India needs to host top-level chess events now: Anand
Saturday, January 17, 2009
New Delhi (PTI): With Indians reigning at almost all levels, three-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand feels it is high time India starts hosting top events to take the sport forward in the country.
“India should now work on hosting more and more top-level tournaments, including category tournaments. It’s very important for the growth of the sport in the country,” Anand said.
Asked about the minimum number of tournaments that should be organised, Anand said any number would be an improvement.
“Actually no number can be enough but since there are hardly any top events in the country at the moment, any number would be an improvement,” he told reporters during his visit to the capital city.
Except the women’s world crown, Indian players bagged all top honours last year, including the youth and age-group titles. Besides, India also boasts of as many as 18 Grandmasters and an umpteen number of International Masters.
However, Grandmasters like K Sasikiran and P Harikrishna, who are the top Indian players after Anand, have so far failed to capture people’s imagination.
Although India has such a large talent pool in chess, Anand said, it was still some distance away to catch up with superpower Russia.
“We’re narrowing the gap with Russia but they are still ahead on many counts. We can’t write them off so soon,” he felt.
On who would be the best player to step into his shoes, Anand quipped that “I am still playing chess and not considering retirement for sometime”.
Source: http://www.hindu.com
The USCF needs to host big event the way Susan does with SPICE.