Chennai: In wake of the Pakistan government announcing the withdrawal of its two teams - Open, Women - from the 44th Chess Olympiad in India and making the entries an odd number, India's third team will not be affected, it is learnt.
With withdrawal of Pakistan, the total number of confirmed entries for the Chess Olympiad goes down to 187 in the Open category and 161 in the Women's section.
India was allowed to field a third team to make the entries into even. Normally, a Chess Olympiad host nation can field two teams in both the sections.
Talking to IANS on the condition of anonymity, an Olympiad official said: "There is no threat of the third Indian team going out of the competition to make the number of entries an even number even though they were allowed in for the same purpose."
"In the first round, the lowest-ranked team will be given the bye. And from subsequent rounds the team with the lowest points will be given bye," the official and other chess officials told IANS. There is also the possibility of some teams missing their flights and not able to reach the tournament venue on time, thereby making the number of entries even in the first round, the official added.
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