women's section, while the rest of the boards were played in Hall 2. Exhibition space was also provided. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex. This was built in 1995 at a cost of and has a capacity of 8,000 spectators.

Around 125 buses, 100 SUVs and six luxury cars were used to transport players and dignitaries during the event. The road between Chennai International Airport and Mahabalipuram was widened and reconstructed to improve traffic flow, and one lane of the highway was reserved for Olympiad traffic during the event.

Security and biosecurity

The Tamil Nadu Police deployed 4,000 police officers to provide security during the Olympiad, on special duty from 25 July to 10 August. The Greater Chennai Police deployed an additional 22,000 police officers during Modi's visit to the city on 28 July. Flying of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles was banned in the city limits in the period 28–29 July.

Because the event was held during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the Tamil Nadu Health Department deployed medical teams and 30 ambulances to perform COVID-19 screening at airports, hotels and venues. Nearly 1,000 doctors and other health personnel were engaged for the Olympiad. Thirteen hospitals in and around Old Mahabalipuram Road and East Coast Road were utilised. The Government of Tamil Nadu issued health insurance cards to all players, covering medical expenses up to per player.

COVID-19 PCR testing was performed on a randomly selected two per cent of all arriving flight passengers at the airport, including players, coaches, support staff and visitors. All passengers had to present a vaccine passport certifying they had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, or a certificate of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival. Thermal screening was applied to all players on a daily basis and symptomatic cases were isolated, tested and treated. Due to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, players from outside India were required to also be tested for monkeypox.

Food safety officials inspected food served every day in all hotels accommodating players. Due to the elevated risk of malaria and dengue fever, continuous fogging and spraying measures were deployed to prevent mosquito breeding. Additional hygiene training and inspection was arranged. Around 100 staff from other districts were used to monitor food safety measures in all hotels.

Ticketing

The price of a full-day ticket for Hall 1 was for domestic visitors and for foreigners, while students under 19 years of age, women and Tamil Nadu government staff could get a two-hour ticket at discounted price of . A full-day ticket for Hall 2 was for domestic visitors and for foreigners, while the concession categories received a two-hour ticket for . The high pricing raised concerns that people would not be able to pay the amount to attend the event. An official of the AICF explained that the pricing had resulted mainly from the fact that the event was held at a hotel with limited capacity of spectators compared to stadiums, while an official of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association stated that all tickets for the event had been entirely sold. To prevent cheating using chess engines, players had to leave their mobile phones and any other electronic devices outside the playing halls.

The event

A torch relay was held prior to the event, the first for a Chess Olympiad. It started on 19 July at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi, where FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed the torch to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who passed it to former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. The torch was then taken to 75 cities in 40 days, finishing in Chennai where it passed through Shore Temple. Related events involved the Indian sport mallakhamba. The torch arrived at the venue in Mahabalipuram on the morning of 27 July, the day before the event.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 28 July at 16:00 IST ( UTC+5:30) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium with an audience of more than 20,000 players, coaches and spectators. The opening address was given by Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sport Development Meyyanathan Siva V. A musical show, directed by Vignesh Shivan, was performed in which Kamal Haasan narrated the history of Tamil Nadu. Singers Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal performed the song "Enjoy Enjaami". A dance song, "Vanakkam Chennai, Vanakkam Chess", was also played. Pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram played classical and modern tunes, including a blindfold exhibition. There was also a flag parade that introduced the participating countries and their delegations.

The event was formally opened by Modi. In his speech, he discussed chess venues in Tamil Nadu and the Chathuranga Vallabhanathar Temple in Thiruvarur, where myth states God played chess with a princess. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin also spoke, praising the organisation of the event in less than four months. He noted that the Olympiad would be held near the coastal town Sadurangapattinam, thought to be the home of chaturanga, a predecessor game to chess. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich also welcomed participants.

Anand passed the Olympic LED illuminated torch to Modi, who passed it to Indian chess players R Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Dommaraju who "lit" the virtual Olympic cauldron.

Participating teams

The event was contested by a total of 350 teams, representing 190 national federations, both records for a Chess Olympiad. India, as host country, was permitted to field three teams in each of the two sections. The Women's tournament featured 162 teams, also a record, representing 160 federations. Russia and Belarus were banned from taking part by FIDE as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. China declined to send a team. Pakistan boycotted the event and a team from Rwanda were prevented from attending by their own government. A team representing the Netherlands Antilles was permitted to compete, despite having dissolved itself in 2010, because the Curaçao Chess Federation remains officially registered as representing the dissolved country in the FIDE Directory.

;Notes

: Countries in ''italics'' denote those fielding teams in the Open event only.
: Countries in bold denote those fielding teams in the Women's event only.
: Countries in strikethrough registered for the event but withdrew or could not participate before it began.
: FIDE officially recognises the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Competition format and calendar

The tournament was played in a Swiss system format. The time control for all games was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, after which an additional 30 minutes were granted; an increment of 30 seconds per move was applied from the first move. Players were permitted to offer a draw at any time. A total of 11 rounds were played, and all teams were paired in every round.

In each round, four players from each team faced four players from another team; teams were permitted one reserve player who could be substituted between rounds. The four games were played simultaneously on four boards with alternating colours, scoring 1 game point for a win and ½ game point for a draw. The scores from each game were summed together to determine which team won the round. Winning a round was worth two match points, regardless of the game point margin, while drawing a round was worth one match point. Teams were ranked in a table based on match points. Tie-breakers for the table were i) the Sonneborn–Berger system; ii) total game points scored; iii) the sum of the match points of the opponents, excluding the lowest one.

The event took place from 28 July to 10 August 2022. Tournament rounds started on 29 July and ended with the final round on 9 August. All rounds began at 15:00 IST (UTC+5:30), except for the final round which began at 10:00 IST (UTC+5:30). There was one rest day on 4 August, after the sixth round.

:''All times are IST ( UTC+5:30)''

Open event

The Open tournament was contested by a total of 937 players from 188 teams. It featured five out of the top ten players from the FIDE rating list published in July 2022. World Champion Magnus Carlsen played for Norway. Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand decided not to play for India, acting as team mentor instead. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, who contested the World Chess Championship 2023, both missed the tournament due to Russia's suspension and China's withdrawal, respectively. Other top players who skipped the Olympiad include France's Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, with the latter citing the unfavourable weather conditions; Teimour Radjabov withdrew from playing for Azerbaijan shortly before the start of the tournament, due to suffering after-effects of a COVID-19 infection that he contracted following the Candidates Tournament 2022