Vishy Anand takes proactive approach to training Indian chess players
“I feel like I am ahead of other girls because of WACA” – Vaishali Rameshbabu
The Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) is a coaching or training institution created by former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. The Indian grandmaster, 51, has taken five of India’s brightest chess talents, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali Rameshbabu, Nihal Sarin, Dommaraju Gukesh and Raunak Sadhwani and is moulding them into world championship candidates.
Praggnanandhaa and Sarin have broken into the FIDE 2600 zone, and Gukesh and Sadhwani are close to 2550. Vaishali Rameshbabu is the best junior in India and is ranked closely behind two Indian full-fledged grandmasters, Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
Anand, who ruled the number one spot in Indian chess for about three decades, is rated 2753 by FIDE and is still active. The five-time world champion has teamed up with Westbridge Capital, an acclaimed investment firm. He has given the five youngsters mentioned a fellowship and will personally mentor them. Each year the players will be assessed based on their performances and improvement, and new players will take their places. Anand told ChessBase India that his inspiration to establish the academy came from an Olympic gold quest, the Mikhail Botvinnik Academy and the Samford Fellowship.