Chennai: Garry Kasparov says five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand “brings honour to the sport and to his nation”, but predicts a victory for Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship match that starts here from Saturday.

Kasparov was full of praise for the Indian. “Anand is a fantastic chess player who brings honour to the sport and to his nation with his skill and his boundless good nature. If he wins this match his high place on chess Olympus is assured,” Kasparov said.

Citing his familiarity with both the players, the Russian, who ruled the chess world for over 20 years, predicted a Carlsen victory.

“I am predicting a Carlsen victory because of his talent, his results, and the tides of chess history. I am rooting for a Carlsen victory because a new generation deserves a new champion.

“Most of all, I am hoping for big games, a hard fight, and a great boost for chess around the world as a legend and a legend-in-the-making do battle in Chennai,” Kasparov wrote in a newspaper.

Kasparov, however, noted that it would not be easy for Carlsen. “This is one of the most anticipated matches in recent history and it is no insult to Anand that most of the anticipation circles around the 22-year-old challenger.

“Carlsen is the favourite because results and objective quality matter, but it will not be easy and it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which he loses the match. Anand has deep experience at every level and that carries with it practical preparation advantages as well as psychological preparedness.”

Kasparov’s arrival in Chennai and his likely attendance in the third game of the match are going to cause a furore.

“I am about to head to India, where I will first speak at the THiNK conference in Goa before heading to Chennai to visit the much-anticipated World Championship match,” he said.

During and after the last World Championship match in 2012 at Moscow, that was won by Anand against Boris Gelfand of Israel, Kasparov had criticised Anand’s play and the Indian had retorted back.

“Some have suggested my rooting loyalties should lie with my fellow ‘old man’ Anand and not with the 22-year-old who broke my rating record and who will share my record as youngest world champion ever should he prevail in Chennai. But, while I cannot say I feel joy when one of my records falls, a win for Carlsen will also be a win for the chess world.