India is where Magnus Carlsen won his maiden World Chess Championship crown. Back in November 2013, in Chennai, when he beat Viswanathan Anand.

Since then, Carlsen has gone on to be the game’s best. But Indian chess too has moved up by leaps and bounds. Carlsen lost to R. Praggnanandhaa in a classical chess game at the Norway Chess tournament in May this year as well as in the rapid/exhibition games on quite a few occasions.

In the city to participate in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz Open tournament, beginning on Wednesday at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, Carlsen acknowledged that Indian chess has certainly come a long way. He also hailed the role of former world No.1 Viswanathan Anand — set to join the tournament on Wednesday — in Indian chess’ growth.

“I was playing a simul (where a single chess player is pitted against two or more opponents) when I came here to India in August (2013). I went to Chennai to look at the facilities... I played a simul there.

“I was told that I’m going to a school to meet with some of the better kids in the area, and it feels like half of the kids are now either Grandmasters or some of them are even playing the real top tournaments. That’s what I feel like what has changed. Those kids back then are the core of the (Chess) Olympiad-winning team.

“Indian chess has surely come a long way since then, much thanks to Anand and what he did for Indian chess,” Carlsen, taking part in the competition for the first time since 2019, said on Tuesday.

What also impresses Carlsen is the Indian chess players’ ability to calculate. “I still do believe that the Indians are great at calculating.

“Obviously, these are very different players, so they have very different styles.

“But what’s certain is that all of them calculate extremely well, and I think that speaks about the work that hasbeen done in the Indian chess school over the last 15-20 years, where all of the good youngsters are being taught in a really good way, which you can very clearly see,” Carlsen emphasised.

In the opening round of the competition on Wednesday, Carlsen will be taking on Praggnanandhaa and it’s the latter’s “fighting spirit” which he made special mention of.

“I think Pragg has an incredible fighting spirit. He fights as he gets into trying situations a lot, but even there he’s playing quite ambitiously, always trying to win,” Carlsen stated about his opponent.

The admiration is mutual. “For me, his will to win is something I really admire,” Praggnanandhaa said, picking a standout feature of Carlsen’s game. “He keeps playing even in positions where most people would just agree to a draw, and he just keeps playing and sometimes even wins them.”

Talking about why he’s not much into classical chess at present and focusing more on competitions like the Global Chess League, Carlsen said: “I try and play in tournaments with formats that I like, against strong and interesting opposition.

“I’m playing a match of freestyle chess next week against Fabiano Caruana. I’ll then play a bunch of freestyle tournaments next year. Apart from that, I enjoy rapid and blitz both, as well as online and over the board. That is more or less the thinking. This tournament has a bit of both, so it’s perfect for me.

“Also, I’m looking forward to test myself against the young generation. I’m always curious to see how much they have improved since last time. It turns out they have improved, but not always enough,” the 33-year-old Norwegian added.

Gukesh ‘favourite’

Praggnanandhaa considers D. Gukesh the favourite in the World Championship final against China’s Ding Liren, beginning in Singapore on November 25. “Gukesh is definitely the favourite, considering his recent form. I’m sure he has prepared well.

“The World Championship is a different tournament altogether, though,” Praggnanandhaa said.