India’s chess squads have achieved a historic double victory at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, claiming both the open and women’s gold medals. This triumph comes after a near miss in Chennai, India, in 2022. Legendary Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, while expressing his pride in the achievement, acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead in defending these titles in the years to come.
Speaking at a meet and greet hosted by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai, Anand emphasized the importance of teamwork in the Olympiad format. “A chess team like in the Olympiad is a collection of the sum of the scores of four individual boards. That’s clear. But it shows the depth we have. One of the reasons I thought India was one of the favourites this year is simply because we could afford one or two accidents in every other round,” he explained.
Anand further elaborated, “In every game, one or two boards could go wrong. You know that still the players are so prominent in many boards that things might work out for us. Now, I try to be realistic and imagine that in future Olympiads it won’t be this easy. That this was in fact a high watermark. But then again, especially in this generation, this very talented generation constantly surprises with what they can do.”
Despite the current success, Anand believes the future holds new challenges. “I am not that much of a futurologist. I wouldn’t have been able to imagine that. But you could see that the popularity of the game was growing steadily for several decades. Slowly barrier after barrier is being crossed,” he said.
Anand’s reflections highlight the dramatic shift in the chess landscape. “If you look at it from that point of view, then I think what has happened in the last five years doesn’t come as such a big surprise. Though the extent of it, perhaps, or how quickly it happened is interesting. Just to remind people, we could have won two gold medals in Chennai (in 2022).” He acknowledged the rapid rise of the game’s popularity and the emergence of a new generation of talented players. While India’s current dominance is remarkable, the quest to retain these titles in future Olympiads will undoubtedly be a challenging journey.
