WATCH: Vishwanathan Anand proudly watches new generation of Indian players at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024

Vishwanathan Anand proudly watched the Indian players taking part in the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024. The Chess legend played a key role in helping India make inroads into the game which was not in their culture about 30-40 years ago. All of it seemed to have been fruitful with the emergence of talented players who can take on the best players in the world.

For the first time in the history of Chess, India has 2 players in the top 5 of the world rankings. In the video, Anand proudly sees the likes of Gukesh Dommaraju, Ramesh Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Vidit Gujrathi taking part in their matches. Vishy played a key role in the emergence of these talents.

Watch the video here -

pic.twitter.com/BEdFlxPuJl

— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) September 18, 2024

Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa made it big in Chess at a young age. In 2023, Prag was the finalist in the Chess World Championship. Gukesh is set to be a part of the World Championship later this year in Singapore. It has been a long time since an Indian was a world champion in Chess.

Vishwanathan Anand's Legacy in Chess

In his prime, Anand was ranked first in the world for a long time. In 1988, he became India's first-ever grand master. In 2000, Vishy beat Alexei Shirov and won the World Championship. He held on to the title till 2002. Anand became an undisputed world champion for three times in a row in 2008, 2010, and 2012.

The star player's reign came to an end in 2013 when Magnus Carlsen beat him leading to the start of a new era. In 2008, Vishwanathan became just the fourth player in history to cross the FIDE ratings of over 2800 Elo Mark.

For 21 months, Anand was ranked first in the world, the sixth-longest in Chess. In the 1991-92 season, when the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award was introduced for the first time, Anand was the maiden recipient. In 2007, the Chess star became the first Sportsperson to win the Padma Vibhushan award.