Five times world Champion Viswanathan Anand will lead the Indian team in the second online chess Olympiad scheduled to be held from September 8 to 15.
The Indian team that jointly won the Gold medal alongside main competitors Russia, will be looking at repeating the feat.
This time the team comprises Anand, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, P Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin, R Pragganandhaa, Koneru Humpy, D Harika, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni, R Vaishali and B Savitha Shri. Grand Master Abhijit Kunte will be non-playing captain.
The Indian Chess Federation is making the best possible arrangement for the team. All the players will be provided a single room in a five star hotel in Chennai from where the matches will be played. Contrary to the last Olympiad, a three-tier internet connection along with support from two Grand Masters — D Gukesh and N Srinath has been done to make the team achieve another Gold medal.
The first leg is scheduled to have ten teams from which two teams qualify and thereafter a knockout format has been decided by FIDE.
“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 gets along well”, said AICF President Sanjay Kapoor about providing the extra facility.
“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.