Torch relay for first-ever Chess Olympiad reaches Bengaluru

The torch relay for the first-ever Chess Olympiad arrived in Karanataka’s capital city on Tuesday. 

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot received the torch at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru from Grandmaster GA Stany. Grandmaster MS Thejkumar and Girish Koushik took the torch forward in the city and also visited Vidhan Soudha, the state legislature.

“1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update City- BANGALORE: 18th July Sh.@TCGEHLOT Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka received torch from GM @Stany0122 at Raj Bhavan. GM M S Thejkumar and GM @gak_chess took the torch forward in Bangalore & also visited Vidhana Soudha Take a look,” tweeted SAI Media on Monday.

Prior to Bengaluru, the torch had reached Visakhapatnam on Sunday where Andhra Pradesh Minister of Industries, Investment and Commerce Gudivada Amarnath received the torch from Grandmaster Musunuri Lalit Babu at Swarna Bharathi Indoor Stadium.

“1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update City VISAKHAPATNAM: 17th July Sh.@gudivadaamar, Minister of Industries, Infrastructure, Investment & Commerce, Information Technology, Govt. Of AP received the torch from GM @lalitrohit93 at Swarna Bharathi Indoor Stadium,” tweeted SAI Media.

On Sunday, the torch was received at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh by state Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh from Grandmaster Musunuri Lalit Babu at Tumalapalli Kalashetram, Vijayawada.

The Grandmaster also visited iconic Durga Malleshwari Temple and Ashok Pillar on his city tour with the coveted torch.

“1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update City AMRAVATI: 17th July Sh. @JogiRameshYSRCP Hon’ble Minister of Housing, Govt of AP received the torch from GM @lalitrohit93 at Tumalapalli Kalashetram, Vijayawada Take a look #India4ChessOlympiad #AmritMahotsav,” tweeted SAI Media. Earlier, the first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Minister of Sports and Youth Services of Telangana, V Srinivas Goud received the torch from Grandmasters Harika Dronavalli and Arjun Erigaisi.

The other cities that have been covered by torch relay so far include Agartala, Namsai, Dibrugarh, Itanagar, Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, Dharamshala, Shimla, Chandigarh, Patiala, Amritsar, Panipat, Gurugram, Kurukshetra, Dehradun, Haridwar, Meerut, Kanpur, Kevadia, Ahmedabad, Dandi, Surat, Jaipur, Daman, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Panaji, Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jhansi, Gangtok, Siliguri, Kohima, Gangtok, Shillong, Guwahati and Siliguri, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Puri, and Konark.

The torch relay was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and began its relay from Leh.

The torch will travel to 75 cities for 40 days before it culminates at Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. Over 200 countries are participating in the Chess Olympiad. Chess grandmasters will receive the torch at various identified venues.

The 44th edition of the world’s biggest chess event will be held in Mahabalipuram near Chennai from July 28 to August 10. 

(Inputs from ANI)