CHENNAI: Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will be leading the Indian team in the second online chess Olympiad which is scheduled to be held from 8-15 September.
The Indian team had jointly won the gold medal alongside main competitors Russia in the previous edition last year.
This time the team comprises the legendary Anand, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi --- who had made the quarterfinals at the ongoing World Cup, B Adhiban, P Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy, D Harika, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni, R Vaishali and B Savitha Shri.
The first leg is scheduled to have ten teams from which two teams qualify and thereafter a knockout format has been decided by FIDE, the apex chess body. All the games will be available live for the chess buffs. "To bring the team together in one place is a dream come true in present times. We do not give any pressure, our aim is to have a healthy atmosphere where the team get along well", said AICF president Sanjay Kapoor. All the players will be provided a single room in a five-star hotel in Chennai from where all the matches will be played. Grandmasters Abhijit Kunte and Srinath Narayanan will be the team's non-playing vice-captains.
"This is only the beginning of many more good things to come for Indian chess. We are working in several departments to bring the benefits of the game and our aim is simple - to make India the number one chess playing nation in the world", said Bharat Singh Chauhan, the honorary secretary of the federation.
