Anand working to raise his game ahead of World Championships
PTI 20 December 2009, 08:42pm IST

BANGALORE: Having endured a rather unproductive year in terms of achievement, World chess champion Viswanathan Anand says he is working to raise his game and play aggressively to overcome tough opponents at the World Chess Championship next year.

“I need to up my game and play aggressively. Veselin Topalov is very aggressive player. Vladimir Kramnik is a tough opponent as well. The preparations are on,” said Anand, who has been preparing in right earnest for the two million euro World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria next April.

“This year has been a mix of fortunes. But compared to 2007-08, it has been a bad year. There were quite a few ups and downs. I will have to raise my game to compete against the best,” said Anand.

While admitting that his opponents had improvised their game, he said lack of consistency had been his undoing this year.

“The opponents I faced showed lot of maturity and improvement. They also matched my game. I need to improvise on my moves,” said Anand.

“I have the Corus tournament and World Championships next year. They are important tournaments. I will have to forget the past and concentrate on the new season.”

Aand was happy that Indian youngsters were doing well in international chess championships.

“I rate P Harikrishna, Saumya Swaminathan, Baskaran Adhiban and Parimajan Negi as highly promising youngsters. They have a bright future as their performance in the international scene has been very impressive,” said Anand.

The 40-year-old Grandmaster believed that India is heading in right direction and should be making their mark on the international scene.

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