Chennai: The organisers of the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Tamil Nadu's Chennai have courted a controversy after neglecting former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's name in the public advertisements. The inaugural ceremony of the event that began at Nehru Indoor Stadium on July 28 at Mamallapuram, near Chennai was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and many others.
The closing ceremony of the Chess Olympiad scheduled on Tuesday was to be attended by Dhoni besides Chief Minister M.K.Stalin and chess champion Viswanathan Anand. However, after the neglect on Dhoni's name from the hoardings, his presence remained doubtful. Prime Minister Modi launched the first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay at the Indira Gandhi National Stadium in New Delhi on June 19.
The torch travelled to 75 iconic locations in the country for over a period of 40 days, traversing close to 20,000 kilometres and culminating in Mahabalipuram before it heads to the FIDE Headquarters, Switzerland. The 44th Chess Olympiad saw participation from 187 countries, a world record in terms of the number of participating countries in a single edition of the Olympiad.
Also read: Nehru stadium in Chennai dazzles as PM Modi declares 44th Chess Olympiad open
