Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who has crossed his fifth decade of age, does not intend to say goodbye to chess for the time being, but will work to raise the popularity graph of the game through his new innings as sports administrator. Anand said in an interview to Bhasha, "Chess has made a lot of progress in the last few years, especially during the Corona epidemic, people started playing chess a lot. The trend of chess increased on digital, online, internet, which I would like to take forward.

If outgoing president Arkady Vorkovich is re-elected in the elections to be held during the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mahabalipuram in July-August, Anand will be the vice-president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Vorkovic has nominated Anand for this position in his team. Viswanathan Anand said, "I will try keeping India in mind in terms of youth. I will try that more and more young players come forward and they can get full support. I will give my views and suggestions.

He said, "I was asked in March for the post of FIDE vice-president, so I found this an interesting opportunity. Now I am playing very few tournaments and focus on my academy too, but it is a new challenge and I will try to learn. Now I am playing selected tournaments anyway. For example, if chess is not playing Olympiad, then I am ready for this new challenge." Denying the possibility of retirement, he said, "I have no intention of saying goodbye to the game. Hopefully I will continue to play even after becoming FIDE Vice President.

When Anand became India's first Grandmaster in 1987, asked about his legacy, he said, "I don't think much about it, I hope I gave a lot back to the game. Helped to take it forward and caught people's attention in it. It ensured that India's strong presence is on the world chess map." In so many years, India has come a long way in chess and recently Rahul Srivastava became the 74th Grandmaster of the country. When asked about India's journey, Anand said, "The first thing is the mental barrier whether we can become a grandmaster, but when one becomes a player, the road becomes easier for others. For a long time only selected Grandmasters got India, but for some time the number has increased, which is a good thing.

Viswanathan Anand said, "When I played the World Championship match against Kasporov, most of the current Grandmasters of India were not even born. New and young Grandmasters are arriving and now the support staff is good too. The former Grandmaster is teaching them and the federation also has full cooperation." Describing the Chess Olympiad, which is going to be held in Mahabalipuram for the first time in India from July 28, as a revolutionary step towards popularizing the game in the country, he said, "This It is the biggest chess tournament. Most tournaments have 10, 20 or a maximum of 50 players, but there will be close to 2000 players, so it can't be compared. Will remember for a long time. Along with this, it will have wide coverage and being in the news of chess for three weeks will also take the popularity graph of the game up. In the coming times, people will give an example of this.

Viswanathan Anand is with the Indian team this time as a mentor and when asked about India's chances, he said, "My thinking is such that even if I am a favorite for the title, I don't like bigotry. I insist on focusing on my game. People can talk about medals and wins, but the player should focus only on playing well.