Viswanathan Anand may not have to take a back-door exit from the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium like Magnus Carlsen had to do in 2024, to avoid hundreds of waiting fans at the main entrance, but the latest edition of the Tata Steel Chess India is all about the Indian maestro’s return to the tournament after six years.

For the 56-year-old, who is a perfect example of been-there-done-that, playing chess against players who are either still in their teens or early 20s is proof of the longevity of the five-time world champion. And the zeal.

As tournament director, Dibyendu Barua, who has played against Anand in the later part of the ‘80s and the entire ‘90s, said: “Some of the games you played were absolutely fantastic. You are physically so fit. How do you maintain this?”

Anand has played against the likes of Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Boris Gelfand and now matches his wits against the Nihal Sarins, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaas and Arjun Erigaisis. Age has not taken away the edge from his game and that was in ample display in the last three days of the tournament here, as he finished second to Sarin in the rapid section on Friday.

“I think modern chess is just very different. I mean, even when Gelfand plays nowadays, or I, we are forced to do the same thing. This computerised way of playing chess is part of everybody’s No.1 hobby. It’s not like I’m playing hostile or something like that. Everyone evolves. And beyond that, it’s too absolute. It’s too specific. You get up, you think of a game, you don’t have the time to sit and ruminate on what would they have played 40 years earlier or something,” Anand, as articulate as ever, said at a news conference at the venue.

“Yes, that change has happened, but we’ve kind of moved on. But it’s true that you feel this more and more. And trying to catch up this year, I realised the same thing. I was brushing up on everything. It’s just so much new information. And it floods you,” he added.

Anand wears many hats these days. He is the vice-president of the Fide, does commentary...

“My biggest problem recently is that after seven or eight months of not playing chess, I forgot that aspect of (being in the thick of things). I mean, I sort of know what they’re doing, I can do commentary, and it’s not like the moves are going to be totally off. But it’s another thing, when you’re playing.

“It’s actually what am I going to do now. What opening am I going to enter, all these on-the-spot decisions you forget to take when you’re off for a certain period. I’m glad that the build-up to it went very well, and always a good start is the best.”

Before coming to Calcutta, Anand had played in the Jerusalem Masters and the Global Chess League which “sort of helped me for TSIC.”

Talking about his plans for this year, Anand said he has not yet decided about the
tournaments he would be part of. “Let’s see,” was how he signed off.