India’s indigenous game, chess, has come a full circle! After chess Olympiads being held across the globe, finally the game’s country of origin will host the mega sporting event, later this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad on Sunday at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. The torch will be taken to 75 cities, including Srinagar, Jaipur, Surat, Mumbai, Bhopal, Patna, Kolkata and Gangtok in 40 days before the culmination at Mahabalipuram near Chennai. At every location, chess grandmasters of the state will receive the torch.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said, “Today, this is the first torch relay for the Chess Olympiad, which will be starting from India. This is the first time that the country will host the Olympiad. We are proud that chess, which was invented in India, is leaving a mark across the globe.” PM Modi added chess has become a passion for a lot of countries.
The event also saw Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, Union minister Anurag Thakur and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.
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