CHENNAI: When R Vaishali sits across China’s Ju Wenjun at the Chess World Championship later this year, she will carry more than just hopes. The 56-year-old Viswanathan Anand, a five-time World Champion, insists that she carries a genuine chance of becoming the first women’s World Champion from the country.
Anand, who was conferred with the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India Medal for his long-lasting impact on the sport, insisted that Wenjun will have the taller task of defending her title, at a special event here on Wednesday.
Here’s an excerpt from Anand’s conversation with select journalists at the event:
Do you think Gukesh has to prepare anything specially, or with certain kinds of players before his match-up with Sindarov?
I think both of them will be preparing in all sorts of interesting and new ways. I think also the nature of preparation for these matches has changed and people improvise a lot more.
Is retaining the title tougher than winning the title?
You can say Gukesh’s going to retain it for the first time. More seriously, I think these things don't really matter to the player. The player only thinks, ‘How do I do my best tomorrow? How do I come in the right frame of mind?’ I think the rest is just idle talk. You're really focused on how you're going to be the best that you can be.
Does venue matter in the World Championship? Did you have a preference during your title days?
I think most venues, you just settle in and you play. The only question is, if it's a home venue, then you need to adjust to it, with all the pressure around you.
Gukesh was a little low during Norway Chess, where he spoke about his relationship with the sport, what kind of advice would you give him before his title defence?
I would basically say it's about getting back to the level where you play good chess and you have to block out other things. Becoming World Champion [Gukesh] at 18 is a big change in your life. It also is a big change in how other people look at you. So there's a lot of mental stuff to unpack, but in the end you have to hunker down and play good chess again.
What do you make of Vaishali’s chances of winning the World title? Do you think her win could change the landscape of women’s chess in India?
Definitely, already the fact that she’s a challenger, without [Koneru] Humpy is good news for India women’s chess. Obviously, if she wins, it will be magnified but I would still say Ju Wenjun [China] is very strong. But it will already be eight years since she became the World Champion, so it will be harder for Wenjun to motivate herself.
It is much easier for Vaishali to win the title, her chances are quite reasonable at the upcoming World Championship.
India is a strong contender at the Chess Olympiad, any thoughts on how the team is going to look like?
I imagine they'll be very similar to the last team, and at most one board will change. And, they are amongst the top three or four, but we already saw the Chinese team which played in Hong Kong was kind of similar to the main team, and I think China will be a serious contender, as will Uzbekistan again. Uzbekistan, even stronger now, and now there's an India-Uzbekistan rivalry as well. The US as always [are strong], those are the teams that I think we're going to fight.