No plans to retire now, says Anand

Indian grandmaster and world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, who’s back in his home town Chennai after defending his fifth world title, said that he had no plans to retire and would look forward to the next competitions.

“There is no plan of retiring right now. In fact, having just won the championship has boosted my morale and I am looking forward to the next series,” Anand told reporters after presenting the first of NIIT Limited’s 10 Turning Point Scholarships of 100 per cent fee waiver to a student in Chennai.

On repeated questions on his thoughts on retirement, Anand said that he was looking forward to the contest in Romania by the end of this month and that there was no reason to retire as long as he enjoyed the game.

Replying to a query on what his next aim would be after this recent win at the World Chess Championship, he said, “Winning in Moscow meant a lot, emotionally. I don’t think about a competition by its number. Every title game is different and all you want is to defend that particular match. There is no checklist.”

Boris Gelfand, his opponent in the recently-held world championship, was competitive with his own set of novelty methods. “This was one of the biggest tests for me so far, and I can now relax and enjoy,” he said.

Speaking on the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to make chess a must for school children in the age group of between seven and 17 years, Anand said that it was a positive move and will encourage more students to learn and excel in the game.

“Chess has huge educational benefits in terms of increasing concentration and thinking. It also helps in all ways of life, not only in education,” he said, while thanking the state chief minister J Jayalalithaa for rewarding him. The chief minister has announced a reward of Rs 2 crore to Anand, after he won the world championship title for the fifth time.