Anand

New Delhi: The inclusion of fresh faces will boost India’s chances in the upcoming Chess Olympiad, Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand said as he prepared to spearhead the country’s campaign for the second successive time in the premier competition.

“The team is a good amalgam of style, people and geography. Clearly, all the members of the team have been showing good progress in the last year,” Anand said.

“So I would say we are going with a good team although many things need to fall in place. But I think motivation will be the key mantra and the boys and girls clearly have a lot of it,” he pointed out in an e-mail interview.

The world No. 2, however, did not commit on his team’s medal chances in the tournament to be played in Turin, Italy, from May 19 to June 5.

“It is too early to talk of medals. Ask me after the 13th round,” he said about the podium chances of India which had finished sixth in the last edition in Spain.

Anand said he was impressed with new entrant Diwakar Prasad Singh. “He is tactically very sharp and I would say he is the discovery of the (National A) championship,” the maestro said.

On his own goals and motivation level after crossing 2800 Elo points, Anand said he was enjoying his game and still had a lot to learn.

“I never think of how much I have achieved or how much more I can. My main aim is to enjoy each game I play. Every time I work on chess my fascination for that position triggers my need to learn more. In a way, that is where I get my energy for chess,” the 36-year-old said.

Anand also spoke highly of National A championship, the country’s premier chess event, and appreciated how players vied closely for an edge.

“I think it is a very exciting event. In the beginning it looked (Koneru) Humpy was running away with the event. It was indeed sad that after such a great start she was not able to keep up in the last rounds. She passed on the baton to Deepan (Chakravarthy). He also played an excellent event,” he said.

Deepan lost the title by just half a point to Surya Sekhar Ganguly, who claimed the honours for third time on the trot in Visakhapatnam last week.

Anand was also all praise for the country’s latest addition to the GM echelon, Neelotpal Das. “I think chess as a sport in India is flowing with accolades. We got two GMs on two consecutive days. In 1987, I was the first GM, we added five more very slowly, now we are at 14.

“Each one of them has a different talent. I think all that I can say is personally I am just very proud to see each wave of players emerging with a lot of talent, hardwork and an eye on the top.

“Yes, I did meet Neelotpal in Madrid. In fact, he played for 10 minutes in my neighbourhood. A local TV picked up the news that an Indian was playing close to my home and that is how we knew Neelotpal was there.

“He is also an extremely nice boy and clearly his stint in Spain has given him a lot of confidence and exposure. These opens are very tough as there are very strong GMs. Neelotpal held his ground and I am sure he will benefit from these closely contested events.”