The man of the moment in world chess is my teammate at Global Chess League: Anand

Viswanathan Anand doesn’t play much chess these days. That shouldn’t be surprising: the five-time World champion turned 56 on Thursday.

But he makes it a point to play the Global Chess League every year. He once again is representing Ganges Grandmasters, in the third season, He is excited to be playing in the third edition, which kicks off in Mumbai on December 14.

“The fact that it is happening in Mumbai makes it special,” Anand told The Hindu over the phone. “And I think the league is improving year after year. It is going to be a great feeling to have the league at home for the first time.”

He believes the league could scale up this season in Mumbai. “The league is presenting chess in a new way, focussing on the visual effect, and the team dynamics, and all that,” he said. “I think they will borrow a lot of ideas from other successful Indian leagues, like the IPL. Mumbai is a great venue for the event, and brings it very close to all the Indian fans.”

Anand is glad that his team has two of the world’s best young players, Javokhir Sindarov and Vincent Keymer; both are in top form, too. Keymer is now the World No. 4 while Sindarov was the surprise winner at the recent Chess World Cup in Goa.

“Vincent has been the hot player this year, but Javokhir has been spectacular over the last couple of months,” he said. “That clearly will help our team. I have been noticing that Javokhir’s strength has been improving a lot, but there is always a moment when it accelerates, and right now it feels he is the man of the moment.”

Anand is also all praise for the man of the moment in Indian chess, R. Praggnanandhaa, who clinched the last Candidates slot at the start of the week by winning the FIDE Circuit. “The beauty of winning the circuit is that you don’t have to explain to people,” he said. “Normally, you say that someone had one good result, and he qualified, but Pragg won the long qualifying cycle by winning several elite tournaments.”

He will be the only Indian at Cyprus, where the Candidates will be played in March-April next year. “You must keep in mind that of the three Indians last time, one of them is now world champion,” he pointed out. “And then if you think we swapped three women – who will play in Cyprus – and two men for last year’s two women and three men, I will take that.”