Chess Olympiad: India A women to play with black pieces in 1st round

The India 'A' team, the top-seed in the women's event, will play with black pieces in the opening round of the 44th Chess Olympiad on Friday.

The draw of lots for the opening round to choose the colour for the top-ranked teams was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who declared the event open at a grand ceremony on Thursday.

The top seeded American men too would begin their campaign with black pieces after the Prime Minister picked black in the draw conducted by the chief arbiter.

Indian chess icon Vishwanathan Anand handed over the Olympiad Torch that travelled across the nation to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chess champions joined in receiving the torch.

The Olympiad flame was then lit by young GMs R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and S Vijayalakshmi, the country's first-ever woman Grand Master.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who was present at the inauguration, thanked the Tamil Nadu government for its efforts in putting together an event of such a magnitude at a short notice. ''I believe that it (Olympiad) is a huge festival, not just a sporting one. It creates a positive mood,'' he added. The first round action will begin at 3pm on Friday.

Three Indian teams each will be taking part in the Open and women's events in the Olympiad, which will be held in India for the first time.

The Indians are seeded second in the open section.

The tournament will see 188 teams in the open section and 162 in the women's.