The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 was held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India from July 28 to August 9, 2022. 187 countries were participated the in the Chess Olympiad.
Mascot of 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022:
The official mascot was named “Thambi” (Younger Brother), a chess knight dressed in the traditional Tamil male attire vēṭṭi with a white shirt. He was depicted with folded hands, extending the Tamil greeting “Vanakkam”.
Torch Relay:
Leh hosted the 1st ever Torch Relay of 44th Chess Olympiad on 20 June 2022.
- The torch, launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 June at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi, began its relay from Leh.
- The 40-day torch relay spanning 75 districts across every State and UT of India culminated in Chennai on July 27.
- FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed over the torch to the Prime Minister, who handed it over to Indian Chess legend Viswanathan Anand.
- The torch rally culminated in Mahabalipuram, before heading over to the FIDE Headquarters, Switzerland.
» This year, for the very first time, the International Chess Body, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch that is part of Olympic tradition, but was never done in the Chess Olympiad. India is the first-ever country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.
Host:
The prestigious competition, which has been organized since 1927, was hosted in India for the first time and in Asia after 30 years. Philippines last hosted it from Asia in 1992.
- The event was hosted and managed in India by the All India Chess Federation (AICF).
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi declared open the 44th Chess Olympiad at JLN Indoor Stadium, Chennai on 28 July 2022.
- The 93rd FIDE Congress was also held during the Olympiad, at which Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected as FIDE President and Viswanathan Anand was elected as FIDE Deputy President.
Winners of 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022:
» Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, which was their first overall medal in the Chess Olympiads.
» Ukraine claimed their second gold in the Women’s event. Ukraine had previously won in 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.
Indian Winners:
» India B team (Men’s) and India A team (Women’s) won the Bronze Medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai.
- The India B team consisted of Gukesh, Nihal, Praggnanandhaa, Adhiban, Raunak Sadhwani.
- The India A team consisted of Koneru Humpy, Harika, Rameshbabu Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni.
» Apart from two metals in the team event, India won seven individual medals including 2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze.
Gold:
- Board 1: Gukesh D- India B
- Board 2: Nihal Sarin- India B
Silver:
- Board 3: Arjun Erigaisi- India B
Bronze:
- Board 3: R Praggnanandhaa- India B
- Board 3: R Vaishali- India A
- Board 4: Tania Sachdev- India A
- Board Reserve: Divya Deshmukh- India A
» Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi became the seventh Indian to cross the 2700 ELO rating.
Gaprindashvili Trophy:
The India A team won the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, with the United States as the runners-up.
- The Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, created by FIDE in 1997 and named after former women’s World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili (1961–78).
- It is given to the teams with the best combined performance in the Open and Women’s tournaments.
Previous Medals:
» India, who made its debut at the event in 1956 Moscow (27th position), has a gold medal (joint winners with Russia in 2020) and two bronze medals (2021, 2014) from the Chess Olympiad.