Hosting the Chess Olympiad is good; but winning it is more important

I was around 17 years old when I participated in my first Chess Olympiad in 2004. It was held in Spain. I remember not being too excited because by then I was already a Grandmaster, was playing in all the big events and was among the top players in the world. Though I didn’t feel any special, I was definitely a bit nervous because it was a team event, and I didn’t have any experience of playing in a team.

In individual tournaments, results depend only on your own performance. Whereas, in a team event, everyone’s performance counts. In the 2004 event, I remember seeing the results of other team members and feeling the need to push on more to balance or move ahead. I became too conscious and there were games where I took too much risk. That really affected my performance.

That experience helped me understand that even though it’s a team event, it is important to complete your own game before bothering about the other boards. It’s very important to stay focused and calm. I think that needs to be followed by everyone, irrespective of the round we are playing in.

For those who are not well-versed with the world of chess, the Olympiad is our Olympics. Chess is not an Olympic sport (yet), that’s why we have a separate Chess Olympiad. For us, it has the same stature as the Olympics. More than 150 countries participate in it. The field is usually littered with current and former world champions. So, winning a medal in this event is a matter of pride for any country.

The only disappointment is that it is not recognised as an Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee (

). Apart from that it has everything. We do the same kind of hard work, we go through extensive training and we have even more competition from so many countries. It’s not like some other sports where only 10-15 countries participate.

The recognition makes a big difference. It brings in a lot of funding to the sport from the government. People only believe in and think about the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games medals. So, when we have that kind of stamping for this port it will have more attraction.

The All India Chess Federation (AICF), I feel, has also taken up the Chess Olympiad as a challenge and it is giving its best to help the players to perform well. There have been pretournament training camps in the past but usually they would get a local Indian Grandmaster to help out for some days. It’s for the first time they have brought in such high-level players like Boris Gelfand (six-time world championship candidate) and Viswanathan Anand (five-time world champion) as trainer and mentor.

We have already had one 10-day training camp with Gelfand and Anand and the second one is going on. I am not attending the second one as I am playing in an online speed chess tournament and I have a quarterfinal lined-up on Tuesday (July 19).

But I attended the first one and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a session with Anand where he spoke about various psychological aspects. He talked about how we think when we are in a bad shape and how and when to turn the positions. Sessions with Gelfand were completely focused on chess. He helped us with the middle and end game skills.

The last two editions of the Chess Olympiad were played online and India finished on the podium both the times — joint winners in 2020 and third in 2021. So, the expectations will be high this time around, especially because we are playing at home.

Though it’s not proper to compare the last two events with this year’s event as they are played in different formats — rapid vs classical — using different platforms — online vs physical — India have bright chances of doing well this time too. Both of our men’s and women’s teams, generally speaking, are having the best players ever — the average rating of both the teams is among the best.

Also, the two best teams who fight for the gold medal most of the time — Russia and China — are not playing in the event this time.

Then there are additional advantages being hosts that allow us to enter two teams each in open and women’s categories, further enhancing the medal chances.

You also get a lot of support from home fans, get to eat the food you like, you are accustomed to the climate and your body clock doesn’t need adjustment. All these issues have an impact on a player’s performance.

But at the same time there is pressure of expectations.

So, in a way, it’s a double-edged sword. Playing at home is an advantage only if you know how to use it.When I play in a tournament, I try to focus on my game and just to be in good form. That’s more important as a player rather than the outer circumstances.

India is hosting the Chess Olympiad for the first time ever. I believe it could be a catalyst in making chess more popular in the country. But just hosting itself won’t be enough to make a long-term impact. Sure, it may bring some eyeballs to the sport but to turn that attention into participation you need champions. Like what Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold medal in Tokyo did for athletics.

We need to win to inspire the next generation to take up chess as a profession.

Koneru Humpy is a Grandmaster and the winner of 2019 Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship. She spoke to Amit Chaudhary