UPSC Prelims 2023 Q96: 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 — Explained
Consider the following statements in respect of the 44th Chess Olympiad, 2022:
1. It was the first time that Chess Olympiad was held in India.
2. The official mascot was named 'Thambi'.
3. The trophy for the winning team in the open section is the Vera Menchik Cup.
4. The trophy for the winning team in the women's section is the Hamilton-Russell Cup.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
- Only one
- Only two
- Only three
- All four
Answer: (b) Only two
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — The 44th Chess Olympiad was held at Mamallapuram, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, starting on 28 July 2022. It was the first time India hosted the event, and the first time Asia hosted it in about 30 years. A record 187 countries took part, the largest field in any Olympiad.
- 2: correct — The official mascot was 'Thambi', which means 'younger brother' in Tamil. It was a chess knight dressed in a white veshti and shirt, with hands folded in a 'Vanakkam' greeting.
- 3: incorrect — The Vera Menchik Cup goes to the winning team in the women's section. It is named after Vera Menchik, the first Women's World Chess Champion. The open-section trophy is the Hamilton-Russell Cup.
- 4: incorrect — The Hamilton-Russell Cup goes to the winning team in the open section, not the women's section. Frederick Hamilton-Russell, an English nobleman, donated it for the first official Olympiad in London in 1927. Statements 3 and 4 swap the two trophies.
How to eliminate
Statements 1 and 2 are the easy ones for anyone who followed 2022 news. The Mamallapuram Olympiad was widely reported as India's first, and 'Thambi' is clearly a Tamil name that fits a Chennai-area event. Statements 3 and 4 are a matched pair. They name the two main Olympiad trophies and give each one a section. Either both are right or both are wrong, because the examiner has simply swapped them. So the count of correct statements can only be two or four. One or three is impossible. To choose between two and four, you need one fact: Vera Menchik was a woman, the first Women's World Champion. A cup named after her belongs to the women's section. That makes both 3 and 4 wrong. Remember: Hamilton-Russell = Open, Menchik = Women.
Know more
The Chess Olympiad is a team event held every two years and organised by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Countries send teams to an Open section, which anyone can play in, and a Women's section. Since 1976 it has been a Swiss-system tournament of 11 rounds, with four boards per team.
| Trophy | Awarded for | Named after |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton-Russell Cup | Winning team, Open section | Frederick Hamilton-Russell, donor for London 1927 |
| Vera Menchik Cup | Winning team, Women's section | Vera Menchik, first Women's World Champion (1927–44) |
| Nona Gaprindashvili Cup | Best combined Open + Women's result | Nona Gaprindashvili, Georgian Women's World Champion |
44th Olympiad, Mamallapuram 2022
- First Olympiad in India. Russia was meant to host it in Moscow, but FIDE moved it after Russia invaded Ukraine.
- It began on 28 July 2022. The Prime Minister opened it at Chennai.
- First-ever Olympiad torch relay. It started in New Delhi on 19 June 2022 and passed through 75 cities to mark 75 years of Independence. FIDE decided the relay will start in India for every future Olympiad.
- Mascot: Thambi, a knight in a veshti.
- Winners: Uzbekistan in the Open section and Ukraine in the Women's section. India won bronze in both sections.
What came after: At the 45th Olympiad in Budapest in 2024, India won the Open and Women's titles for the first time. That brought all three cups home.
In the news
India hosted the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mamallapuram from 28 July 2022, the first time the event was held in the country. It also launched the first-ever Olympiad torch relay. Both were heavily covered in the year before Prelims 2023.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Mamallapuram: Mamallapuram, the old Pallava port near Chennai, was the venue of the 44th Chess Olympiad that this question is about.