Chess Olympiad, a bi-annual chess tournament
In an article called The Morals of Chess written by Benjamin Franklin, the writer mentions the unique qualities of the game of chess. He writes that the game is just not a source of amusement but it inculcates in the human being and his mind, the essential qualities and strengths that are required to lead a successful and disciplined life. Moreover, the significance of the game is also evident by its frequent use in literary works like arts and motion pictures. Many experts are of the view that chess should be included in the scholastics of the students from a very young age. Many countries have also formed organizations that carry out scholastic tournaments for young children, like the United States Chess Federation and the National Scholastic Chess Foundation.
Today, chess is played as an organized sport. The game now has structured international and national leagues, tournaments and congresses. Federation Internationale des Echecs, popularly known as FIDE is the international governing body of chess and is the member of International Olympic Committee. FIDE is the organizer of the most renowned chess tournament so far, the Chess Olympiad that takes place after every two years. It is an international event and players from all over the world contend against each other.
The Olympiad has evolved from an unofficial event to one of the most celebrated chess tournaments. Since the administration was facing a lot of problems distinguishing between the amateur and professional chess players, chess was not included in the Summer Olympics of 1924. FIDE was then formed on the 20th of July 1924 in Paris, where the Olympics was taking place and on the last day of the first and unofficial chess Olympiad. FIDE was then made the authority to organize the Chess Olympiads the world over after chess was recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee. The first Chess Olympiad that took place under FIDE was in 1927, London.
Before entering the Olympiad, the teams have to register with FIDE. Each team that registers to contend in the Olympiad is to be based on 6 chess players, out of which 4 are regular players while the other two are reserves. When the Olympiad was still on its growing stage, every team from the contesting countries competed against each other, but now that the event has bloomed to its fullest, this is not possible. Having faced numerous drawbacks by using the team-seeding method, FIDE decided to adopt the Swiss tournament system.
The first prize in the men’s competitions is still the same as the one that was awarded in the first official Chess Olympiad that took place in London. This trophy is the Hamilton-Russell Cup and is named after the great English personality Fredrick Hamilton-Russell. The cup is passed on from one winner team to the other as the tournaments proceeds. As for the women’s team, the trophy that is presented to the winning team is called the Vera Menchik Cup, named after the first women’s world chess champion.
Currently, India is leading the era of modern chess, since the Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand is the World Chess Champion. Alexandra Kosteniuk from Russia is the dominating female chess player according to the world chess rankings, while Judit Polgar is the most fancied chess player. Judit has never been a part of the Women’s World Chess Championship. She has always played against the top male players of chess, and thus maintains an overall chess ranking.
The titles and awards of achievements that are presented to the players of chess in the Olympiad and the other chess tournaments includes the Grandmaster, International Master, FIDE Master and Candidate Master in the order of decreasing worth and are awarded on the basis of the player ratings.
The 39th Chess Olympiad took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia as decided by FIDE. The next Chess Olympiad of 2012 will take place in the capital city of Turkey, Istanbul and will be the 40th Chess Olympiad event.
Tags: