Vishy: India has hit high-water mark

Vishy Anand at MIG Cricket Club in Bandra yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

When it is Viswanathan Anand, you must celebrate the cerebral. The chess legend was in Mumbai on Thursday morning, speaking at a meet and greet by Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in association with the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) at MIG Cricket Club, Bandra.

While the focus was on the upcoming Global Chess League to be held in London from October 3 to 12, Anand was also peppered with questions about India's shiny, bright moment - winning two golds at the recent Chess Olympiad in Hungary.

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Anand was asked whether he had foreseen such a tremendous achievement, to which he said to some laughs, "I am not that much of a futurologist."

He continued, "it was evident though that the game was growing in popularity, so what has been achieved was not much of a surprise but it certainly came quickly. Indian chess has hit its high-water mark. Remember, we could have won two golds at the last Olympiad [2022] in Chennai. The men's medal was literally in our hands. The women were leading. In Hungary, after the fourth round, I was thinking, who could stop us now? The women had a late setback, but they won and that is very impressive, a great achievement."

Anand also said the fact that, "we could afford one or two accidents, which showed us the depth we have. This generation is very talented, constantly surprising us as to what they can do."

About the Global Chess League, Anand was enthused about London as a venue. "It is a very, very important city with a big chess community," he said.