Chennai Grand Masters 2023: Anand “happy to be part of so many projects” as FIDE Deputy President

Five-time world champion and FIDE Deputy President Viswanathan Anand marked his presence at the second round of the Chennai Grand Master 2023 tournament held at the Leela Palace here on Saturday.

Anand commenced the second round by executing the ceremonial ‘first move’ in the matchup between local favourites D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi.

Subsequently, he joined the live commentary panel, sharing his insights on the game with a packed audience at the venue.

Anand has embraced his new role as FIDE’s Deputy President. “So far, I’ve enjoyed it. It gives me a new perspective. You’ve spent your entire life competing in tournaments, but you’ve never seen the other side. The people who make it all happen, the arbiters, and a lot of the machinery,” Anand said.

“I’m very happy that I’ve been part of so many projects. Notably, the Global Chess League, the Olympiad last year, the World Championship in Kazakhstan, World Cup… just being part of the team and executing all of these things has been very nice, and I believe we did a very good job,” he remarked about his new role.

The eight-player, $60,000 event is officially the strongest tournament held in India, with an average Elo rating of 2711. The previous best was rated 2662 at the AAI International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2011.

The Chennai Grand Master is a closed invitational tournament designed to help Gukesh, Arjun, and top seed Parham Maghsoodloo improve their chances of qualifying for the Candidates tournament, the winner of which will challenge the current world champion, Ding Liren.

Notably, India also hosted the Chess Olympiad in 2022, where about 3000 players from more than 150 countries had participated.

Also read | Battling financial constraints, Grandmaster S.L. Narayanan hopes to end year on a high

When asked if these invitational closed tournaments will help increase the popularity of chess in India, Anand replied, “Yes, absolutely. Most tournaments work as long as you motivate people to follow and watch, but it’s especially exciting to watch in this case, so having these tournaments is a good tradition because you can get a much higher percentage of strong players.

“You could go for the Super Opens in Qatar and elsewhere, but I prefer what we have here. It would be fantastic if it could be scheduled on a regular basis.”

The first GM of India and a resident of Chennai declined to pick any favourites in the current tournament. “In my role as Deputy President or just as Anand,” chuckled Anand, “My response would have to be the same in both cases — no. I can’t set aside my President hat. but all the four or five people who are in the FIDE Circuit race deserve to win.”

Gukesh, who briefly dislodged Anand in the world rankings and ended his 37-year reign as India’s No. 1 player, is currently going through a demanding phase. The 17-year-old has witnessed a slump of over 35 rating points in the past two months.

“Yes, we do chat about these things and slumps and hot streaks are just part of the rough and tumble. It’s not unheard of to have big drops and he always has a chance to come back,” Anand said.

“For me, it’s clear that all of them comfortably play against the top five or top ten players in the world and have pretty good results. They have nothing to suggest that they’re out of place. So, in that sense, we have and are going to have a very stable golden generation.

“In three years, we could have one or two of them in the top 20 consistently. And assuming they have careers of at least a decade and decade and a half then we are well represented,” he added.

FIDE is set to make significant changes to the rating system after the FIDE Qualification Commission and statistician Jeff Sonas proposed several changes to the current rating system aimed at preventing deflation.

Players with lower ratings are currently underrated in the current system, performing above Elo system expectations. This suggests that the current disparity in ratings between players is exaggerated.

After the commission opened a public discussion of the changes to encourage members of the community to submit feedback, the FIDE Council made the final decision to adjust the rating system so that a player’s rating more accurately represents their level of strength.

“I am aware that FIDE studied this problem. They have enacted some measures that are now in effect. I’d rather leave those to people who have done extensive research on the subject than say what I think. But because we’re talking about four hundred points (Elo) difference, it’s not affecting us very quickly, but in the long run, it might get a little out of whack,” said FIDE Deputy President Anand.