44th Chess Olympiad will help India emerge as a chess powerhouse: AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan

New Delhi, April 30: For the very first time, India will be hosting the biennial biggest chess event in the world, the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad. The International tournament was successfully brought to India through the efforts of Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan, Secretary, All India Chess Federation (AICF) is dedicated to bringing Indian Chess on the global map and his hard work will payoff finally as the event is scheduled to take place in Chennai from July 28-August 10 and will host players from more than 150 countries.

In an exclusive interview with MyKhel, Bharat Singh Chauhan explained how the Russia-Ukraine conflict helped India bag the rights for hosting the showpiece event. He even spoke about how the tournament will help put India on the global podium and make it a chess powerhouse.

Mr Chauhan also revealed why the federation chose Chennai for this event and how they are planning to ensure the safety of the players visiting India from over 150 nations in the times of COVID-19.

Here are the excerpts:

MyKhel: How it's an opportunity for India to make its stand globally in the world of chess?

Bharat Singh Chauhan: It is a moment of pride for our nation. This is the biggest chess tournament in the world and we will be hosting it in our country for the first time ever. The historic event coming to India reflects the growing strength of Indian chess and it will be a great opportunity to demonstrate our organisational ability, culture and heritage to the world. This will also mark as calling in for more sponsors and involve a larger community in the game of chess. India has the potential to emerge as the chess powerhouse and this Chess Olympiad will be a great step in that direction.

MK: What are the preparations (infrastructure and logistics) undertaken by AICF to host the event successfully?

BS Chauhan: Our team has been working day in and day out ensuring that every aspect is taken care of in order to provide a great experience not just to athletes but also to the chess enthusiasts. We had compiled and submitted a detailed plan to FIDE on the logistics. We booked the playing venue along with 3000 rooms for the participants, arbiters and others involved. We have been in touch with FIDE and have ensured increased subsidiaries, the highest ever so that the upcoming Chess Olympiad will have a record number of participating countries. We intend to use all our experience to ensure that the Olympiad is a grand success.

MK: How it is going to be different from the past years, taking into consideration as we are living in the era of COVID-19?

BS Chauhan: COVID-19 has taught us to never take things for granted. So even though the situation seems under control, we are still considering the COVID19 protocols and safety measures seriously. We will be strictly following the rules set by the government and the concerned bodies as the health and safety of the players as well as everyone involved in the conduct of this event will be of prime importance to us. The Indian federation will be linking the medical data of all players to their accreditation to make cases of any emergencies hassle-free.

MK: Why Chennai out of all metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru?

BS Chauhan: The reason AICF chose Chennai as the event location is because it has a wider chess culture than any other part of our country. From the very beginning, Chennai is known as the chess hub of India. And with its deep culture of playing chess, it is also often called the "Mecca of Chess". The city is also home to most of India's top chess stars including Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the world's second youngest Grandmaster. We are also receiving immense support from the Tamil Nadu government to successfully conduct the Olympiad.

MK: What has been the role of AICF in bringing the Olympiad to India?

BS Chauhan: Due to the rise of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, chess governing body FIDE (International Chess Federation) stripped Russia of all its hosting rights, which included the Chess Olympiad, initially scheduled to take place in Moscow. We saw the opportunity as India has never hosted such a big tournament and this time, we thought we could execute it if given a chance. AICF shares good relations with FIDE. We reached out to FIDE President Mr Arkady Dvorkovich suggesting that India is open to hosting the events and eventually they were convinced by our efforts as they handed India hosting rights of the Chess Olympiad.

MK: What are your expectations from the Olympiad?

BS Chauhan: The clash of these masterminds will be an inquisitive battle to keep a tab on who leads the scoreboard, and I can assure you, it will be a highly interesting battle with more than 150 countries participating. India has a great talent pool and an impressive inclination toward the ancient board game. As a host nation, we would be eligible to field two teams in the open and the women's section-which makes our chance even stronger. I believe our teams have the required skills and the ability to win medals.

MK: How is the AICF planning to ensure that the talent pool of chess increases in the country? How are kids being groomed at the grassroots level?

BS Chauhan: We haven't let the pandemic affect our functioning. We organised online Arbiter refresher courses and developed more than 500 arbiters. Starting at the grassroots level, we created a pool of trained arbiters and organisers. We have organised about 28 national championships and also enhanced the prize money for the tournaments. We also took chess to unexplored destinations and are strengthening our chess in-school program. We conceptualised a few new tournaments like the chess league. In hindsight, you could say that in some ways we were preparing for a big one.

There are five International events planned before the Olympiad and many more thereafter. We just ended three International events. All these events create a big opportunity for our players to gain exposure, and experience and bring in International norms. Besides, there are many events planned at the national level.

MK: Do we have a good pool of qualified chess coaches? If yes, then how helpful it has been; and if not then, what are your plans?

BS Chauhan: We have a good pool, starting from Viswanathan Anand who is now mentoring some of the finest talents in the country. We have many senior coaches who have been helping our kids to excel at the international level. We have now 73 Grand Masters and counting. Besides the Sports Ministry is helping us organise the training Seminars. During the pandemic, we trained about 1600 coaches in the country.