Viswanathan Anand: Indian chess experiencing ‘snowball effect’

Technology has played a key role in enabling the proliferation of Grandmasters in India, says Anand.

Viswanathan Anand releases his autobiography ‘Mind Master’ in Mumbai on Thursday.

The proliferation of chess Grandmasters in India has a pattern resembling a “snowball effect,” Viswanathan Anand has said.

“It happens in a pattern, resembling a snowball effect,” Anand, India’s first GM, said on the sidelines of a discussion on the sport as brand ambassador of Fincare Small Finance Bank .

India has 64 GMs, the youngest, at 12 years, seven months, being D. Gukesh. Anand said: “After 63 players became GMs, I was waiting for No. 64, since it would have made a nice chess set (equalling 64 squares on a chess board). Within weeks of thinking about it, India got her 64th Grandmaster.”

‘Technology driven’

Crediting technology for youngsters to get to that elite level, Anand said: “Chess is technology driven. Grandmasters are getting younger due to access to a chess coach for current players, on their computers and on mobiles.”

Access to chess games and expert advise on the internet is a common feature.

Anand said he has made a passing reference to Indian Grandmasters in his autobiography titled ‘Mind Master - Winning Lessons From A Champion’s Life’.

Answering a query about 12-year-olds — Gukesh broke the record in 2019 of R. Praggnanandhaa who earned the coveted rank at 12 years, 10 months last year — achieving a tough task, he pointed to the depth in Indian chess. “Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh are promising. I hate to take these three names because we have 17-year-olds as talented,” he said.