Arjuna Awardee Grand Master Shri Praveen Thipsay held torch in Chhattisgarh
School children and players showered flowers to welcome the torch, 
India has been entrusted with the responsibility of the 44th session of the World Chess Olympiad. This is the first time in the 95-year history of Chess Olympiad that India has got a chance to host the World Chess Olympiad. Before the main event, the torch relay of the Chess Olympiad is being held across the country. The Chess Olympiad Torch Relay, which started from June 19, will reach various states of the country by July 28. In this episode, the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, today via Bhubaneswar (Odisha). Here Arjuna Awardee Grand Master Shri Praveen Thipsay held the torch. Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Shri Umesh Patel reached Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport to welcome the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay. 
He welcomed the Grand Master Mr. Thipsay, who arrived with a torch at the Chess Olympiad, with a bouquet and wearing a state gamchha. On this occasion, Secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare, Mr. Neelam Namdev Ekka, Director of Sports and Youth Welfare Mrs. Shweta Srivastava Sinha, Secretary General of Chhattisgarh Olympic Association Mr. Gurcharan Singh Hora, Vice President Mr. Vijay Aggarwal, President of Chhattisgarh State Chess Association Mr. Raghvendra Singhania. and General Secretary Shri Vinod Kumar Rathi were present. At the same time, the daughter of Chhattisgarh’s daughter FIDE Master Ms. Kiran Agarwal, who reached the Olympics in chess twice, was especially present. 
The Chess Olympiad Torch Relay was welcomed outside the Swami Vivekananda Airport by performing the traditional Raut Nacha to the tunes of drums and drums. At the same time, the Chess Olympiad torch relay for Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium from the airport came out in a vintage car. Meanwhile, school children welcomed the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay by showering flowers in front of Telibandha pond of Raipur. There was a huge enthusiasm among the children to take pictures with the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay here. At the same time, the next stop for the welcome of the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay was the clock square, Where as soon as the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached, the players welcomed the torch with full gusto by showering flowers. When the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium, the children who had arrived to welcome the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay were seen holding flags of different countries. Where the entire auditorium complex resonated with the shouts of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vande Mataram by the children. In the auditorium, Arjuna Awardee Grand Master Shri Praveen Thipsay along with 60 talented Chess players of the State encouraged them by playing Simontenius Chess on the Chess Board. It is noteworthy that the World Chess Olympiad is to be organized in Tamil Nadu on the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav on completion of 75 years of India’s independence. In this Chess Olympiad to be held from 28 July to 10 August, about two thousand selected chess players from 188 countries from all over the world will participate.
