The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in talks to add chess to its Esport category for the Olympic Esports Games, FIDE head Arkady Dvorkovich recently said in an interview. Saudi Arabia will host the first Olympic Esports Games in 2025. In the meantime, D Gukesh, the current world chess champion, recently won the coveted Khel Ratna Award. Speaking at an AICF-organized event, Gukesh discussed the potential inclusion of chess in the Olympics.
One of the bidders for the 2036 Olympics is India. In December of last year, Gukesh made history by becoming the youngest world chess champion ever. At the World Chess Championship in Singapore, he defeated reigning champion Ding Liren to accomplish the feat. When the match got to the pivotal 14th game. It appeared as though Liren’s strategy and trying to force out the tiebreaker round was working.
However, the Chinese grandmaster resigned and lost to Gukesh in a humiliating defeat after making a huge mistake on the 55th move. Gukesh has a packed calendar in 2025. At the moment, he is attending the Tata Chess competition in the Netherlands. Next month, he will also face Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand. Gukesh is scheduled to receive the esteemed Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award on Friday.
FIDE’s Bold Olympics Plan
The 18-year-old also discussed concentrating only on the Tata Chess event in the Netherlands at Wijk Aan Zed. On Saturday, Gukesh will play his debut game. Gukesh was also given Rs 1 crore by the AICF. For becoming the youngest Grandmaster to ever win the global championship. For her outstanding achievements, Humpy was awarded Rs 50 lakh. R Vaishali, who won a bronze medal in the World Blitz Championship, was given Rs 20 lakh.
Arkady Dvorkovich said, “On our side, we are still working with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make sure that chess is a part of Olympic Esports games. I am not sure when those games will take place in 2025. There is no final announcement yet, but I know that the IOC is working with Saudi Arabia to find suitable dates for the competition.”
