Chennai, June 25: The strong Chinese chess teams will not be competing at the 44th Chess Olympiad to be held here next month, Olympiad Tournament Director Bharat Singh Chauhan said on Saturday. "The Chinese teams - open and women- will not be playing at the Chennai Chess Olympiad. The reasons are not clearly known," Chauhan told IANS. The Chinese Open team won the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad held at Batumi (Georgia) in 2018 and at Tromso (Norway) in 2014.

The team has won one silver and bronze medal each at the Olympiad. Similarly, the strong Chinese women's team has won Olympiad Gold six times, and silver and bronze medals four times each. The Chinese women's team won the Gold at 42nd and 43rd Chess Olympiads held at Baku (Azerbaijan) and Batumi. The International Chess Federation or FIDE has banned Russian and Belarus national teams from participating in its tournaments owing to the Russian military action in Ukraine. Chess Olympiad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Launches First-Ever Torch Relay for 44th Edition of Tournament.

With the absence of the other Asian chess giant, the prospects of the Indian team getting an Olympiad medal has become brighter. The India's Open team is one of the top rated teams in the world. Given the situation, many feel that the presence of former World Champion V. Anand in the Indian team would have made a whole lot of difference to the hustlings. Anand is contesting for the post of Deputy President, FIDE as part of incumbent FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich's team.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2022 06:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).