Viswanathan Anand compares Indian chess to Soviet Union's dominance: ‘We are already a chess superpower’

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand has lavished praise on the country’s new generation of grandmasters, asserting that India is already a chess superpower in many ways. In a recent conversation, Anand spoke about the meteoric rise of young Indian players like D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi, who have taken the chess world by storm.

The five-time world champion highlighted the depth of Indian chess talent and the competitive spirit among young players. India’s presence in world chess has grown exponentially, especially since Anand made history in the early 2000s by breaking the Soviet Union’s hegemony.

Viswanathan Anand: India is already a chess superpower

Talking about India’s rise in the chess world with TV9 Network, Anand said: “In some ways, we already are the superpower in chess. There are many metrics by which we are. There are many measures by which some other country is. We are not dominant like the Soviet Union used to be, but if you take, for instance, the age of our top players, with me as an exception, I think the oldest one is 21.”

“They’re all incredibly young, which means they have a long time ahead. Secondly, they are all in the top 10, top 20, or top 50, and the number keeps increasing. They are all there together, and can you imagine how fantastic that is for us? The moment one of them has a good result, the others are motivated to catch up. They have this beautiful combination of friendship and rivalry,” Anand added.

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India’s biggest chess breakthrough came last year when D Gukesh clinched the World Chess Championship title in Singapore, defeating reigning champion Ding Liren. It was a landmark moment in Indian chess, making Gukesh the youngest undisputed world champion in history and only the second Indian to win the title after Anand.

Currently, three Indian players are in the top ten, Gukesh is ranked third, just behind World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi holds the fifth spot, and Praggnanandhaa is ranked eighth.

Aravindh Chithambaram also made headlines after a sensational Prague Masters campaign, climbing eight places to become World No. 14. Interestingly, Anand himself now sits at 15th in the world rankings.

Meanwhile, Nihal Sarin recently climbed two places in the rankings to become World No. 41. Vidit Gujrathi (24th) and Harikrishna Pentala (30th) continue to hold strong positions in the FIDE rankings.