KOLKATA: City Grandmasters are optimistic about India's chances in the upcoming Chess Olympiad scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 28.
"We have very good teams and I am hopeful of them doing very well this time," GM Mitrabha Guha said on the sidelines of the Olympiad Torch relay that reached the city on Thursday. Guha recently won the Olympiad Torch Run Open Rapid Tournament in New Delhi. "It was a huge tournament. Topping the list of 1600 players has given me great satisfaction," he stated after receiving the Torch from Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Sports Authority of India centre. Guha, who scored seven out of seven in that event, will be touching 12 cities across North Bengal and North East India over the next week.
The torch was brought to the city by India's 35th and Bengal's sixth GM Saptarshi RoyChowdhury. Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi Roy and Neelotpal Das also played simultaneous chess with kids of the city before the Torch reached the venue.
Veteran GM Das felt India stood a good chance in the absence of Russia and China. "Although (Viswanathan) Anand is not playing, we still have very strong players," he stated. "I feel they will be able to take advantage of home conditions and support. The absence of Russia and China should help our cause, although the USA remain the strongest side," he added.
However, Das, who will be the Torch bearer in the last leg of the rally, will keenly watch the progress of the Ukrainian side. "Personally I would like to see how Ukraine fare. I want them to do well given the war in their country," he stated.
Both Guha and Das felt the inaugural Torch relay will help spread awareness about the event. "It's a good idea. When I was carrying the Torch from the airport in an open jeep, I received a lot of curious looks. It is a good effort to catch the eyeballs," he felt.
Guha, who was present at the launch of this relay run at New Delhi, was excited to see that the Indira Gandhi stadium was packed to capacity. "It was a unique experience. I could understand that the game is getting popular," he said.
