Moscow’s loss is Mandya’s gain. When the 44th FIDE International Chess Olympiad was shifted from Russia to India because of geo-political reasons, one of the myriad ripple effects was a dream-come-true opportunity for Nandhipati Madhuri, a chess player who teaches the sport to blind players on specially made chess boards in the district of Mandya, Karnataka.
She brushes aside conversations about meeting the best chess players of the world. What gets her excited is something else entirely, “I can learn so many things here, about how to conduct a tournament, what to do, what not to do. That is my plan, to understand how the Government goes about putting together something like this. I want it to happen again; I want the players to want to return to India, purely for what we have to offer,” says Madhuri, who has already chosen students among the academy in Mandya, who have potential to be trained for the Chess Paralympics. “There is so much talent here, Indian chess has improved a lot,” she seems almost fiercely, eager to flaunt her country.
As a volunteer team leader, Madhuri is a part of a veritable army of 400 chess players and coaches that has landed in Mamallapuram from across the country as volunteers to host international-level chess players at the Olympiad.
“They are a group of young people, extremely passionate about chess, who have taken 25 days off and travelled from far to be a part of this event. Half of them are FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) rated; many of them are coaches or competitive players, present or former. Some are currently in extremely diverse lines of work: there are chartered accountants, engineers, stand-up comedians, YouTubers… all brought here by their passion for chess,” says Prateek Mohan, volunteer-in-charge for the tournament.
A former State chess champion, Prateek helms a Mamallapuram-based consultancy firm that aids such events. He adds, “What we want first is team building, to bring them together as a cohesive front. Then, we focus on hospitality management: how to be calm and interactive with foreign delegates.”
There are teams assigned to the actual match venues as arbiters, fair play in-charges, and spectator managers. There are volunteers in charge of VIPs and protocol, ticketing, media, cloak room (at the drop-off points where people are checked and sanitisation protocols are put in place), and more.
While the volunteers train in one of the smaller — yet sizeable — halls at Four Points by Sheraton, other parts of the property are abuzz with preparations of a different kind. It is one thing to erect a makeshift arena with a roof and seating; and completely another to create one that is not only heat-proof and sound-proof, but also equipped to live-stream dozens of matches out to the globe. And yet, preparations for exactly that circumstance are complete.
The hotel’s main conference hall, of proportions substantial enough for conferences and weddings, is now the smaller chess arena, fitted for 49 matches at a time. “The normal flooring here is tile, above which we have put planks. Above the planks, we have put foam to make it sound-proof,” says R Anatharam, vice president of Tamil Nadu Chess Federation and venue-in-charge. On top of the foam sheets is a grey mat, upon which players, volunteers and audiences can walk without the echo of footsteps distracting players from the match of their careers.
Focus being a key part of chess, an entire team of volunteers will be dedicated to just keeping things quiet and managing the spectators — who will be seated at gallery seats along two walls. “Around 150 spectators can be seated in the smaller hall, and 600 in the larger hall, at a time. So, divided into two batches per day, we have the capacity for 1,500 spectators per day,” says Anantharam, who is on the ground handling operations.
Cogs in a giant wheel
The on-ground preparations for the Olympiad have been afoot for almost four-and-a-half months. Venue aside, properties in and around Mamallapuram are now steadily welcoming players and volunteers. With 25 hotels being taken up by the chess teams alone, a large majority of the seaside town’s hospitality sector has duties clearly spelled out, including what to serve and how.
While Four Points by Sheraton plays host to the Olympiad games, two-star to five-star properties along the ECR, leading up to parts of OMR, had been booked much in advance for the players. At Grande Bay Resort, 40 rooms had been reserved for 60 players, with four rooms as standby in case of emergencies. “Since they are chess players, they will want a quiet environment and good food,” says Muthu Venkatachalam, sales manager at Grande Bay, adding that most of the players are visiting India for the first time.
Their prime requirement, Muthu adds, is high-speed internet, “in case they wish to have any online training sessions in the rooms.” Players from the same continent are put up together, for comfort and familiarity, adds Anantharam.
Chennai-based consultant chef GS Talwar has come up with an extensive set of menus, handed out to each hotel and resort with clear instructions about spice levels, allergen labelling and more. “It is natural that restaurants want to lean towards cuisines that are their speciality, but with players coming from different countries for the competition in mind, we want them to be served food they are broadly familiar with,” he says.
Besides beverages, cut fruit, soups, cold meats and cheese, salads, four non-vegetarian main course items (from butter chicken to meat loaf), five vegetarian items (from gobi manchurian to semolina-based gnocchi), breads, rice and desserts offered each day, hotels are also required to have a live pasta counter with vegetables, meats and sauce options, besides a second live counter that varies from day to day.
Chef Talwar’s assignment included research: not only into the palates of guests, but also into the strengths, specialities and capacities of all the hotels in and around town. “Some of them are stronger in a certain cuisine than others; some have been functioning on shorter staff since the pandemic. We had to keep all of this in mind and come up with meal plans that they all could deliver equally.”
Beyond the board
Since chess is a game of the mind, the players’ downtime forms an essential component in preparations. Though the Olympiad will see only one day with no tournaments (August 4), much has been planned for the players.
Now would also be a good time to note that reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen is an avid football fan. Anantharam recalls how he loved to kick the ball around when he came to Chennai in 2013 for the World Championship. And so, Anantharam says, “On the 4th, we plan to take interested players for a friendly football match in Jawarharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai.”
Apart from this, in the main venue — beside the main hall — a separate arena stands dedicated to recreational activities, workshops and showcases of cultural arts to entertain the players. In an attempt to introduce South Indian performing arts to those who are not in the know, a workshop will be held. “Queen’s Commission, which is part of the World Chess Federation, has planned a Bharatanatyam workshop for the women players, arbiters and council members. Trainers from Chitramaya School of Arts, Chennai will be leading the workshop after which a performance will also be held,” says Praphul Zaveri, in-charge of promotional activities. On the same day, players who wish to see Mamallapuram and parts of Chennai, will be provided with transport at their convenience.
Back at the venue, in the volunteers’ training hall, Madhuri takes a break from discussing hospitality and marketing to think of her 40 students waiting back in Mandya. They know she has travelled far to rub shoulders with the best. She has to bring back tales to tell.
