Calcutta: Viswanathan Anand will be the star attraction in the Tata Steel Chess India rapid and blitz tournament to be held from November 9-14 here at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Anand, 48, said on Saturday that he would return to the city to play in an international competition after a gap of 32 years.

"I remember playing my first GM tournament in Calcutta in 1986. That was also a Tata Steel event. I was an International Master then," the five-time world champion said.

"I have played occasionally in India. But to have fellow top-10 players here, I am very happy and excited to be a part of it. It will be a super tournament.

"I hope this tournament will revitalise chess in India. We now have a lot of fans in India who follow chess, but its always happening somewhere else, in some other time zone. This will be an excellent chance for them to come and enjoy like when the World Championship happened in Chennai, a lot of people saw an event live. This will be the same thing," Anand added.

The $40,000 prize money tournament will feature three top players in the 2800-plus Elo rating, it was announced. The top players include Azerbaijan GM and world number three Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Armenian GM and world number six Levon Aronian, United States' GM Wesley So who is world number nine.

The participants will play a single round robin rapid tournament from November 9-11 followed by a double round robin blitz on the last two days. Anand is also part of the Indian contingent for the Chess Olympiad later this month. It will be his first appearance in the tournament since 2006.

Apart from the Indian chess wizard, the Indian GMs include P Harikrishna, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Vidit Gujarati, Nihal Sarin and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa as a total of 11 top-ranked players will compete in the meet at the ICCR.

The participants will play a single round robin rapid tournament from November 9-11 followed by a double round robin blitz on the last two days.