Sports

44th Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram: Numbers, Medals, Legacy

Record entries, a four-month build and two Indian bronzes: what the 2022 Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram was and what it left behind.

24 October 2026

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Mamallapuram's Chess Olympiad, four years on

The 44th Chess Olympiad, held at Mamallapuram from 28 July to 9 August 2022, drew a record entry of 186 teams in the open section and 156 in the women’s section, according to FIDE’s Chennai 2022 site. India won two team bronze medals as hosts, and young players from Chennai collected individual golds that turned out to be a preview of what came next.

Four years on, this is a record of the event itself: how it came to Tamil Nadu at short notice, the numbers behind it, what Indian teams won, and what the Olympiad left behind for chess in the state. Local chess clubs and coaching are a different topic and are not covered here.

How Mamallapuram got the Olympiad

The 2022 Olympiad was originally due to be held in Russia. After the war in Ukraine began, FIDE moved it, and India was awarded hosting rights in February 2022. FIDE’s own organising site notes that the event was put together in roughly four months. A Business Standard report from the opening week placed the venue at Poonjeri village near Mamallapuram, about 50 km from Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu government took on much of the work. A state press release of 1 April 2022 said a dedicated society, the Chennai Chess Olympiad Committee, would be formed by government order to handle preparations, with the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) involved. The same release described it as the Olympiad’s first visit to Asia in 30 years.

Play took place in the convention hall of the Four Points by Sheraton resort, with a temporary 50,000 sq ft structure built for the playing arena, according to FIDE. The opening ceremony was held on 28 July at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the Games open.

The Olympiad in numbers

Item	Figure
Teams, open section	186 (Batumi 2018: 184)
Teams, women’s section	156 (Batumi 2018: 150)
Participants	More than 2,200
Rounds	11, Swiss system
Funds sanctioned by Tamil Nadu	Rs 92 crore
Torch relay	75 cities in 40 days

FIDE counted 185 countries registered at the time of its announcement, beating the 179 at Batumi. The participant figure and the Rs 92 crore state sanction come from Business Standard, which also quoted the AICF as saying it had spent over Rs 100 crore, with about a quarter from corporate sponsors. Teams had four players, a reserve and a captain, as described on the Ministry of Tourism’s Utsav event page, which also introduced the mascot, Thambi, a horse in a white veshti and shirt.

The first torch relay

Chennai 2022 started a tradition. On 19 June 2022, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed the first Chess Olympiad torch to the Prime Minister, who passed it to Viswanathan Anand. The relay visited 75 cities over 40 days before reaching Mamallapuram, and Dvorkovich said future relays would expand worldwide but that they would “always start from India”, as Deccan Herald reported.

What India won

As hosts, India could field extra teams, and it entered more than one team in each section. In the open section, Uzbekistan took gold, Armenia silver, and India 2, seeded 11th and made up of young players, took bronze after beating Germany 3-1 in the last round. India 1, the second seeds, finished fourth after a 2-2 draw with the United States.

In the women’s section, Ukraine won gold and Georgia silver. India 1, the top seeds, lost 1-3 to the US in the final round but still took bronze. The team included Koneru Humpy, R. Vaishali, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni.

The individual board prizes were the bigger story for Chennai. FIDE’s results, as reported by The Sentinel, gave D. Gukesh the top prize on board one and Nihal Sarin the top prize on board two. Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa were second and third on board three, and R. Vaishali was third on board three in the women’s event.

What the Olympiad left behind

The most visible legacy is on the board. Two years later, at the 45th Olympiad in Budapest, India won both the open and women’s sections for the first time. FIDE’s report of 22 September 2024 lists Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, all Chennai players, in the winning teams, and Gukesh again won gold on board one with 9 points from 10 games. India’s open team won 10 of its 11 matches.

Off the board, the Olympiad gave the state a template for hosting large international events at short notice. A September 2024 state press release listed the Olympiad among the international events Tamil Nadu has staged, alongside the Asian Champions Trophy hockey and the Squash World Cup, and the AICF used the moment to announce plans for a franchise-based chess league. For Mamallapuram, better known for its Pallava-era shore monuments, the Olympiad brought two weeks of global attention and a lasting link with the game.

Quick answers

When and where was the 44th Chess Olympiad held?

From 28 July to 9 August 2022, at the Four Points by Sheraton resort near Mamallapuram, about 50 km south of Chennai.

What medals did India win?

Team bronze in the open section (India 2) and the women’s section (India 1), plus several individual board medals including golds for Gukesh and Nihal Sarin.

Why was it moved to India?

It was meant to be held in Russia, but FIDE relocated it after the war in Ukraine began; India won hosting rights in February 2022.

Was there a torch relay?

Yes, the first in Chess Olympiad history, covering 75 cities in 40 days from 19 June 2022.

Information checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.