It’s Paris, 1924.
Written by chess coach Alex Jury
France is about to host the 1924 Summer Olympics. An idea, an unprecedented idea has been proposed: amongst the sailing of boats and the throwing of balls, the riding of horses and the shooting of guns, why not add Chess to the venue? After all, Chess is a duel of minds and a test of skill and ability.
Why not honour Chess with a venue in the Olympics?
Alas, it is not to be. There is an issue in determining which players are truly professional and which are merely amateur. When the Olympics went ahead, Chess, sadly, was left behind.
But the dream did not die there. As the 1924 Summer Olympics commenced, so did the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad. Fifty-four players from eighteen different nations competed for the title of Amateur World Champion. The victor was Latvian player, and later World Champion, Hermanis Matisons.
But this was only the beginning.
From these humble origins emerged the World Chess Federation, a governing body of international chess competition. By 1927, it had organised the very first official Chess Olympiad, taking place in London and attended by sixteen nations. From there, a Chess Olympiad has been hosted every two years, to an ever widening international audience of Chess players, masters and enthusiasts.
At the time of writing, we are eagerly anticipating the 43rd Chess Olympiad, to be hosted in Batumi, Georgia. Mens and women’s teams from over one hundred and ninety nations are expected to participate, including an Australian team, captained by Melbourne born Grandmaster, Darryl Johansen. The full team composition is as follows:
And the Women’s team is as follows:
Also in attendance shall be Chesslife’s very own David and Sabrina, who shall have the honour of seeing it all play out first hand (take lots of pictures!). They will be there as part of the Australian press team and will return with their blog about Juniors at the Olympiad.
For everyone else, however, we may be rest assured that our chess community is forever on the grow. From a little, sidelined event, brought together by a collection of enthusiasts, the Chess Olympiads has grown into a century long, worldwide tradition.
Such is the indomitable will of Chess!