"You Can't Ask For A Better Team": Viswanathan Anand On India's Chess Squad For Asian Games

05.09.2023 - 16:45 sports.ndtv.com

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday said he could not have asked for a stronger Indian chess lineup in the upcoming Asian Games.

Indian chess has been on a stunning upswing, and in the recently-concluded Baku World Cup, an unprecedented four Indian players advanced to the quarterfinals, with R Praggnanandhaa making history by becoming the youngest to win a silver medal.

Adding to this wave of success, last week saw Anand's 17-year-old protege, D Gukesh, ending his mentor's 37-year-long reign as India's No.

1 player. Gukesh achieved an impressive Elo rating of 2758, surpassing the Indian legend by four points and marking a significant milestone in the country's chess history. "I'm always nervous to just look at the rankings and think, oh, we're going to win this, we're going to win that," Anand said during a media interaction on the sidelines of Tata Steel Chess India here. "There are other very good teams.

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Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday said he could not have asked for a stronger Indian chess lineup in the upcoming Asian Games. Indian chess has been on a stunning upswing, and in the recently-concluded Baku World Cup, an unprecedented four Indian players advanced to the quarterfinals, with R Praggnanandhaa making history by becoming the youngest to win a silver medal. Adding to this wave of success, last week saw Anand's 17-year-old protege, D Gukesh, ending his mentor's 37-year-long reign as India's No. 1 player.

D Gukesh Replaces Viswanathan Anand As India's Top Chess Player After 37 Years

Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has replaced the legendary Viswanathan Anand as India's top chess player after more than three decades. Anand has been India's No.1 since July 1986. The 17-year old Chennai GM, who recently lost in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup in Baku to Magnus Carlsen, moved ahead of Anand to be ranked No.8 in the world. Gukesh broke into the top 10 of the FIDE rating list for the first time. Anand, a five-time world champion is currently ranked No.9.

D Gukesh Replaces Viswanathan Anand As India's Top Chess Player After 37 Years

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy Excited About Young Indian Chess Brigade

She knows what it takes to achieve success at a young age as the world's youngest female GM Koneru Humpy on Wednesday said the recent success of young Indians at the World Cup will take the legacy of Viswanathan Anand forward. R Praggnanandhaa became the youngest player at 18 to be a World Cup runner-up last week. In the course of his campaign, he also sealed his berth in the eight-player Candidates Tournament, which would determine the challenger to world champion Ding Liren, in the chess' ultimate battle in 2024.

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy Excited About Young Indian Chess Brigade

"India Has Entered Golden Era Of Chess, Will Have 100 GMs Soon": AICF Chief

All India Chess Federation (AICF) president Sanjay Kapoor said Indian chess has entered the "golden era" and the country will have over a hundred Grandmasters within two years. For years, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand dominated the conversation on Indian chess and rightly so. However, the dynamics have changed in the past decade with youngsters like R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi making rapid progress in the international arena.