Viswanathan Anand was confident that India would be in a position to win the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad this time and the legendary Grandmaster, who has played a key role in grooming some of the most talented youngsters in Indian chess, would have been overjoyed when the country won gold in both men’s and women’s categories at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
The Indian men’s team comprising world championship challengers D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigesi, Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna won the gold medal in the open category, beating top seeds USA and Uzbekistan. Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and Tania Sachdev won the gold medal for India in the women’s category, beating Kazakhstan and USA.
Both Indian teams won gold medals for the first time and the country’s first chess superstar Anand played a role in it. Both teams had won bronze medals in the last Olympiad held on home soil in Chennai. Anand knew that at that time he came close to winning the gold medal but fell short in the final stages.
However, in an interview to PTI before the Olympiad, five-time world champion Anand had expressed confidence in the ability of both the teams to win the title in Budapest and it was an icing on the cake that he was there to witness the history created by these teams in the Hungarian capital. He had said, “You know, if I have to throw the dice, these are good teams (to bet on).”
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Erigesi and Vaishali have trained at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy that the 54-year-old Anand set up in Chennai four years ago. Gukesh, 18, and Praggnanandhaa, 19, have often said that they would not have reached where they are without ‘Vishy Sir’, so it was no surprise that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) addressed him as the ‘Father of Progress in Indian Chess’.
Earlier, legendary Grandmaster Garry Kasparov had praised Anand, saying that ‘Vish Anand’s disciples are making a splash’. He said this after Gukesh became the youngest world title challenger by winning the Candidates Tournament in April. Anand likes to share the credit with the players’ parents and initial coaches but he says that his idea of a chess academy also played its part, which was inspired by the schools he saw in the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.
Speaking to FIDE during the Olympiad, Anand had admitted that he was surprised by the progress of players like Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa. “I took all the youngsters who became Grandmasters before the age of 14. Honestly, my idea was to support them from top juniors to becoming world champions,” he said.
“My initial group had Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, Arjun joined later. The girls also had Vaishali. Did I expect it to grow so fast? Not really. Did I expect it to happen? Yes. But it is unbelievable,” Anand said. “It is not a coincidence but at the same time it has exceeded my expectations,” he added.
Anand founded the academy in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. Anand knew he had a lot of special kids who were counting on him to take them forward and he was glad to be there for them. “It feels like a magical time for India. As I said, with players like these, you know you will have a certain amount of results, but they have consistently exceeded (expectations). It is great to have all this at the same time,” he said.
