The 44th International Chess Olympiad was kicked off on July 28 with a grand opening ceremony. The prestigious event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, superstar Rajnikanth and his daughter Aishwarya Rajnikanth were among the dignitaries present at the glitzy opening ceremony which was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The highlights of the opening ceremony were the superlative performances by musicians and percussionists.
Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, is closely involved in the organising of the International Chess Olympiad. Recently, Udhayanidhi thanked the creative team of the inaugural ceremony for putting up a successful show. Udhayanidhi also promised that the closing ceremony will be held on a bigger scale than the opening ceremony.
Udhayanidhi tweeted, “Thanks to the creative team behind yesterday’s #ChennaiChess2022 inaugural event! @CMOTamilnadu, @mkstalin, @arrahman sir, @VigneshShivN, @AditiShankarofl and team! The closing ceremony will be bigger and better. All the best players.”
Thx to the creative team behind yesterdays #ChennaiChess2022 inaugural event! @CMOTamilnadu @mkstalin @arrahman sir @VigneshShivN @AditiShankarofl and team! The closing ceremony will be bigger and better 🙏🏼all the best players !👍🏼#vanakkamchennai pic.twitter.com/IiSEaYLqqB
— Udhay (@Udhaystalin) July 29, 2022
A terrific music video of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad has also been released. The video, titled ‘Vanakkam Chess Chennai’, has been directed by Vignesh Shivan. Music maestro AR Rahman has composed ‘Vanakkam Chess Chennai’ and also lent his euphonious voice to the music video. Netizens have praised the video for showcasing the culture of Tamil Nadu in such a magnificent manner.
It is worth noting that India is hosting the Chess Olympiad for the first time. This also happens to be the first Olympiad since 1986, which will be hosted by an Asian country. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to FIDE relocating the Olympiad to India.
The 44th International Chess Olympiad is being held at Poonjeri Village in Mamallapuram from July 28 to August 10. A record number of teams are competing in the open and women’s sections in this edition of the FIDE Chess Olympiad.
