India has won the bid to host the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, which was originally scheduled to take place in Moscow, after the International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided to shift the venue due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. This was announced by the Tamil Nadu government and confirmed by FIDE late Tuesday night.
“After FIDE declared that it is pulling the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 out of Russia due to the ongoing war situation, the world scrambled to take up this opportunity to bid for the prestigious event,” said a statement from Tamil Nadu government. The state government said that it “took tremendous effort” and coordination on part of all the officers involved in the state government, the team at the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and the personal interest of chief minister M K Stalin. “In a period of exactly 10 days, from the announcement by FIDE about it looking for new hosts, AICF co-ordinated with the government of Tamil Nadu to have various approvals within hours of it approaching the chief minister’s office with the request to bid as the host,” the statement said.
