Anand & Co gear up to defend Online Olympiad crown  

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Those who have followed Viswanathan Anand’s career over the years will know that he is meticulous in his preparation before a major tournament. It has been no different before the Online Chess Olympiad, where India’s matches begin from September 8 onwards. India are defending champions, having shared the trophy with Russia last year due to an internet outage in the final, and will be led by the five-time world champ. 

The Indian team has gathered at a hotel in Chennai for the event — which runs till September 15 — in order to avoid any issues with the internet through the course of the tournament. Among the 12-member Indian team, only P Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy and D Harika haven’t joined the team in Chennai and will be taking part from their respective homes. 

Anand exuded a picture of calmness at a media interaction here on Monday and said that he was happy that most of the players were able to come together for the event. “I wanted to have some team atmosphere. It is a very nice ambience to be in. All of us are staying on the same floor and are able to interact a lot. Once again, we are missing out on opponents and we don’t have a chess board, but it’s as close to what you can get these days,” said Anand.  

India are in Pool B alongside France, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Sweden, China, Belarus, Moldova, Slovenia and Egypt. The top division of the Olympiad consists of four pools of 10 teams each and the top two teams from each pool will advance to the quarters. The event will be held in the rapid chess format. “We have an excellent team. We are very strong on every board. We will take it one step at a time, start round by round. We will not let our expectations get ahead of us, but we are all eager to do well of course,” added the legend. 

Anand enjoys the rapid format and will be keen to ensure that India retain the crown. The other players in the team include Vidit Gujrathi, Harikrishna, B Adhiban, Humpy, Harika, Tania Sachdev, Bhakti Kulkarni, R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, R Vaishali and Savitha Shri.  “Anand has been preparing in earnest for the last couple of weeks without any distraction,” said Aruna, wife and manager of Anand.

This is the second successive year where the Olympiad is being held online. Anand has said in the past that he is not a big fan of online chess and prefers over-the-board tournaments. But the fact that the players are at least together at the same venue is a source of comfort. 

Full story: newindianexpress.com