CHANDIGARH: The first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached Chandigarh on Thursday after starting off from picturesque Leh and crossing over the mighty Himalayas with halts at Srinagar, Jammu, Dharamsala and Shimla.
Punjab governor and UT Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit received the torch from Grandmaster Deep Sengupta at Rock Garden, here. From Rock Garden the torch was taken to the Sukhna Lake and Rose Garden before making its way to the Panjab University and Sector 42 lake. It was then taken to Mohali before heading to Patiala and finally completing the tour of Punjab at the Attari Border in Amritsar.
In his address, Purohit said, “We are proud that a sport, starting from its birthplace and leaving its mark all over the world, has become a passion for many countries.”
Chandigarh mayor Sarabjit Kaur Dhillon and UT Sports Director Tejdeep Singh Saini, along with DC Vinay Pratap, UT Cricket Association president Sanjay Tandon, SSP Kuldeep Chahal and Prof Anil Raina of Chandigarh Chess Association were present on the occasion.
“This torch relay will increase awareness among the people about the sport and will motivate the youth to join and play this sport,” Tandon said.
Hundreds of school children were in attendance at the historic event, in which Grandmaster Sengupta also played with a few students to mark the occasion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the relay on June 19, taking the initiative of a new tradition from Delhi. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Indian Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand and Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur were present during the launch in the national capital.
In all, the torch will travel to 75 cities for 40 days before it culminates in Mahabalipuram, where the 44th edition of the world’s biggest chess event will be conducted from July 28 to August 10.
Chess grandmasters will receive the torch at various identified venues. Grand Master Dibyendu Barua had brought the torch from Delhi and handed it over to LG RK Mathur, to begin the relay from Leh.
This year, for the very first time, the International Chess Body, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch which is part of Olympic tradition but was never done in the Chess Olympiad. India is the first country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.
In nearly 100 years of the history of the Chess Olympiad, it’s the first time that India will be hosting this prestigious event. With 188 countries registered for the upcoming Olympiad, Indian sporting history is also set to witness a huge congregation of countries on Indian soil for the first time at an event.
And celebrating this, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) has unveiled a social media campaign 'Namaste World', welcoming the chess community from around the world for this event. The AICF had earlier announced two Indian teams each in the open and women’s sections as the Olympiad has attracted 343 teams in both sections.
