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The 44th Chess Olympiad, which was shifted out of Russia after it invaded Ukraine, will be held in Chennai later this year, making it the sport's second major global event after the World Championship match in 2013. M K Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, made the news on his Twitter page on Tuesday night. "We are ecstatic that India's Chess Capital will host the 44th Chess Olympiad! Tamil Nadu can be proud of this! All Kings and Queens from around the world are cordially invited to visit Chennai! #ChessOlympiad2022, #ChessOlympiad2023, #ChessOly "- in a tweet, he stated.

The All-India Chess Federation stated on Twitter, "It's official now....India will host the 44th World Chess Olympiad in 2022 at Chennai!"

To organise the tournament, the All-India Chess Federation (AICF) had provided a guarantee of USD10 Million (about Rs 70 Crore) to FIDE. After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the Olympiad was transferred out of the country.

The Chess Olympiad is a biannual team competition in which teams from over 190 countries compete over the course of two weeks. It was intended to take place from July 26 to August 8 in Moscow.

The first Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities and the 93rd FIDE Congress are two such events that have been moved abroad from Russia.

The last major chess event to visit India was Viswanathan Anand's 2013 world championship match against Magnus Carlsen, the current World’s No. 1.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a plethora of sporting events have been cancelled, with the International Olympic Committee encouraging member countries not to organise any events in the country.