Chennai: Viswanathan Anand is set to be part of the next edition of Chess Olympiad which will be held at Batumi, Georgia, in September this year. The presence of Anand, who had last taken part in the biennial event back in 2006, will be a big boost for India.
“We are glad that Anand has accepted to be part of the tournament,” All-India Chess Federation (AICF) president PR Venkatrama Raja said at a ceremony to felicitate Anand here on Friday. The event saw AICF award the recently-crowned world rapid chess champion with a cheque of Rs 5 Lakh.
Anand had also claimed a bronze in the Blitz event at the tournament.
Anand said it felt happy to be the world champion again after the tough time he had endured in the last few years.
He said he had missed out for a few years the feeling of people calling him a world champion. His performance in the last two years on occasions has been “wobbly”, with good and bad results, he said.
“It has been a struggle. Part of it was getting used to all the new talents that are coming up and the way the chess world is changing.
“Anyway the last two rapid events that I played in did not go so well. I was looking forward to a podium finish, but this (winning the gold in rapid) was unexpected,” Anand said.
“I am delighted to be here. I have always genuinely enjoyed the reception I get as a world champion. A world title is always special. It does one thing that doesn’t happen with any other tournament. Your name gets changed suddenly.”
He also picked players D Harika, Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, P Iniyan, S P Sethuraman, Vidit Gujrathi and B Adibhan among others as the names to watch out for in future.
Agencies
