Viswanathan Anand calls for more women chess players

Chess found a way to beat COVID-19 with online games, says five-time world champion Anand

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday hoped for more women’s chess players to break through the ranks in the country.

Anand was in conversation with R. B. Ramesh at  Sportstar’s first-ever South Sports Conclave here. “It is very easy to feel very optimistic about India’s youngsters on the boys’ side but not on the girls’ side,” Anand said during a panel discussion titled ‘Chess and Chennai’.

“Women like Dronavalli Harika, Koneru Humpy, Bhakti Kulkarni and Tanya Sachdeva are still doing well even though they have been around for a while.

“The new ones aren’t really breaking through. I hope this Olympiad will spark something off.

“Globally we need more women taking part in the game. It is a global problem. The India-specific thing is that Humpy and Harika are still very dominant. I wish them well, but it would be good if they had more competition from youngsters.”

Olympiad held online

In 2020, when COVID-19 brought sporting activities to a halt, chess found a way to beat the dreaded virus. Online games featuring players of all standards, from beginners to GMs, were being played across time zones. In late August 2020, India was crowned the joint winner, along with Russia, at the online Chess Olympiad. This was the first time the prestigious event was held virtually.