Chess in India has wind in its sails, says Anand
NEW DELHI: In Viswanathan Anand and D Gukesh, India now has a former five-time world chess champion, and a potential future champion. The two Grandmasters came together at the 20th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit for a discussion on the evolution of chess, while expressing excitement that chess in India has “wind in its sails”.
Anand, of course, is singularly responsible for promoting chess in India over the past three decades. He became the country’s first Grandmaster in 1988 before going on to scale many summits at the global stage. Gukesh, 16, and a bunch of promising teenagers have taken over the baton now, showing ample evidence of their ability to challenge for the biggest honours.
And Anand is playing an influential role in grooming the next generation of champions by training eight youngsters including Gukesh at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy, an initiative he launched in December 2020. Having seen Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa defeat world No 1 Magnus Carlsen this year, he is optimistic of a bright future for chess in India.
“Right now, in India, chess has got the wind in its sails. We have a golden generation,” said Anand during a session moderated by senior sports journalist Sharda Ugra on Saturday.
“Gukesh’s peak rating was 16th (18th) in the world. He is a top 25 player. Arjun is just one or two rating points behind. There is also Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa, who has beaten Magnus five times this year. Magnus takes these games very personally. These things are going to give a lot of confidence. Especially with the boys, we have a fantastic generation. If they all keep challenging each other, it will motivate them all the way to the top. I am going to try and support them for a while longer.”
Gukesh, on his part, is setting his ambitions high. “First of all, I just want to enjoy chess and play as much as I can. My goals are pretty much the same from the start. I want to try and become the best. Hopefully, someday I can become a world champion,” said Gukesh, who became the world’s second youngest GM at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days in 2019.
Anand belongs to an older era, his formative years starkly different from the ubiquitous use of engines that Gukesh and his peers are subjected to. “Unlike Gukesh, I am in a position to compare. I miss the old world terribly,” he lamented. “I really miss going to the club and forming an opinion based on what you saw on the chess board. I miss that. What surprises me is how quickly that world has disappeared. This time is, of course, very interesting. You get a lot of fantastic information but so does everybody else. You don’t get an advantage. So in that sense, I won’t change it for anything.”
What has also changed is the regularity with which games are held in different formats. While classical time control was the ultimate test of a player’s standing in Anand’s peak years, rapid, blitz and bullet chess have gained relevance too.
“I generally like all the formats except bullet,” said Gukesh. “My style suits classical chess. But recently, I have started working on my speed chess skills. You need different qualities.”
Chess has hogged headlines in recent weeks due to the cheating controversy involving 19-year-old American Hans Niemann. After Carlsen alleged that Niemann cheated when he won their encounter at the Sinquefield Cup in September, the latter has responded by filing a $100 million federal lawsuit.
As deputy president of the world chess federation (FIDE), Anand’s say on the matter is significant.
“I saw the moves (in the Carlsen-niemann game) and they did not say anything to me. I was wondering, ‘am I naive or are my colleagues paranoid?’ Maybe, I am too trusting. Or maybe I have gotten into the habit of thinking, ‘when I cannot prove, it’s better to keep your mouth shut.’ With computer assistance, there will be no smoking gun. You are not going to catch someone at the scene of the crime. I keep an open mind. There are commissions now investigating the matter. But as deputy president, I have to be careful. It’s not even about jeopardising the organisation. We will need a procedure that works consistently. You can have an opinion in this one case but you need something that works in all these cases,” he said.