44th Chess Olympiad: 5 Tier security to PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the 44th Chess Olympiad that is to be held from July 28 to August 10 at Mamallapuram. This is the first time India is hosting the event in which players from about 188 countries would be participating. 

The inauguration ceremony would take place at Nehru indoor stadium in Chennai, while the competitions would take place at Mamallapuram. The competition, which has been organized since 1927, is hosted in Asia after 30 years. 

The competition, which will be conducted once in two years, was organized virtually the last time due to Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the competition was originally planned to be organized in Russia. But with the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the international chess body had changed the venue to India. Further, a sum of Rs 92 crore was allotted to the Tamil Nadu government to organize the competition.

In the competition that will commence at Poonjeri village in Mamallapuram, more than 2000 players including 30 players from India will be participating. Two auditoriums measuring 22,000 square feet and 52,000 square feet are being constructed for the competition. The Chief Minister MK Stalin had directed officials to make necessary arrangements for the players. To create awareness about the competition, the logo of the chess olympiad was placed at major junctions. 

The Prime Minister flagged off the first-ever torch relay for the chess olympiad on June 19 and it had reached the venue on Wednesday. The international chess body for the first time instituted the torch relay even though it was a part of Olympic tradition. 

Meanwhile, Stalin inspected the preparation works on Wednesday. State Minister Meyyanathan, AV Velu and Sekar Babu explained to the Chief Minister about the safety measures taken ahead of the competition. 

The Great Chennai Police have made a five-tier security arrangement and deployed 22,000 police personnel ahead of Modi’s visit to the city. Flying of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles have been banned in the city limits under section 144 of the criminal procedure code for two days from July 28.