It was in 2013 that home boy Viswanathan Anand lost the World Championship title at India’s chess capital, Chennai. Nine years have gone by and topflight chess is back in Tamil Nadu with the 44th Olympiad starting at Mamallapuram, a sea town 60 km from Chennai, on Friday.
Chennai is all geared up, the iconic Napier Bridge has been painted in black and white and the event’s mascot Thambi --- wthe knight clad in a traditional south Indian attire of white shirt and veshti --- is on every other billboard.
The players are trooping in — there are about 2000 from about 187 countries — and the excitement around the event is palpable. There’s a sense of missing out though with Russia not being there —- being barred from world events due to the Ukraine war —- and China preferring to stay away. But there will be no shortage of star value as the likes of World no. 1 Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and Anish Giri will be in action.
India to fire on all cylinders
Viswanathan Anand won’t be playing the event and will be associated with the Indian team only as a mentor. Carlsen feels Anand’s absence will be a big weakness for India, but not everyone thinks so. P Harikrishna, who will be playing in his 10th Olympiad, feels the Indian line-up will rely on its depth to do well.
“India has a very good team this time around. Obviously, not having Anand is going to make a big difference. That said, this side has a perfect mix of young and experienced players and we are capable of doing really well,” Harikrishna said ahead of the tournament.
Denne historien er fra July 29, 2022-utgaven av The Times of India Hyderabad.
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Denne historien er fra July 29, 2022-utgaven av The Times of India Hyderabad.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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