It’s going on and on, says Viswanathan Anand

Like in the rapid version at the ongoing Fide world rapid and blitz chess championships at the Dubai Chess and Cultural Club, Viswanathan Anand, the former ‘king’ of chess, lost his way in the opening rounds in the blitz event on Thursday afternoon.

In the rapid version, Anand clawed his way back to finish in third position on Wednesday night.

“It’s just going on and on. Just like the early rounds of the rapid event, we are there trying our best as things keep going on and on,” Anand told Khaleej Times while walking out of the playing enclosure for a short break following the unfruitful opening rounds of the blitz battles.

On Thursday evening, the players were seen taking a much needed break following the stressful rapid fire style of the blitz approach. Some were having their quota of puffs while Anand disappeared quietly into the crowd and into a corner to have his bit of relaxation.

Unlike, the long stretch world championship rounds covering several days of 5-6 hours of battles daily and having to dress in the mandatory formals like tie, and coat or blazer; the shorter versions of the world events come with a relaxed atmosphere where the enclosures are just a few feet away for everyone to see the moves at almost hand shaking distance.

“The World Cup is on and the chess fever was at a minimum locally though the timings were not clashing,” said a chess federation official on Thursday. “A field like this in the UAE and that too in styles that are far more exciting are unbelievable,” he added.