West Bengal: Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reaches Kolkata

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 7 (ANI): The first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay reached the city of Kolkata on Thursday.
Governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar received the torch from Grandmaster Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury. Grandmaster Mitrabu Guha and Nirotpal Das took the torch forward in Kolkata.
1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update City- KOLKATA: July 7 @jdhankhar1
,Governor of West Bengal received the torch from GM @SRC2010 at Sports Authority of India Complex, Kolkata. GMs Mitrabu Guha and Nirotpal Das take the Torch forward in Kolkata," tweeted SAI Media.
Earlier, the torch reached Ranchi on Thursday.
Sports Minister of Jharkhand, Hafizul Hassan received the torch at Khelgaon Sports Complex. Grandmaster Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury took the Torch forward in Ranchi in presence of eminent dignitaries.
"1st Ever #ChessOlympiadTorchRelay Update City- RANCHI: 7th July Sh.@hafizulhasan001
Sports Minister of Jharkhand received the torch at Khelgaon Sports Complex. GM @SRC2010
takes the Torch forward in Ranchi in presence of eminent dignitaries #India4ChessOlympiad@FIDE_chess," tweeted SAI Media. Earlier on Wednesday, the Torch had travelled to Gaya, Rajgir, and Patna in Bihar.
Other cities that have been covered so far include 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 and Jhansi.
The torch relay was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
This year, for the very first time, the International Chess Body, FIDE, instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch which is part of the Olympic tradition but was never done in the Chess Olympiad. India is the first-ever country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.
The 44th edition of the world's biggest chess event will be held in Mahabalipuram near Chennai from July 28 to August 10. (ANI)