After winning the World Chess Championship in Kuwait, Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand says he is not immediately going into deep thought about the upcoming challenge in October versus Vladimir Kramnik. He, however, says “It is a major match and I am looking forward to it. He is a great player and I will have to practise hard.”In Germany he will take him on for the world championship.Anand has a 10-9 win record over the Russian GM. But the Indian world champion, nevertheless, says it will be a big challenge. “We have played around 75 matches together, but it will still be a big challenge in front of me. Before that, I have season-opening tournaments like Linares and Corus which will get over by March and I am currently concentrating on that only,” Anand said. The world champion said he wants to make chess as popular as cricket and take it to all the rural areas of the country. Anand, who now visits the country often, has been busy visiting the various states across including Assam, Tripura and says there are players who have potential all they need is proper training. “Five years ago, I dreamt of having a big movement in the nation as far as chess was concerned. I am happy to see that movement has started, as in my recent visit to states like Assam and Tripura I saw children taking keen interest in this mind sport,” Anand said adding that now it needs to be converted into a mass movement. Anand, who was in town to felicitate the winners of the Mind Champions Academy Chess Masters 2007 winners, said that all the schools should start taking part in various chess tournaments and should encourage the students to play chess as it not only helps them to improve their mind skills but also in the academic sphere. Anand, who climbed to the top of FIDE’s world ranking list for the first time in his over two-decade career and went on to clinch the World Championship title as well as the ELO rating of 2800 to make it a memorable year, said that the chess enthusiasts should never comprise on academics for the sport. “I left studies when I was in the top 5 in the world but if someone is leaving studies just for the sake of playin then it is certainly a mistake,” Anand said.
