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We feel Olympiad in Chennai will further elevate chess as a significant part of Indian culture: FIDE director general

What does it mean for FIDE that India has successfully bid for the Chess Olympiad?
When the Olympiad was pulled out of Russia, FIDE did not have a host. We obviously welcomed India’s bid. There were a few more contenders, but we set a clear deadline. And only India was in time to submit a proper bid. That underlines a major work of All Indian Chess Federation (AICF) as one has to be well-prepared in order to come up ready for such a huge event on such a short notice.
India, Indonesia and the USA are some of the countries where chess is growing. And what are your projections in terms of growth for India?
The growth of India is noticeable. It has great players and teams, but most significantly almost 50% of the world’s best Under-18 players are Indian. That will obviously give India a status of chess superpower for years to come. Another important factor is the popularity of chess. Millions are following chess. Of course it all started with (Vishwanathan) Anand, but now it has become a sort of national heritage. We feel that the Olympiad in Chennai will further elevate chess as a significant part of Indian culture.

During the pandemic, the sport of chess was booming, especially online chess. How important is it that the Chess Olympiad, which will be a major over the board event, is a success for FIDE in terms of viewership?
The Olympiad is a huge thing, and it is bigger than any of the online events. Not only because of the number of teams and participants (we expect around 350 teams from 190+ countries). But this Olympiad, which is to be staged after a 4-year break (contrary to usual 2 years) is especially significant. A lot of new teams, young generation, many contenders for the victory. An entire chess community is waiting for this outstanding event.

While the AICF are the hosts for the tournament, what kind of support will FIDE be providing?
FIDE will work closely with AICF to ensure the visibility of the event. Not only locally, and not only on chess platforms. We expect it to be featured in major media all over the world, East and West, and that could be a breakthrough moment for chess in general, and for Indian chess in particular.

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