The rich blend of culture and colour displayed by well choreographed performances, the joy in the eyes of people especially volunteers, who looked so elated to be at the centre of history, the representation by 187 countries and the breathtaking blend of technology and art that turned a simple Stadium into a chess check masterpiece was enthralling.
Scheduled to end at 7PM, the event that began promptly dragged till much later. The presentations could have been shorter, souvenirs would have been perfect, speeches of the Chief Minister and Prime Minister could have been shorter or other key personnel could have been scheduled to speak at other ceremonies and hospitality was devoid of any special care for thousands who had to walk through security to find seats in the tightly packed stadium.
The Police of Greater Chennai did not have to battle hoodlums as maximum respect was shown for this historic event taking place in the capital of chess in India, Chennai.
The FIDE Congress led by President, Arkady Dvorkovich, who maintained a simple mien throughout must be commended for timely and seamless transfers especially from The Leela Palace, which began as scheduled by 3PM with all core FIDE Delegates seated by start of the event including Nigeria's Olalekan Adeyemi, FIDE's Vice President and International Chess Arbiter.
During the official flag parade, nations conspicuously absent include United States of America. The distance of hotels to the stadium would be a welcome excuse but efforts should have been made by all federations to have at least 2 delegates at this memorable parade. In future, flags or country coded mufflers could be provided by FIDE to avoid a situation where some federations had flags to carry and others had just the country placards.
The attendance of the State Minister, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, born right here in Madras, present day Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India on March 1, 1953 and the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi indicates the import of this well attended event scheduled for the same year India turned 75 as an independent nation.
Many things stood out during this night of historic colours, two took the cake - the dexterity of the pianist - Lydian Nadhaswaram, who delivered a blend of classical with modern tunes and at some point on two pianos and even played blindfolded, and the divine skills of the artist whose fingers kept us entertained as he moved from image to image ending with the image of the Chief Minister and Prime Minister.
The highest point of the ceremony which brought it to a close was the Prime Minister declaring the 44th Chess Olympiad Open after the relay torch was handed over to him by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister, MK Stalin, who received it from the 5 times world champion Vishy Anand. The eloquent words of the Prime Minister, "There are no losers: only winners and future winners" remains a testament to the fact that over and beyond winning, good spirited sportsmanship, unity and goodwill will matter more at the end of play.
The games is scheduled to begin by 3PM at the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort and Convention Centre on July 29 2022. The timing will ensure that all participants who travelled from far and near and participated in the long inauguration would be well rested by start time.
A total of 184 teams in the open category with 158 in women, marks the Chennai Olympiad out as the largest in the history of chess.
This is Omolola, reporting from Chennai, India
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