‘Anand is incredibly good for his age’

The going has, in the recent past, got tough for the legendary Anand, who turned 50 last month. “He had set the bar so high. He is not as good as he was before. To be a top-level player at such an age in this era in itself is an achievement,” Kramnik told reporters here on Tuesday.

“I hope to see him in the circuit for a few more years. As long as he is enjoying his game, he should continue. I am not sure if the next generation will manage a feat like this,” added Kramnik, a former World Champion himself. Israel international Boris Gelfand, who is only a year older than Anand and is actively participating in tournaments, seconded Kramnik’s opinion.

“As long as he plays at an incredibly good level, we will have to thank him for continuing (this long),” said Gelfand. Kramnik, despite being relatively younger (44) than veterans Anand and Gelfand, had announced his retirement from professional chess last year. He stressed it is upto the individual to decide when he wants to quit as there are various factors involved.

“Personally, I retired because I wanted to do something other than competitive chess. But I perfectly understand and appreciate people who are in the game for a long period of time,” revealed Kramnik, who felt a chess player will have a lot of battles to fight once he is past 40.

He said an athlete’s level may dip once his motivation levels drop down. “In most cases, you get the sign when you start losing every single game you compete in (laughs). When you feel you are not as good as you were at some stage of your career, you may slow down.”

After a lengthy discussion about Anand and retirement, Gelfand was quick to shower huge praise on youngsters, who are consistently making the Indian flag fly high with impressive successes. “There has not been a generation like this. There are so many good players in India at this point of time,” Gelfand spoke highly of the upcoming talent.“They have the potential to get to the top and a great future ahead. I don’t think there is any other city apart from Chennai where there is such a good level of chess concentration,” he added.