None of the players in the Hoogeven International chess tournament is in top 100. This is really a weak field.
Ever since Vishwanathan Anand burst onto the chess scene in the 80\'s he had steadily racked up achievements at national and international levels viz. 1. National champion a number of times. 2. World champion 5 times 3. Only player in the history to have won world championship in 5 different formats. 4. World championship challenger several times. 5. No. 1 ranked player in the world for a time. 6. No. 2 ranked player in the world for quite some time. 7. Has been a top 10 player for decades now. Even now he is in top 10 being ranked at 8.
At the time of Vishwanathan Anand\'s entry into the chess world in the 80s there were not many Indian players with international experience, and no chess academies and not even much awareness about the game. But since the 1990\'s there has been an explosion in the number of players, academies, and in general awareness. There have been several generations of players but still no one comes close to Anand\'s achievements. Let alone winning a world championship there has not even been a challenger. Let alone world no. 1 there has not even been a top 10 player. Even now the top 10 player from India is still Vishwanathan Anand.
I think this is really depressing. We need to set the bar high and reserve accolades for substantive achievements.
None of the players in the Hoogeven International chess tournament is in top 100. This is really a weak field.
Ever since Vishwanathan Anand burst onto the chess scene in the 80's he had steadily racked up achievements at national and international levels viz. 1. National champion a number of times. 2. World champion 5 times 3. Only player in the history to have won world championship in 5 different formats. 4. World championship challenger several times. 5. No. 1 ranked player in the world for a time. 6. No. 2 ranked player in the world for quite some time. 7. Has been a top 10 player for decades now. Even now he is in top 10 being ranked at 8.
At the time of Vishwanathan Anand's entry into the chess world in the 80s there were not many Indian players with international experience, and no chess academies and not even much awareness about the game. But since the 1990's there has been an explosion in the number of players, academies, and in general awareness. There have been several generations of players but still no one comes close to Anand's achievements. Let alone winning a world championship there has not even been a challenger. Let alone world no. 1 there has not even been a top 10 player. Even now the top 10 player from India is still Vishwanathan Anand.
I think this is really depressing. We need to set the bar high and reserve accolades for substantive achievements.
Such a pleasant surprise! Not Abhijeet Gupta's victory but Rediff's chess report. Chess is one game where Indian players have been consistently giving world class performances. Apart from Anand, players like Harikrishna, Vidit Santosh Gujarati, Adhiban Bhaskaran, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Abhijit Gupta among men and Harika Dronavalli, Koneru Hampi, Tanya Sachdev, Soumya S., Padmini Rout,etc. among women have been doing India proud but the media is obsessed with cricket and cricket only.India has well over 40 grand masters and over 80 international masters in chess. In the 2014 Chess Olympiad the Indian men's team stood third (bronze medal) and in the 2016 Chess Olympiad stood fourth among 160 countries, while the women's team stood fifth in 2016 among 140 countries. But these achievements are never highlighted. Hope rediff continues its chess reportage.
