Madras

Sports

Madras Boat Club (founded in 1846) and Royal Madras Yacht Club (founded in 1911) promote sailing, rowing and canoeing sports in Chennai. Inaugurated in 1990, Madras Motor Race Track was the first permanent racing circuit in India and hosts formula racing events. Formula One driver Karun Chandhok was from the city. Horse racing is held at the Guindy Race Course and the city has two 18-hole golf courses, the Cosmopolitan Club and the Gymkhana Club established in the late nineteenth century. Chennai is often dubbed "India's chess capital" as the city is home to multiple chess grandmasters including world champions Viswanathan Anand and Gukesh Dommaraju. The city played host to the World Chess Championship 2013 and 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. Other prominent sports persons from the city include table tennis player Sharath Kamal and two–time world carrom champion, Maria Irudayam.