Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand today described this year which saw him surrender the world crown to Norwegian Magnus Carlsen as a “horrible” one but said he would stay positive without getting bogged down thinking about the debacle.
“It has been a horrible year for me. It looks like the toughest of my career. I mean World Championship had the most impact, if it had won it there then it would have been a brilliant year,” Anand said on the sidelines of a NIIT programme here on Monday.
“I was analysing the year before the World Championship. At some point I remember instances where I went wrong but I think I have to stay positive and try to do well next year,” said the undisputed king of chess from 2007 to 2013 who lost to Carlsen in the World Championship match in Chennai last month.
Anand does not want to overanalyse or set any target right now and said his priority would be to get back to the best frame of mind and play some good chess. “There is no need of over analysis. Sometimes it is not healthy to set targets. I would rather feel free playing some good tournaments now and once my chess picks up, the results will follow. So instead of obsessing about different targets, right now I want to get back in the best frame of mind,” he said.
Asked about the next season, Anand said: “I m starting the year with Zurich which is on January 29th, I will take a decision on Candidates Tournament soon in March, that is the current schedule. There is a good chance I will play in Ukraine.”
The Candidates Tournament acts as a qualification event for the World Championship. The winner of the tournament will get a crack at reigning champion Carlsen next November.
Asked about the gap between him and the next generation of Indian chess players, Anand said: “I would advise them to take it step by step. You have to move goal by goal. They have a lot of talent. You have to make a steady progress. You can have a difficult month or year but then suddenly there will be rise. But you got to keep working hard.
“We have a lot of depth in Indian chess and our national championship is one of the toughest. Parimarjan Negi had quite a few impressive results, same goes for Abhijeet Gupta and there are others as well. We have a strong field and they need to keep faith,” he said.