NEW DELHI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "44th Chess Olympiad" in the country's southern city of Chennai on Thursday.
The chess tournament is being hosted in India for the first time, and returns to Asia after 30 years. The 13-day tournament will conclude on August 9.
India is sending the biggest ever team of 30 players to the competition, which has teams from 187 countries and regions, the most in the history of the Chess Olympiad.
Modi has launched the first-ever Chess Olympiad Torch Relay in New Delhi on June 19.
The torch travelled to 75 locations in the country in over 40 days, traversing close to 20,000 kilometers and culminating in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai. ■