Anand focusses on GCT and World Cup

“Right now, my focus this year is on the Grand Chess Tour and the World Cup in September,” said the former World champion while taking part in a training session organized by Velammal Vidyalaya at a city hotel on Friday. 

The Grand Chess Tour is a five-tournament event in various cities played under the classical and blitz format.  This is the first-time Anand is seen training children in a public event. He used to train with players from the city and his close associates in private camps. 

The gathering at the hotel included some former players from the city who helped Anand in the workshop but many of them were enthusiasts who wanted to get a glimpse of the five-time World Champion, players from the city, trainees and their parents. 

“Today I will concentrate on endgames and puzzles, then to openings and on the last day a summary,” the Grandmaster said. To a question from the media about the artificial intelligence popularised by computers, Anand said the machine had a profound impact on the game and was a necessary evil. “I would not call it artificial intelligence. You can’t train without a computer now. 

Especially in endgames, the computers are always spot on,” he said. The champion was quick to add that there is a big danger because the machine plays perfectly in endgames. 

“That is what I am going to dwell on in my camp. You have to understand the endings, it looks so simple when computers solve the studies but you should know it when you face the positions on the board,” explained Anand. “It is an excellent tool but you have to mix and match when you are on your own.” 

Anand felt Magnus Carlsen is still the best in world chess but ‘the gap (between him and the rest) is closer than before’. He said the average age of the top 10 players, 30 years ago was 36 and ten years ago it was 26, so there is no denying chess is getting younger. He singled out American Wesley So as the most significant player to perform on the world stage in the last two years. 

The master was all praise for Pentala Harikrishna for his consistent performances in the last two years when he stayed in the 2750-bracket in the rating list. He complimented Baskaran Adhiban for his excellent comeback in the Tata tournament this year and especially the kind of decisions he made while playing the big names. “He was not intimidated by anyone, he was bold and the way he adopted Kings Gambit against Wesley So was commendable,” he said.