Moves India made to host Chess Olympiad when it was pulled out of Russia

The Chess Olympiad, being hosted in India for the first time, will see 2,000-plus players from over 185 countries

On the train back home after the Nationals in Kanpur in February, All India Chess Federation’s (AICF’s) Bharat Singh Chauhan, satisfied at the high quality competition he'd seen the past few days, decided to take a punt. The Nationals were proof that Indian chess was world-class. Feeling particularly upbeat, he sent the International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Arkady Dvorkovich a text saying India was open to hosting international events in the future.

Dvorkovich’s reply caught him by surprise. It simply read: “Chess Olympiad?” Thrown off completely — because the Olympiad was already scheduled to be held in Moscow — Chauhan asked him what he meant. Without committing much, Dvorkovich said things were developing.

“The Olympiad is a hugely prestigious event,” Chauhan says, sitting in his office in Delhi. “There is a long line of countries that bid for it and in its long history, it has been awarded to Asia only twice before (Dubai in 1986 and the Philippines in 1992). It requires a lot of lobbying.” India, Chauhan concedes, were lining up a bid for the 2026 edition, but “work for that was a while away”.

Within two days of that exchange, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict already under way, FIDE stripped Moscow of its hosting rights. A day after that, Chauhan texted Dvorkovich again. This time the message was simple and clear: “India is ready.”

With the ball rolling fast and hard, the AICF machine went into overdrive. Organising, bidding for and being awarded an international event is not just a matter of administration but also financing and logistics. The first thing AICF needed to do was find someone to help them submit the guarantee money — $10 million — to FIDE, signalling their seriousness for the bid. It helped that there weren’t too many others so keen to apply for an event they’d have to conduct in a matter of months. 

“Obviously there were a lot of immediate concerns,” says Chauhan, now the 44th Chess Olympiad tournament director. “I had put the money where my mouth was (the Tamil Nadu government immediately offered the federation the guarantee money), but now the headache of logistics began. First, of course, where would we conduct it? Did that city have the infrastructure to deal with a deluge of so many participants?”

A biennial event, the Chess Olympiad began as a response to chess’ exclusion from the Olympics in 1924. Despite the global sports extravaganza never embracing chess into its programme since, the Olympiad has only grown in size and stature, rivalling, in pure participation numbers at least, the Olympics itself.

India, which will host the event in Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu from July 28 to August 10, will see a record 343 teams from 187 countries take part in the event. 

“I can confidently say that India has never hosted an event of this scale, with this many competitors – over 2,000 – turning up from so many countries,” Chauhan bullishly says.

With great numbers, though, comes great responsibility. After being awarded the event, the AICF narrowed its host venue options to two cities: Delhi and Mahabalipuram. Delhi, the headquarters of the federation, Chauhan’s home base, had many advantages, chief among them the ability to house this volume of participants in a single area like the Aerocity. But Chennai and Mahabalipuram offered something more.

“The Tamil Nadu government’s eager support was a crucial factor in us selecting it as a venue. And, of course, the state itself has a vibrant chess culture,” Chauhan says.

The state and central ministries have allocated approximately Rs 100 crore for the event, where India will put out its largest contingent – 20 players. 

Arjun Erigaisi, part of the India A team for the Olympiad, is one of 73 grandmasters currently in India. He says the event will shine a light on local talent and hopefully some economic gains will follow. Erigaisi, 18, is the fourth-highest ranked Indian after Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi and Harikrishna Pentala. Taking a one-week break at his hometown Warangal in Telangana, Erigaisi says he’s excited. “Our performances over the last two editions (India won gold and bronze in the 2020 and 2021 online Chess Olympiads, respectively) have meant there will be renewed focus on us,” he says. “But again, I don’t think too much in advance. First, I want to finish the ongoing MPL (Mobile Premier League). And then start preparing for the Olympiad.” 

Chauhan hopes an event of this stature will further boost grassroots chess in the country. “Currently, AICF holds tournaments in 583 districts in the country. We hold tournaments starting from Under 7 — something no federation does — and go up to the seniors. Our focus is on developing not just grandmasters but also interest in the sport.”

The federation has also made a renewed push to introduce the game in schools more forcefully and conduct more and more school tournaments. Over the years, the finance model has remained simple. They charge a nominal entry fee for competition (it varies depending on the prize pot), a huge chunk of which is used to award winners. “The idea is to make it sustainable. This isn’t a sport where there is a lot of money coming in, so it has to be sustainable.” 

When MPL Sports signed a ₹1-crore deal for title sponsorship for the Nationals with the federation in 2019, it was a huge injection of funds into the sport. Prize money at the Nationals spiked up and more events were added to the calendar. The league Erigaisi is playing in is the MPL Indian Chess Tour, a 16-player tournament held over four legs.

In addition, Chauhan says, the federation decided that host states could keep 75 per cent of entry fee collection for themselves. A successful Olympiad will undoubtedly lead to more money flowing in. 

While things seem rosy at all ends, recent events have thrown spanners in the works. A spate of court rulings has forced high-level administrative changes at various sports federations across the country. Failure to comply with the National Sports Code has meant many — chief among them the All India Football Federation and Hockey India — have been taken over by a committee of administrators (CoA). The AICF, while not yet dealt the CoA card, has had its own share of troubles. 

On Thursday, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court stayed Chauhan’s election as secretary till its next hearing, owing to his inability to secure the required number of votes (two-third majority) in the AICF elections held on January 4, 2021. Chauhan’s role as tournament director of the Olympiad is reportedly not under threat despite this development. 

In the meantime, preparations for India’s biggest foray into international chess continue. Players, organisers and sponsors alike are rushing to put together an event that takes years of planning, in a few months.

Piece by piece

• No of countries participating: 187 

• No of teams: 343 (189 in the open; 154 in the women) 

• India teams: As hosts, India will, for the first time, field four teams – two in the open category and two in the girls. It will be a 20-player-strong contingent. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has been named mentor

• Venue: Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu

• Dates: July 28 to August 10

Indians on the board

• Open:

India A: Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi, S L Narayanan, K Sasikiran

India B: Nihal Sarin, D Gukesh, B Adhiban, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani

• Women: 

India A: Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni

India B: Vantika Agarwal, Soumya Swaminathan, Mary Ann Gomes, Padmini Rout, Divya Deshmukh

Winning moves

• FIDE hosted the first chess Olympiad in 1927, and the event was held annually until World War II. Since 1950, it has been held regularly every two years.

• The postponement of the 44th Olympiad (to be held in 2020) due to the pandemic saw the federation host an online event that year. India took on Russia in the final, and after a controversial finish — where two Indian players were declared to have lost on time when they lost internet connection — Russia were declared champions. India appealed to FIDE, saying they had lost connection with the server, and were subsequently declared joint winners.

• In 2021, India and China shared the bronze.