The first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached Madurai, Tamil Nadu on Monday.
The torch was received and carried by Grandmaster J Deepan Chakkravarthy and was presented to medal winners in various sports at the race course ground.
Earlier, the torch had reached Coimbatore, where Grandmaster Shyam Sundar took the torch forward and received a warm welcome from Chess fans.
"1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update COIMBATORE- 25th July The coveted Torch reaches Tamil Nadu, the host state for 44th #ChessOlympiad GM Shyam Sundar takes the Torch forward in Coimbatore where he receives grand welcome, take a look #India4ChessOlympiad," SAI Media had tweeted.
On Sunday, the torch had reached Puducherry, where Lt. Governor of Puducherry Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan received it from GM Akash Ganesh at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in presence of other dignitaries.
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, Konark, Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, etc.
The torch relay was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and began 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.
( With inputs from ANI )
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