Photograph: Kind courtesy Viswanathan Anand/Instagram
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will be in the mix as part of the Freedom team helmed by none other than FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsly in the World Rapid and Blitz team chess championship that gets underway in London.
Anand is the only Indian in the fray in his team. Hot favourite WR Chess team will be spearheaded by Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia on the top board in the absence of world’s top player Magnus Carlsen who had refused to participate in FIDE tournament.
The likes of Arjun Erigaisi on the top board will be assisted by P Harikrishna on the second board.
World junior champion V Pranav is a welcome addition to the team alongside Luke Leon Mendonca who is probably the next big player making a mark in Indian chess after the quartet of world champion D Gukesh, Arjun, R Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh Chithambaram.
The event will also see Nihal Sarin in action representing the fifth seed Ashdod elite chess club. Nihal and Anand will play as the top seed on top board like Arjun Erigaise but the event will miss the presence of Carlsen and Gukesh who have both skipped the event.
The WR chess team is the favourite for the crown with Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja Alireza, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexandra Kostenuik, and Wesley So in the side.
As a rule, every round has to have a female player as well as a player rated less than 2200 on FIDE rating list that was last published on June 1. The traction caused by these dynamics makes the event more interesting than any other team tournament.
There is a decent prize money for the rapid and blitz event as the winner of each competition gets USD 110000 and USD 75000 respectively. The event had gained huge success in the previous edition thanks to participation of especially Carlsen.
The prospects of the lone Indian team depends solely on how Arjun performs.
