The 44th Chess Olympiad () was an international team chess event organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Chennai, India, from 28 July to 9 August 2022. It consisted of two main tournaments—an Open event, enabling participation of players from all genders, and a Women's event, enabling participation of female players only—as well as several events to promote chess. The Olympiad was initially supposed to take place in August 2020 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the host of the Chess World Cup 2019, but it was later moved to Moscow. However, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then relocated to Chennai following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in India.
The total number of participants was 1,737, consisting of 937 in the Open and 800 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams was 188 from 186 nations in the Open section and 162 from 160 nations in the Women's section; being the host nation, India had three teams participating in each section. Both sections set team participation records. The main venue of the Chess Olympiad was the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton, while the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Chief Arbiter of the event was France's Laurent Freyd.
A total of 11 rounds were played in both the Open and Women's events, and each featured four players from one team facing four players from another team. Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, which was their second medal at the Chess Olympiad after previously winning a silver medal in 1992, while Ukraine claimed their second gold in the Women's event after having previously won the 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).
The 93rd FIDE Congress also took place during the Olympiad, at which Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected as FIDE President and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand was elected as FIDE Deputy President.
Background The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations compete in an Olympic-style event. The first unofficial edition, labelled as the "Chess Olympic Games", was held in Paris in 1924 and coincided with the Summer Olympic Games that took place in the city in the same year. Despite the fact that the event was not officially part of the Olympic Games and the winners were not awarded official Olympic medals, the rules of the Olympic Games applied. The organisers of the Summer Olympics defined chess as a sport, but demanded that only amateurs be allowed to participate, which posed a problem because it was difficult to draw a line between amateurs and professionals. The first official edition of the Chess Olympiad was held in London in 1927. Up until 1950, the tournament was organised at irregular intervals. Since then, it has been held once every two years. The first Women's Chess Olympiad took place in Emmen, Netherlands in 1957; since 1976, the Women's tournament has been held simultaneously with an Open tournament at the Chess Olympiads. The former Soviet Union has historically been the most successful nation, holding 18 gold medals.
The 44th Chess Olympiad was supposed to take place in 2020. Bidding opened in December 2015 for the Olympiad and the simultaneous FIDE Congress; bids could be made in connection with those for the Chess World Cup 2019. Each city bid had to be submitted to the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) by 31 March 2016, including details of the organising committee, finances, provision of amenities, and stipends. The city of Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) submitted the only original bid for the event, although the national federations of Argentina and Slovakia had previously also expressed interest. The bid from Khanty-Mansiysk was approved at the 87th FIDE Congress in September 2016.
In November 2019, during the opening ceremony of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced that the Chess Olympiad would be relocated from Khanty-Mansiysk to Moscow. The president of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, explained that the decision was driven by technical problems because of the enlarged number of participants due to the inaugural Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, as well as the growing demands from amateur chess players who wanted to attend the event following the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Ultimately, it was decided that Khanty-Mansiysk would host the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities from 29 July – 4 August 2020, whereas Moscow would host the tournaments of the Chess Olympiad from 5–17 August 2020.
In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIDE decided to move the Chess Olympiad, FIDE Congress and Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities away from Russia. Shortly after this announcement, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) expressed interest in hosting the events, in either Delhi, Gujarat or Tamil Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu agreed to host the Chess Olympiad and provided around . On 15 March 2022, FIDE announced that Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, would be the new host of the event. It meant that the Chess Olympiad would be hosted in India for the first time.
Preparations
The total budget for the Olympiad was . The event was hosted and managed in India by the AICF. Sanjay Kapoor, who later became president of AICF, was the president of the organising committee for the 44th Chess Olympiad, and AICF's secretary, Bharat Singh Chauhan, was the tournament director. The coordinating committee was headed by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin and included A. Raja (MP from Nilgiris), Udhayanidhi Stalin (MLA from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni) three representatives of the AICF, the president of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and other representatives of the local authorities. France's International Arbiter Laurent Freyd was named Chief Arbiter of the Olympiad.
Venue and transport The venue was the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton in Mahabalipuram near Chennai. This consisted of an existing banquet hall (Hall 1) and a newly constructed hall (Hall 2), which cost . Hall 1 had a usable area of , while Hall 2 was double the size at . Hall 1 hosted games played between the best-ranking teams in the standings on the top 28 boards in the Open section and the top board in the Women's section, while the rest of the boards were played in Hall 2. Exhibition space was also provided. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex. This was built in 1995 at a cost of and has a capacity of 8,000 spectators.
Around 125 buses, 100 SUVs and six luxury cars were used to transport players and dignitaries during the event. The road between Chennai International Airport and Mahabalipuram was widened and reconstructed to improve traffic flow, and one lane of the highway was reserved for Olympiad traffic during the event.
Security and biosecurity The Tamil Nadu Police deployed 4,000 police officers to provide security during the Olympiad, on special duty from 25 July to 10 August. The Greater Chennai Police deployed an additional 22,000 police officers during Modi's visit to the city on 28 July. Flying of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles was banned in the city limits in the period 28–29 July.
Because the event was held during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the Tamil Nadu Health Department deployed medical teams and 30 ambulances to perform COVID-19 screening at airports, hotels and venues. Nearly 1,000 doctors and other health personnel were engaged for the Olympiad. Thirteen hospitals in and around Old Mahabalipuram Road and East Coast Road were utilised. The Government of Tamil Nadu issued health insurance cards to all players, covering medical expenses up to per player.
COVID-19 PCR testing was performed on a randomly selected two per cent of all arriving flight passengers at the airport, including players, coaches, support staff and visitors. All passengers had to present a vaccine passport certifying they had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, or a certificate of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival. Thermal screening was applied to all players on a daily basis and symptomatic cases were isolated, tested and treated. Due to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, players from outside India were required to also be tested for monkeypox.
Food safety officials inspected food served every day in all hotels accommodating players. Due to the elevated risk of malaria and dengue fever, continuous fogging and spraying measures were deployed to prevent mosquito breeding. Additional hygiene training and inspection was arranged. Around 100 staff from other districts were used to monitor food safety measures in all hotels.
Ticketing The price of a full-day ticket for Hall 1 was for domestic visitors and for foreigners, while students under 19 years of age, women and government staff of Tamil Nadu could get a two-hour ticket at discounted price of . A full-day ticket for Hall 2 was for domestic visitors and for foreigners, while the concession categories received a two-hour ticket for . The high pricing raised concerns that people would not be able to pay the amount to attend the event. An official of the AICF explained that the pricing had resulted mainly from the fact that the event was held at a hotel with limited capacity of spectators compared to stadiums, while an official of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association stated that all tickets for the event had been entirely sold. To prevent cheating using chess engines, players had to leave their mobile phones and any other electronic devices outside the playing halls.
The event A torch relay was held prior to the event, the first for a Chess Olympiad. It started on 19 July at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi, where FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed the torch to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who passed it to former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. The torch was then taken to 75 cities in 40 days, finishing in Chennai where it passed through Shore Temple. Related events involved the Indian sport mallakhamba. The torch arrived at the venue in Mahabalipuram on the morning of 27 July, the day before the event.
Opening ceremony The opening ceremony was held on 28 July at 16:00 IST (UTC+5:30) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium with an audience of more than 20,000 players, coaches and spectators. The opening address was given by Meyyanathan Siva V, then Tamil Nadu's Minister for Youth Welfare and Sport Development. A musical show, directed by Vignesh Shivan, was performed in which Kamal Haasan narrated the history of Tamil Nadu. Singers Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal performed the song "Enjoy Enjaami". A dance song, "Vanakkam Chennai, Vanakkam Chess", was also played. Pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram played classical and modern tunes, including a blindfold exhibition. There was also a flag parade that introduced the participating countries and their delegations.
The event was formally opened by Modi. In his speech, he discussed chess venues in Tamil Nadu and the Chathuranga Vallabhanathar Temple in Thiruvarur, where myth states God played chess with a princess. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin also spoke, praising the organisation of the event in less than four months. He noted that the Olympiad would be held near the coastal town Sadurangapattinam, thought to be the home of chaturanga, a predecessor game to chess. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich also welcomed participants.