The Opening Ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad takes place in Chennai, India in one week's time, and as the hype grows a Welcome to Chennai anthem has just been released on YouTube!

The Chess Olympiad is the biggest event in chess and usually held every two years, but due to the pandemic the 44th Olympiad in Chennai will be the first in person since 2018. The Opening Ceremony is taking place on Thursday 28th July, with Round 1 starting Friday.

The anthem above is packed full of celebrities, including the 15th World Chess Champion Vishy Anand, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. K. Stalin and the composer/singer A. R. Rahman, who shared the video with his 24 million Twitter followers.

The video features the Napier Bridge in Chennai, which has had a chess makeover.

M. K. Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

Some have wondered if that's entirely a good idea for road safety, though at least it's been pointed out that the bridge is one-way traffic only!

We'll be broadcasting every move of every game here on chess24 — there's not long to wait now!