SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 6: In a bid to make the 44th Chess Olympiad memorable, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) will take out the first-ever Chess Olympiad torch relay from Khel Gaon Complex in Ranchi tomorrow at 7 am.
Joint secretary of All Jharkhand Chess Association (AJCA) Ajay Kumar said that as per guidelines of the AICF, after the inauguration at Ranchi Khel Gaon at 7 am on Thursday (June 7), the ‘Olympiad Torch’ will cover around 15 km distance and will go to Birsa Munda airport in a rally to head for Kolkata by plane.
The 44th Chess Olympiad is to be held at Mahabalipuram (Chennai) Tamil Nadu from July 28 to August 10.
Since this is the first time that the Olympiad is being organized in India, on the directive of the international chess body FIDE, the union ministry of youth affairs, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the All India Chess Federation have jointly decided to make it memorable by taking out ‘Chess Olympiad Torch Relay’ across the country.
Secretary Ministry of sports, director of sports department along with office bearers of All Jharkhand Chess Association have made elaborate arrangements for the ‘Torch Rally’ on very short notice of the central government as well as the Chess Federation.
Joint secretary Ajay Kumar said all office–bearers of Jharkhand Chess Association including President Pradip Verma, Executive President Richa Sanchita, Vice-Presidents Umashankar Choubey, Dhananjay Kumar, Vijay Kumar Singh, Sunil Kumar Kharwar, Secretary Neeraj Mishra (International Master), Treasurer Satish Kumar, Joint Secretary Ajay Kumar, Basant Khandelwal, Sunil Kumar Singh, Anil Kumar Singh and FIDE arbiter Dipak Kumar would be present on the occasion for making the relay a success.
“Besides state officer-bearers, the president and secretary of all district associations have been invited to attend the ‘Chess Olympiad Torch Rally’ tomorrow,“ said Ajay Kumar.
Notably, three FIDE arbiters of Jharkhand have been assigned by the international body to officiate the mega-event of chess in the Mahabalipuram Chess Olympiad. Six players of Jharkhand schools have also been invited by AICF to watch the match in Chennai.
