The 2022 Chess Olympiad kicked off yesterday with a delightful and colourful display at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in front of 20,000 spectators, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and M.K. Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Individual artists, hundreds of dancers, and drummers thrilled the fans with a dazzling display of talent that lasted about an hour.
One of the artists, piano prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram, delighted the enthusiast crowd with classical and modern tunes, including a brilliant two-handed and blindfold exhibition.
The games will begin on 29th July at 3:00 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort & Convention Center. A total of 184 teams in the open category – 158 in women – will make the Chennai Olympiad the largest in history, breaking all previous records.
Pakistan, which missed the 2018 Olympiad due to internal struggles within the federation, faced another hurdle today. After arriving in Chennai, the ugly head of politics came to the fore with the Pakistan government directive that the team must immediately return home. The order was due to the Olympiad torch passing through the disputed territory of Kashmir.
All photo credits – Lennart Ootes, David Llada & Mark Livshitz.
More photos of the Opening Ceremony.
2022 Chess Olympiad on chess-results.com.
2022 Chess Olympiad – African teams on the way.
Team Uganda set for 2022 Chennai Olympiad.
Liberia Olympiad Team set for Chennai.
South Sudan Olympiad Team set for Chennai.
The 2022 Chess Olympiad: Opening Ceremony
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