Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. File
| Photo Credit:
JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
He has participated within the prestigious Norway Chess Tournament’s eight of 12 editions to this point. While Viswanathan Anand is about to return to Norway subsequent month as a commentator, his most favorite reminiscence of an occasion that’s being billed because the Champions League of the chess world shouldn’t be with black or white items on the board. In truth, it got here on a relaxation day.
“It would have to be the time I won. the cooking… the chef’s competition. I was the most surprised of all, but my wife might top me. These rest day activities are often lots and lots of fun, so that’s a good memory,” Anand stated by way of videoconferencing during an occasion that noticed the Norway Chess organisers work together with the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai members.
What did Anand cook dinner, although? The legendary chess participant remembered each little bit of his similar to any of his well-known faceoffs in opposition to his arch-rivals. “We were given some ingredients. It was Halibut sauce, plus Halibut plus Hollandaise sauce, which we had to make and we were supposed to cut some greens as well to go along with it,” Anand recalled.
“My team member was Ding, who had injured himself in a cycling accident, so he was only able to cut vegetables. And he just cut them so finely, because there’s nothing else he could contribute for one hour or a bit more, so he was just very methodical. I thought when I put the dish into the oven and I forgot to turn it on and I realized I forgotten to turn it on, I thought I must have messed up any chances I had. But luckily it was only a few minutes and then it turned out a bit okay. But my Hollandaise sauce was the winning ingredient.”
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While Anand was once the lone flagbearer of India’s problem during the match’s early years, Norway Chess has witnessed growing Indian participation. While three of the 12 individuals final 12 months have been Indians, this 12 months will witness D. Gukesh, Arjun Eragaisi, Koneru Humpy and R. Vaishali taking over the most effective of the most effective chess gamers on this planet for a whopping prize cash.
Anand was assured that Gukesh will probably be able to a repeat of the World Championship title match in opposition to Magnus Carlsen’s on the latter’s house turf. “I expect a very exciting battle. Gukesh will not lack motivation or the determination to go after Magnus. But Magnus is also highly motivated by the challenge of playing against our young players,” Anand stated.
“I have seen him in multiple tournaments whether it’s Kolkata or the World Rapid Blitz, he eagerly looks forward to these match-ups and so we have the perfect storm. I think we have the right to expect some great battles.”
Norway Chess will host its thirteenth version from May 26 to June 6. Having emerged as one of the vital sought-after occasions within the chess calendar by the Grandmasters and fanatics alike, Norway Chess has launched a number of partaking improvements that gives a sneak peek into a participant’s match-day proceedings during a match.
Kjell Madland, the Managing Director and the mind behind Norway Chess, hoped that the occasion won’t solely generate partnership from the Indian chess ecosystem however might nicely broaden into internet hosting a leg of the occasion in India quickly.
Published – April 10, 2025 09:14 pm IST
