Crossing 2,600 chess rating easy with consistent play: Anand

Former World Chess Champion and India's Grand Master (GM) V. Anand on Thursday said consistency is the essence for young players to cross the Elo rating point of 2,600.

Participating at the felicitation function of three young GMs - Raunak Sadhwani, Prithu Gupta and P.Iniyan - organised by city-based Microsense Group, he said it is good to see many young chess players sponsored by the group which would make their chess career much easier.

Queried about many young Indian GMs stagnating at an Elo rating of 2,600 and the way to cross that hurdle, Anand said the players should play consistently and then crossing that rating hurdle will not be a problem.

He also said in 1980s, winning the World Juniors title could be an indicator of future World Chess Champion but it is not so anymore as the game has changed and the field has become very tough.

Anand said a person who is playing in the world championship cycle has to play really well during that two years.

Asked about many Indian young players winning the age category world titles but not progressing to the top league, Anand said playing consistently is the only way to go up.

He said he was happy to see several young players being sponsored by Microsense which would make the player's life much easy.

He also said the training camp by former World Chess Champion GM Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik will make a huge difference to the players.

In a video message, Kramnik told the young GMs that the more they advance in the chess world, the more hard work they have to put in.

Kramnik said it was Anand who started the chess boom in India and soon the country will be a dominant player in this sport.

About Microsense's involvement in chess, its Managing Director S. Kailasanathan said the goal is to have several Indian players in the top 10 list in the world.

The group has sponsored about 20 chess players many of whom are now GMs and International Masters (IM).

As a part of felicitation, the three players were presented with a gift cheque of Rs 100,000 each.

( With inputs from IANS )