44th Chess Olympiad will show the West that India isn't just a land of snake charmers: Bharat Singh Chauhan

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New Delhi, July 21: The preparations for the highly-anticipated 44th Chess Olympiad in India are in full swing and the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is leaving no stones unturned in making the showpiece event a mega success. AICF is dedicated to bringing Indian Chess on the global map by successfully hosting the flagship event for the first time.

The event will be held in Chennai between July 28 and August 10 and host more than 1700 players from 187 countries, which makes it one of the biggest events in India's sporting history. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other top politicians and athletes will be participating in the opening ceremony.

In an exclusive interview with MyKhel, Bharat Singh Chauhan, the AICF General Secretary, gave a peek at arrangements made to host such a mega event and how they are going to make a lasting impression in the memories of the visiting teams by making it a grand success.

Here are the excerpts:

MyKhel: How are the preparations for this mega event going on?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: It is one of the biggest events in India's history as players from more than 180 countries are going to participate. The preparations are in full swing and we have booked around 30 hotels in Chennai. The hotels have been allotted to every contingent and the tournament hall is ready. We are going to organise a mock drill on 24th July at the same venue to check our preparedness. 1414 players will participate in the mock drill and we've made arrangements for the live streaming of those games as well. So, whatever hiccups we'll encounter (during the mock drill) could be resolved within the next couple of days. We have received the flight details of 95% of the participating nations. The reception committee and other concerned authorities are in place.

MK: Events like these help the host country showcase its culture and traditions to the visiting nations. What has been planned in this regard?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will have a lot of cultural programmes but apart from that we are also going to organise several shows and programmes in between the event which will give the contingents a peek at India's history cultural history and traditions. Such shows will be aimed at giving a big boost to our tourism as well. Many people in the West still believe that India is the land of snake charmers. We will show them that India is a land of potential and the Indians are capable of pulling off almost anything better than them.

MK: Where can one watch this tournament live?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: Chessbase India is one of the leading chess live streaming platforms in the country. Doordarshan will also telecast the tournament. The matches will also be available on several international live streaming platforms as well. We have realised that people prefer watching such events digitally, so there are around 50-60 websites which will live stream the games.

MK: What according to you will be the impact of an event like this in India? Will it be instant or do we need to be patient?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: See, the impact is never going to be instantaneous. We have been working hard for the last ten years, but still, we haven't been able to touch all the districts in the country. We have marked our presence in just 583 districts, we are working minutely on the grassroots level. Our approach has never been on winning medals, we've strived to make the sport popular amongst the masses and as a result, we have witnessed such a good crop of young talents coming up and medals are the byproduct of it. In 2003 we ranked 170 something but today we are in the top three-four. Our priority has been promoting the youngsters because senior players generally have a safer future as they end up getting jobs in Railways and Oil Companies. But the federation constantly strives to ensure the young kids - who are supposed to take care of their schooling and education - continue playing the sport.

MK: We don't have good political relations with our neighbour Pakistan. Has there been any visa-related issue with the contingent from Pakistan?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: See, sports is the biggest unifier. Our federation has no conflicts with the Pakistani chess federation and we have had very good relations with them. India has been voting for Pakistan at the World Chess Federation since 2006. We have been receiving Pakistan's proxy. The Pakistani team is arriving in India for the 44th Chess Olympiad.