PM flagged off the First-ever torch relay for the Chess Olympiad.

KEY POINTS:

• PM flagged off the First-ever torch relay for the Chess Olympiad ahead of the 44th edition of the event, which is to be held in Mahabalipuram.
• The international chess body, FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs), for the very first time has instituted the torch relay, which is part of the Olympic tradition but was never done in the Chess Olympiad.
• The torch will be taken to 75 cities in a span of 40 days before arriving in Mahabalipuram near Chennai.
• At every location, chess grandmasters of the state will receive the torch.
• Leh, Srinagar, Jaipur, Surat, Mumbai, Bhopal, Patna, Kolkata, Gangtok, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Thrissur, Port Blair and Kanyakumari are among the 75 cities.
• In 1956, India participated for first time in Chess Olympiad.