A record 343 teams register for Chess Olympiad

Players from 187 countries will participate in the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: 334 teams from 179 countries participated in the Batumi Olympiad in 2018.

A record 343 teams - 189 teams in the open section, and 154 in the women's section - from 187 countries will take part in the 44th Chess Olympiad to be held in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai, from July 28 to August 10.

The number of teams will be greater than for the Batumi Olympiad in 2018, when 334 teams participated.

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Bharat Singh Chauhan, secretary of All India Chess Federation (AICF) and Event Director, said, “This is indeed a proud moment for all of us, especially it being the first offline event since the pandemic started.”

“Right from the time the Olympiad was awarded to us, we have been relentlessly working with a single-minded focus, keeping the Olympic motto ‘swifter, higher, stronger’ in mind with regards to organisational aspects also,” AICF president Sanjay Kapoor said.

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will participate in the Olympia. India, as the host country, is eligible to field an extra team in both sections and has an opportunity to field a third team in case of odd number of entries.