This is the first time ever that India is hosting the Chess Olympiad, with the 44th edition taking place in Mamallapuram, Chennai. With a record 187 countries taking part with 188 teams in the Open section and 162 in the Women’s section, the Chess Olympiad will witness the highest ever participation.A record total of 30 Indian players across six teams (three in the Open and three Women) will be participating at the Chess Olympiad.Each chess team will have five members out of which four will be fielded in each round. The captain of the team, in most cases non-playing, will decide the team composition.The Chess Olympiad will be an 11 Round Swiss League event. Host countries can field two teams, but India could field one additional team in both the categories as the total number of teams is odd. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThree Indian Open chess teams seeded second, 11th and 17th, respectivelyThe second-seeded India-1 Open team consists of Vidit Gujrathi, P. Harikrishna, Arjun Erigaisi, S.L. Narayan and Sasikaran Krishnan.The India-2 Open team members are Nihal Sarin, D. Gukesh, B. Adhiban, R. Pragnanandhaa and Raunak Sadhwani.The India-3 Open team comprises Surya Shekhar Ganguly, S.P. Sethuraman, Abhijeet Gupta, Karthikeyan Murali and Abhimanyu Puranik. Incidentally, all 15 players in the Open Team are Grandmasters.In the Women’s section, India-1 team is seeded first while India-2 and India-3 team are seeded 11th and 16th, respectively.The India-1 Women’s team consists of Koneru Humpy, D. Harika, R. Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, and Bhakti Kulkarni. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe India-2 Women’s team members are Vantika Agrawal, Soumya Swaminathan, Mary Ann Gomes, Padmini Rout and Divya Deshmukh.The India-3 Women’s team comprises Eesha Karavade, Sahithi Varshini, Pratyusha Bodda, Nandhidhaa PV and Vishwa Vasnawala.In the 2014 Olympiad held in Tromso, Norway, India won a bronze medal in the Open category and in the 2020 virtual Olympiad, India won the joint gold medal. In the 2021 virtual Olympiad, India finished with a bronze medal. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostChess Olympiad VenueThe 44th Chess Olympiad will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort and Convention Center from July 28 to August 10. The resort is located on the East Coast Road, Chennai.Chess Olympiad FormatAll matches at the Chess Olympiad will be played in the Classical Swiss League Format.MatchesThe tournament will begin with ‘Round 1’ on July 29 and continue till ‘Round 11’ on August 9. The rest day will be on August 4 and the teams will depart on August 10.TimingsAll the matches will start at 3 pm IST. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostChess Olympiad ScheduleJuly 29: Round 1July 30: Round 2July 31: Round 3August 1: Round 4August 2: Round 5August 3: Round 6August 4: Rest DayAugust 5: Round 7August 6: Round 8August 7: Round 9August 8: Round 10August 9: Round 11PrizesThe Olympiad features a team and individual non-monetary prizes based on performance. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostTeam Prizes1st place in the Open section: Hamilton-Russell Cup1st place in the Women’s section: Vera Menchik Cup1st place in combined classification: Nona Gaprindashvili TrophyPlayers from the top-three teams will also receive team medals:1st place: Gold medal2nd place: Silver medal3rd place: Bronze medalIndividual PrizesPlayers assigned to the same board number compete for individual medals, awarded according to their performance ratingList of editions with most participantsCHENNAI, 2022: 188 (Open), 162 (Women)BATUMI, 2018: 185 (Open), 151 (Women)BAKU, 2016: 180 (Open), 142 (Women)TROMSO, 2014: 177 (Open), 136 (Women)ISTANBUL, 2012: 157 (Open) 127 (Women)KHANTY-MANSIYSK, 2010: 148 (Open), 115 (Women).